Guide to Starting Your First Bullet Journal

Before starting to discuss using a bullet journal in the fall (or autumn if you prefer) 
season, let’s go over some basics of starting your first bullet journal.

This can be really helpful if you are starting your very first bullet journal, but also a good 
refresher course even if you have a little experience.

What is a Bullet Journal?
Think of a bullet journal as a way to have a planner, calendar, list of goals and things to 
do, and all the other aspects of your day in one book. While called a “journal”, it is not 
written in long paragraphs with all text like a traditional journal would be.

Instead, the bullet journal has different sections that are laid out on the front “Index” 
page, and most text in the journal uses symbols called “signifiers”. 

These allow you to quickly add information to your bullet journal without needing the 
time and energy for writing long paragraphs, which often take up too much space in this 
type of journal.

For example, a signifier relating to money coming in or paying a bill might be the $ sign, 
while you might have a simple checkmark symbol for completing a task.

It is Completely Customizable
One thing to keep in mind about bullet journals is that they are customizable. You 
should definitely take a look at other journal pages to get inspiration and new ideas for 
layouts, but you don’t need to copy every page.

The bullet journal is most beneficial when you adapt your own personalization, whether 
that means the types of pages or collections you include, how they look, the overall 
layout, or just the colors and design aspects. 

It is okay to start simple, then begin customizing it more as you get accustomed to 
creating new pages.


The First Pages to Start With
It is almost impossible to list all the possible pages you can have in your bullet journal, 
though there are some that most people will end up using. Here is a look at the first 
pages to start with, but many more are available for later.

Calendar Pages – No matter what else you have in your bullet journal, you at least 
want to have calendar pages. They are what makes a bullet journal a “planner” and are 
also the very first pages you fill out in the bullet journal.

You will have a variety of calendar pages for each month, including the main monthly 
calendar, weekly calendar pages with more room for text, and possibly some daily 
pages if you want to write longer text. The daily pages usually have spots for different 
information, such as tasks to complete that day, events, appointments, meal planning, 
and lots more.

Task and To-Do Lists – After the calendar pages are filled out, you will then move on 
to your task and to-do lists. These are created from your calendar of events to break 
down what you need to get done before the dates written on the calendar.

Trackers – Tracker pages, such as mood trackers, are great when you are working 
toward a goal. Maybe you are trying to track your mood to figure out what triggers 
anxiety or panic attacks, or you are tracking the number of days you have followed with 
a certain new routine you started.
Collections – The last type of page we want to tell you about is the collection page. 
These are essentially different types of lists for things you want to do, see, or 
accomplish. They are completely customizable and might include anything from a list of 
things to do for your business, to places you want to travel to or movies you want to 
see.

Adding More Later
Lastly, when you are starting your first bullet journal, you should know that you can 
always add more pages to it later. This is why most people will use a binder-style 
journal where you can easily add and remove pages as needed.
There is a combination of store-bought and printable pages that will allow you to 
personalize them for your own needs.

