In the world of slow-living trends on social media and the increasing popularity of hands-on habits, there’s no better time to talk about the many benefits of bullet journaling.
Bullet journaling has become a popular way of relieving stress and organizing your life with a creative flair. At its core, bullet journaling is a system of journaling that combines planners, habit trackers, and to-do lists with journal prompts that are seen in ordinary journaling exercises. Here’s why I think bullet journaling is the perfect low-cost and low-maintenance hobby for stress relief.
My Bullet Journal Habits
Personally, I am someone who loves to keep my life organized. Having somewhere to keep track of my plans, accomplishments, and habits all in one place really helps me to manage my stress. I was tired of having planners that didn’t have the exact perfect format that I wanted, so instead of a planner, in 2021, I started a bullet journal, and I will never go back!
My bullet journals usually consist of a monthly spread that I create, with help from Pinterest inspiration. It has a weekly spread like a planner, where I like to keep track of what I have planned or have to do each day, as well as what I accomplished each day. I like to track my habits, sleep schedule, and spending each month. I also always leave a little room at the end of each month for random thoughts or quotes that I want to include in that month’s pages. The beauty of a bullet journal is that you can use it however you want!
More or Less Stress
I think a lot of people get caught up in making their bullet journal Pinterest perfect, but I don’t think that is the point. Yes, I’ll admit, it is fun to make something aesthetic, and it is so rewarding to flip through all of those beautiful pages when you finally finish a journal. But remember, above anything else, it is a form of journaling. I am a strong believer that your journal is supposed to change and grow with you. Isn’t that really the whole point of journaling, to discover new things about yourself?
The key to having your bullet journal help you with stress relief is not letting it stress you out. It’s ok if some months’ spreads are a little less aesthetic than others. It’s ok if you mess up a page, make the most of it. I’m no artist, most of my pages are filled with imperfections, and I’d go so far as to say that some look like an elementary schooler made it. It is not for anyone but you, and there is no need for it to be a perfect thing. I think bullet journaling is more about the act rather than the outcome, so get consumed by the process of creating and don’t worry too much about how it looks.
Reflection and Mindfulness
For me, bullet journaling was a great thing to implement into my self-care routine. It was something to help me de-stress and wind down at the end of the day. Especially in college, I would try to schedule time in my daily routine to fill out my bullet journal with the tasks I had accomplished each day, what I had to do tomorrow, and fill out my habit and sleep tracker.
I will be honest, I did not often actually fill out my bullet journal every day. Sometimes, on busy weeks, I would forget to do it for an entire week, but that just meant that I took a little extra time on the weekends to fill out what I had missed. This allowed me to slow down and reflect on each day, a way to remind myself to stay more present and pay attention to the little things that I did every day, rather than just living life without thinking about the day before, which is why it became so important to my self-care.
My favorite morning ritual came to be the Sunday before the start of a new month. I would make breakfast, sip on a warm drink, and fill out a new monthly section with a theme that I felt represented the month. Bullet journaling has given me a creative outlet that I often forget I enjoy. The fact that it paired creativity with planning out my life and productivity made it the perfect stress-relieving activity.
Understanding You
Bullet journaling is great self-care because it helps you to track your emotions and habits and get a sense of not only how you are feeling but maybe why you are feeling that way. A lot of bullet journalers use simple graphs to track their daily emotions and habits. This can really help your mental health by recognizing harmful patterns that affect your mood or realizing what works. It becomes sort of like a field journal for studying yourself.
For example, I am an introvert, and being around people too much without having a day to myself can really affect my mental health. In my bullet journal, I like to track how much each month I get out and socialize with friends because it helps me to create that balance that I know I need for my mental health. Other habits I like to track are reading, exercise, and writing.
Anything Goes
Journaling is always one of the top ways people say you can implement self-care and stress relief into your routine, but it can be hard to get into. Bullet journaling is a way of journaling every day that is low-pressure; all you have to do is make a list of what you’ve done or fill in your habit trackers.
Bullet journaling creates a space where anything goes. Sometimes, if I just feel like answering a good old long-form journal prompt, or even just writing about what made me happy that day and why, I will use a few pages in my bullet journal and just write down what I am feeling. Other times, it brings me relief to get more creative with it and create a spread that is a more visual way of understanding how I feel. It is low cost, all you need are a journal and a few pens or markers to make it whatever you want.
In the end, allowing yourself time to slow down and reflect a little bit about yourself and who you are is always a good thing. I think that bullet journaling can add so much to your life. It gives you an excuse to get creative, wind down and reflect on your day or week, learn from your past habits and map out new ones, plan out your day, and feel proud of your accomplishments. You are truly able to make your bullet journal reflect you. The next time you are feeling stressed or want a new form of journaling, I hope you’ll give it a try.
Want guided journaling book recommendations? Click here.
Still stressed? Check out our Stress Busters: Books That Banish Your Worries bookshelf on Bookshop.org.
