How Do I Get Better at Bullet Journaling? 9 Easy Tips to Start Now!

If you are new to bullet journaling you may be wondering how to get better at it.

When you take a peek at any social media platform, you’ll see beautifully illustrated images that seem nearly impossible to achieve. These images aren’t created by magic, the designers have spent many hours working on and improving their skills.

Guess what? You CAN get better at bullet journaling, too.

In this post, I’ll give you 9 easy tips you can start applying right away to improve your bullet journal skills.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure for more information.

9 Tips to Get Better at Bullet Journaling

#1. Give yourself time to learn

If you think back to any new craft, hobby, or sport you’ve tried it’s never easy in the beginning.

Bullet journaling isn’t any different.

“Everything is hard before it’s easy.” - Brian Tracy

There is a learning process that needs to happen as well as time to develop your own unique style.

Just relax, enjoy the process, and forgive yourself if it’s not perfect.

#2. Keep it simple

Take a look at any social media platform and they are loaded with stunning, over-the-top bullet journal spreads…many of which are created by professional artists.

However, if you look at the original Bullet Journal Method created by Ryder Carroll, his pages contain none of the illustrations, embellishments, or decorations you’ll find on social media.

He created to bullet journal method as a simple system to record everything going on in his life in one book.

According to Carroll, it’s a place to “track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future.”

Take a few minutes to think about why you are bullet journaling.

Is it to be more organized and productive?

Or is it to create pretty pages you can share on social media?

Or lastly, is it a combination of the two?

Once you answer these questions, you’ll be able to create the types of pages and spreads that work for your lifestyle.

#3. Only create pages you’ll use

One of the MOST POPULAR posts here on SweetPlanit is 101 Bullet Journal Page Ideas. There’s even a FREE printable of all the page ideas you can put in your bullet journal.

However, many people make pages just for the sake of creating them. For example, if you don’t get migraines, don’t create a migraine tracker in you bullet journal.

Does that mean you’ll use them all?

No.

They are just to give you ideas and inspiration for pages that may help you move toward achieving your goals.

Go through this list and only create pages that will benefit and improve your life.
If you find after a month or two and realize you aren’t using those pages, perhaps go back and look at layout ideas and choose a different one.
Or maybe it’s a page that really isn’t benefitting you so it’s okay to abandon it and move on to something else.

That is one of the things I really love about the bullet journal.

It has the ability to change and evolve with you, not the other way around.

#4. Try easy themes

I have come across some extremely elaborate bullet journal themes on social media. In fact, these hand painted pages by @artbyadorel are completely stunning.

You may be thinking,” while I love these gorgeous pages, I don’t have the time to spend creating spreads like this.”

I get it. You want to have a cute theme for the month but you need to be able to make all your pages in a short amount of time.

There’s a cure for that problem!

Check out our huge section of Bullet Journal Theme Ideas. It’s filled with lots of fun and easy-to-create themes that work for any month of the year.

#5. Practice lettering

A really fun and easy way to improve your bullet journal spread is to learn some new hand lettering techniques. You don’t need to be a calligraphy expert, either.

You can learn faux calligraphy along with lots of other simple-to-make fonts that will make your headers pop off the page.

Check out 200+ bullet journal fonts you need to try as well as the 6 best hand lettering videos for beginners.

#6. Use stamps, stickers, or washi tape

When you get into bullet journaling you realize there is an entire world of goodies you didn’t know existed. These include planner stamps, adorable stickers, and LOTS of washi tape.

Use these tools to decorate your bullet journal, create page themes, and have a relaxing creative outlet.

#7. Add cute doodles

I’m a HUGE fan of doodling, so there isn’t a page in my bullet journal that doesn’t have at least one doodle on it. I’m not a very good doodler but I have created a library of cute doodles that I can refer to, draw in my bujo, and then color in.

I use doodles on my cover pages to set the tone for the month, doodle icons next to appointment, and just some random cute doodles that make me smile.

You can use the same doodle ideas I use to get inspiration. I have hundreds (maybe thousands) of ideas here: cute doodle ideas.

#8. Pop your pages with color

Color may be incorporated on your bujo spreads in so many ways. You could use one color throughout your monthly spreads to create a monochromatic theme.

Let’s say your favorite color is pink.

Use a black marker, such as a Micron Pen, to create your pages. Then using a pink Tombow Brush Pen, Zebra Mildliner, or Stabilo Boss marker, go back and highlight the daily numbers on a monthly calendar, the days of the week on a weekly spread, or the day and date on a daily page.

Similarly, create a two-color theme by choosing your two favorite colors and use only those colors to fill in and decorate your page spreads.

I have a hard time sticking to a color palette, so I use these Zig Clean Dot Markers on all of my pages. I use the dot-end (it makes a perfect dot every time!) to color code my to do list and then I use the fine-tip-end to color in all of my doodles.

#9. Create minimalist pages

If you love clean and simple pages without a lot of embellishment, perhaps minimalist bullet journal is the way to go.

This type of look features a lot of calming white space. A black pen is used for almost everything and perhaps and occasional one color highlighter to accent important information.

I’ve created quite a few minimalist posts you may want to check out:

Which of these tips will you be trying to improve your bullet journal skills? Let me know in the comments below.