Bullet Journal Ideas for Beginners (2024)

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Lauren Thomann

Lauren Thomann is passionate about crafting and DIY home improvement, writing on both topics. While refurbishing her 1916 bungalow on her own, she shares lessons learned through her DIY and home improvement articles.

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Updated on 02/23/24

What is a Bullet Journal?

A bullet journal is a highly personalized and creative book or online tool that holds your schedule, to-do lists, reminders, goals, brainstorming ideas, and anything else you'd like to keep track of in your life. It's a more mindful method than keeping a rigid daily schedule but more succinct than diary writing or journaling.

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Planner Turned Bullet Journal

If you find blank pages to be super intimidating instead of inspiring, grab yourself a planner (if you don’t already have one). That’s right, you can turn a planner into a bullet journal—so you get the functionality, structure, and time-saving aspect of a predesigned planner with the creativity of a bujo.
How to Create a Happy Planner Bullet Journal from Space + Quiet
02 of 20
Digital Bullet Journal

This one’s for the tech-savvy lot, but also ideal for beginners with poor penmanship. By having a planner on your tablet, you'll be able to quickly add pre-designed layouts, erase mistakes, and adjust each layout accordingly with a swipe of the hand. Not to mention, it’s time-saving and a lot less messier.
My Digital Bullet Journal from Life is Messy and Brilliant
03 of 20
One Pen Layout

See Also
How to Start Journaling: 7 Tips & Techniques for Beginners 32 Journaling Tips For Beginners - How to Start Journaling 23 Journal Ideas for Beginners: Get Started with these Journaling Ideas 10 Easy Bullet Journal Ideas for Beginners
This design from Bujoescape is proof that you don’t need a bunch of colored pens and markers to start bullet journaling. Most of the time, a single fine-liner pen will do. Besides, you can always enhance the spread with washi tapes and stickers if you like. If you want to recreate this layout, remember that the space at the top of the left page and the bottom of the right page can be customized to fit your needs.
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Doodle Pages

If you love getting lost in doodles, no matter how good or bad they appear, then designate some pages for practice. Once you have some that you like, go ahead and incorporate those into your main spreads.
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Four Days a Page

Looking for a daily spread that looks fun, is functional, and can be recreated in minimal time? Look no further.
This beginner-friendly layout by The Dots and Grids features bubble letterheadings and dot outlines that are very easy to complete.
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Pre-designed Pages

Okay, say you started some layouts and tried doodling, and you are hitting a wall. In this case, it may be better to try out some printable bullet journal pages.
While not overly aesthetic, these premade templates are great for working on your handwriting and logging skills.
Printable Bullet Journal Pages from 101 Planners
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Planting Calendar

Arguably one of the greatest benefits of a bullet journal is the flexibility it offers. Take this spread from A Piece of Rainbow, for instance. It’s perfect for gardeners and green thumbs to track their veggies/flowers/fruits/plants from seeding to harvesting time.
Printable Planting CalendarfromA Piece of Rainbow
08 of 20
Self-Love Spread

Setting goals is fantastic, but sometimes if those goals are too unrealistic, we might end up feeling bad about ourselves and quit the bullet journaling process. This is where a self-love spread comes into play.
Write down your favorite affirmations or anything that you are grateful for and proud of. Turn to it whenever you need a pick-me-up.
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Simple Daily Layout

There’s nothing quite like starting a busy day with a simple and concise daily log. If you're an artist and a more elaborate spread is exciting for you, skip ahead.
For everyone else, stick to time-saving layouts like this one. As a bonus, you don't even need a straight edge because the boxes are composed of wavy and imperfect lines.
See Also
50+ Bullet journal ideas for Beginners
Simple Daily Layouts for Your Bullet Journal from Productive and Pretty
10 of 20
Playlist Spread

Sure, it’s super easy to make playlists on any device these days. But what if you dedicated a page or two to keep track of your favorite tunes and new finds every month? This will surely stir up some nostalgia down the road, serving as a physical reminder of the songs that marked you at the time.
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Monthly Reads

Here’s another fun bullet journal idea: record all the books you’ve read in a month along with their ratings.
We love how bookworm @elle.mn.ope created a mini library inside her bullet journal, so she can see everything she read at a glance. And no, the book covers aren’t drawn. Simply save, resize, and print an image of the book cover on sticker paper, and voila!
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Bucket List

Need a little boost of inspiration? Put together a bucket list at the beginning of each month. Your list can include everything from the goals you want to achieve that month to fun activities you’ve been wanting to try but keep putting off.
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Travel Chronicles

Capturing your adventures in photos and videos has never been easier in this digital age. But, there’s only so much you can remember in detail, like the excitement you felt when you first landed or the stories the locals shared with you.
The solution? Pen down your experiences, feelings, and thoughts while traveling to retain and relive those memories on a deeper, more personal level.
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Month in Review

Reviewing the past month is just as important as planning for the upcoming one. Celebrate your big (and small) wins, list the challenges you’ve faced, and don’t forget to jot down your favorites of the month—such as products, food, and activities. Here, Instagram blogger @charizzet designed a quick but fun setup with colored papers and washi tape.
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Monthly Planning Routine

Speaking of monthly planning—a monthly checklist, like this one by @craftydeesigns, is key to staying sane in this busy world.
This is where you’ll write recurring tasks, deadlines, and appointments in the different areas of your life. Refer back to it at the beginning of each month as you fill in your calendar, so you’ll never miss important dates again.
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Entertainment Spread

There’s certainly no shortage of entertainment out there, but it can also be overwhelming to keep track of all the things you want to watch/read. So go ahead, do your mind a favor and have all your movie, series, and book lists in one place.
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Savings Tracker

If saving money feels like an uphill battle at the moment, try making it fun and motivating! One way to do so is to create a savings challenge in your bullet journal.
Not only will it help monitor your savings progress, but it will also keep you focused on the bigger target. Draw any shape you like (@sarahlittlebujo went for a ribbon theme here) and color it each time you set aside money.
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Illustrated Life Journal

An illustrated life journal is one brilliant way to practice your drawing skills—though you don’t need to be a pro to have a go.
Here, avid journaler @shelleyaldrichjournals turned daily snippets of her life into cute drawings, which definitely make for a memorable, lifelong keepsake.
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A Month in Stickers

In some cases, stickers speak louder than words. If you like to collect stickers (and don’t mind putting them in your journal), you might want to give this fun-filled calendar spread a try.
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Brain Dump

Let’s not forget that our brains aren’t made to remember every single plan we make, a task we need to do, or idea we want to realize. Hence, the “brain dump” was invented.
The aim is to have a place where you can unload everything that’s running through your head, from the looming deadlines to the habits you want to work on. Trust us, your brain will thank you for it!