Bullet Journaling Tips to Get Your Life in Order This 2023

Last Updated: January 4, 2023

Have you been thinking about tackling a new crafting project for this year? If your answer is yes, then bullet journaling may be the perfect activity for you! Bullet journaling is an easy and creative way to organize your life in 2023 - from long-term goals, appointment scheduling, note-taking, task management, and anything that will help keep your life on track. 

Easily add beautiful and vibrant colors to your bullet journal pages with some watercolors!

Watercolor 36 Pan Set

Planning out your week or month with drawings, embellishments, stamps, and dies can be fun! Plus, it also gives you a sense of control and reflection over what’s going on in your life. So if you’re looking to get yourself organized for the new year with some creativity, let us show you how bullet journaling can do that – and more!

What Is a Bullet Journal?

Easily add a pop of bold color to your bullet journal spreads for 2023 by using rainbow-themed washi tape!

Rainbow Stripes Wide Washi Tape

A bullet journal is a type of planner that uses a system of bullets, symbols, and short notes to help you organize your tasks, events, and thoughts. It is a flexible and customizable way to plan and track your daily, weekly, and monthly activities. 

Bullet journals are a great way to stay organized, productive and creative. Moreover, they can also serve as a journal or diary!

Fun Fact: Ryder Caroll, a digital product designer, designed bullet journaling as a comprehensive and efficient way to organize his life. It's crazy that his simple personal decision has become a trendy organization system!

If you have been looking for an activity that allows for both creative structure and freedom, then why not try bullet journaling? You can customize your bullet journal for whatever works best for you. Some bullet journal ideas include creating to-do lists, tracking habits and goals, maintaining calendars, taking notes during meetings or lectures, creating mind maps, sketching, or doodling - the options are endless!

When it comes to bullet journal spread ideas and pages, the possibilities are infinite; you can be as creative as you want! So get started on your bullet journaling today for 2023 - once you start, you won't be able to stop!

How to Start Making Your Own Bullet Journal for 2023

If you're looking for ideas to kick off your 2023 bullet journal spread, you're in the right place! Bullet journaling is a great way to stay organized, document your memories with doodles and drawings, and track your mental health and wellness. To get started bullet journaling for 2023, start by choosing a bullet journal system that works best for you. 

Another great bullet journal inspiration is to make eye-catching spreads with floral stamps and dies!

Simple Beauty Stamp & Die Bundle

Whether it's daily spreads, weekly spreads, monthly spreads, or lists and trackers, you can design your bullet journal in a style that expresses who you are. Here are some ideas to consider when starting your own bullet journal or bujo, as the kids call it these days (LOL)!

Choose Your Notebook and Materials

The most important part of your bullet journal is, of course, your notebook! When it comes to notebooks, you can have a lot of options to choose from. From lined, dotted, blank, or grid notebooks to the kind of paper your notebook has, there are many things to consider for your journal. You don't always have to buy a new notebook - it could be an old notebook, a recycled book, or even your own DIY pages made from scrapbook paper!

Stamps and die-cuts are an excellent way to add instant interest to your bullet journal spreads!

Scalloped Ornaments Stamp & Die & Stencil Bundle

Once you choose your notebook, choosing the materials you need to decorate it will be easier. For example, if your notebook has thicker pages, you can work mainly with watercolors or markers for your journal spreads. On the other hand, a thinner notebook with a lot of space between the pages can be great for adding bulky elements, such as die-cuts, sequins, wood veneers, and other embellishments. 

After you are done with this step, it will make your actual journaling a lot easier as you don't have to make a huge fuss about what tools, techniques, and other elements to use when you write in it. 

Decide What Your Bullet Journal Is For

Even though you have the creative freedom to do with your journal as you wish, there is a reason why bullet journals are different from art journals. Bullet journals are here to keep you organized, stay on top of your goals, and track milestones, memories, and progress. Art journals are much more artistic in the sense that you wouldn't use them to plan your week but rather help release your emotions and creativity.

When you start on your bullet journal for 2023, decide on the type of content it will have. What do you want to use it for? Do you want to track a specific goal and present the progress in aesthetic visuals? Or perhaps you want to start a list of things you're grateful for? 

If you want a bullet journal trick, try going through your stash of stamps and dies to get an idea or prompt for your pages!

Weekend Doodles Stamp & Die Bundle

The key is to make your bullet journal personalized by envisioning it as a tool that can help you set and achieve your goals for 2023 and stay organized regarding events, notes, reminders, and things to do. 

Divide Your Bullet Journal Into Sections and Themes

There are general sections that are present in most bullet journals. These are your monthly dividers, daily logs, and random inspirational pages. Let's take a deeper look at what these sections are:

  • Monthly Spread: These are usually designed one-page layouts that display the name of the month, its theme, and an overview of your monthly goals, events, and tasks. For example, for the monthly divider for October, you dedicate a page entirely to a stamped "OCTOBER" and decorate the page with cobwebs, pumpkins, skeletons, and fall-inspired washi tape colors. Usually, the page after these dividers features a calendar too.

A gorgeous monthly spread divider made by Lilith using a stamp set and some coloring pencils

Needlework Motif Stamp Set

  • Daily Logs: These are the spreads that cover a single day and allow you to record your tasks, events, and notes for that day. It can include a schedule, a to-do list, and any other notes or ideas you want to record. This is a helpful log to look back on when you want to track the steps you took to reach a goal. 
  • Random Inspirational Pages: These are the themed pages based on journal prompts, timelines, goal setting, and habit trackers. Such examples of these journal prompt ideas can include:
    • Gratitude List
    • Letters to Future Me
    • Bucket List
    • Water Intake Tracker
    • Life Timeline Goal
    • Mood Tracker 
    • Color Palette Inspirations
    • Cardmaking Projects To Do
    • Workout Tracker
    • Food Planner
    • 2023 Milestones
    • Quote of The Day
    • Music Playlist 
    • Daily Walking Steps 
    • Vision Page for 2023
    • Movies To Watch
    • Cleaning Schedule for Craft Room

Decorate and Have Fun Customizing Your Journal

The best part about journaling is decorating your bullet journal cover, filing out your first page, and displaying your personality on your pages through stamps, dies, stickers, washi tape, markers, and other mediums. If you're wondering what to write on the first page of your bullet journal, try inserting a picture of yourself, decorating it with some ephemera, then writing down a few paragraphs about who you are, your life story, or fun facts about you. 

Your creativity is the limit when it comes to making bullet journal covers, pages, and layouts!

Regal Beauty Stamp & Die Bundle

You can decorate your bullet journal spreads by deciding on the overall style or theme you want to implement. Do you want a minimalist, black-and-white bullet journal? A monochromatic-themed journal that only uses one color family per month? Or perhaps a rainbow-themed retro design with geometric circles and shapes? Maybe you want a vintage garden look, so you can incorporate your floral stamps and dies. Whatever floats your boat - go wild! You can use washi tapes to make borders, stickers to break up lines of text, and stamps to do your backgrounds. Your bullet journal is your canvas, so color, doodle, paint, and have fun filling it!

As you fill up your pages with more and more content, you'll be more comfortable furnishing the pages with enough practice. You can update, write, and decorate it on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis - there are no restrictions! 

Own Your 2023 With These Bullet Journal Inspiration Ideas!

There’s no time like the present to get your life together and start planning for a successful year ahead, so why not give bullet journaling a try? It’s an incredibly versatile system that you can use for everything: from goal-setting and habit-tracking to simply staying organized daily. Plus, it’s enjoyable to personalize your pages and make them look pretty! For more more bullet journal inspiration, try looking at Lilith’s DIY planner process here:

If you need more bullet journal tips and other paper crafting inspiration for 2023, drop by our All About Crafting blog often. Thanks for stopping by, and we hope you start planning your best year yet today!


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