Let’s face it, sometimes it can be hard to keep up with bullet journaling every day, but there are some simple things you can do to make it easier to journal every day. Hi, I’m Temi of Living Letter Plans, and today, I’m going to share with you 10 tips to help you keep up with bullet journaling (or journaling) every day. With some of these tips, you should find it easier to make a daily habit of picking up your journal and filling in your entries or trackers each day.

1. Find the purpose

Why do you want to keep a journal? It might be to help you stay organised, keep memories, look after your mental or physical health, pick up a good habit, or something else entirely. Either way, you’re more likely to keep up with your journal and be less confused by it, if you know why you’re doing it. Take some time to think about the different things you want to get out of journaling, and what the purpose of your journal is. Write these down, and figure out what bujo spreads, or journaling methods will work best for your purpose.

2. Be adaptable and make changes if necessary

Even after your journal has a purpose, you might find while your journaling, that certain spreads or methods aren’t working for you, and that okay. The great thing about journaling in an empty notebook, is that you can change it whenever you want. Just because you’ve started adding certain spreads, doesn’t mean you need to keep doing the same thing over and over if it’s not serving a purpose. You might even decide to remove a spread one month and add it back in another.

Look back at your journaling each month and see if there are any spreads that you’re not really using or haven’t served the purpose.

3. Keep It Simple

This is the most frequent tip I share, and it’s to keep your journal simple, especially if you’re just starting out. There are an endless number of products and spreads that you can include, and it can be very overwhelming. Try picking just three different types of spreads and pens and see how each product works for you. I love decorating my bullet journal spreads no end, but sometimes you might find you have less time, so just doing some simple decorations, might be what’s best.

If you’re short for time, stickers and washi are a staple! You can decorate your journal as much as you like but save on doodling time. Some of my favourite Archer & Olive Stickers and Washi are:

• Vintage Planning Stickers
• Vintage Theme Stickers
• Vintage Floral Stickers
• Everyday Florals Washi Tape Set

4. Do What’s Manageable

Some are great at filling a full A5 page of journaling, or creating spreads every day, but to keep up with your journaling, it’s a great idea to figure out what’s manageable for you. If you’re using your journal for planning, using stamps to help you create spreads quicker without having to count dots on every page is a great idea.

For me, I can find time to do a little bit of journaling every day, so I create a spread once a week, that’s a week on two pages. This way, I only need to fill in a paragraph of journaling every day, while still being able to offload some of my thoughts and memories. I’ve created a video showing you how to create a fool-proof weekly spread that will help you keep up with journaling every day.

5. Enjoy being creative

If you’re like me and love getting creative, use your journaling as prime time to enjoy this. If I’m not feeling inspired by my journal, I find I use it a lot less. Add drawings and doodles, paint, and explore your creativity. Let your creativity flow, and you’re more likely to enjoy opening your journal each day. Which brings me nicely onto my next tip…

6. Combine Journaling with something else you enjoy

Make journaling feel like less of a ‘must’ or a daily chore by combining it with something you enjoy doing. Like Listening to music? Get some one when you’re doing your daily entry. Like poetry? Try creating a poem with your daily entry or keep a poem journal. I love tea, so every time I do my daily journaling, I make a nice hot cup of tea, and sit down for some ‘me’ time to fill in my journal. It’s become a daily ritual.

7. Make it part of your daily routine

Is there something you do every morning or evening that is second nature to you? It’s a good idea to add your journaling time in with this. It can be something as basic as brushing your teeth before bed, once you’ve brushed your teeth, add sitting down with your journal in bed or at your desk to your routine, and you’re more likely to keep up with it. Do you do a devotional in the morning? Tag in onto the end or start of your morning devotion. Try and keep up with this for at least a month, and before you know it, journaling has become a good habit.

8. Use Journal Prompts

Sometimes it can be hard to know what to write in your journal every day. Journal prompts are a brilliant way of getting some ideas for things to write down. They’re a question or prompt that give you a focus for you journaling. If provided some daily prompts that you can keep in your journal or on your wall and refer to them if you’re ever stuck for an idea what to write.

 9. Look back over your journal

I absolutely love reading back through my journal. After bullet journaling now for 3 years, I have all my old journals stored and ready for me to pick up, and look back over memories, or see where I was at a point in my life. Your journal doesn’t have to be years old; you can look back over your current journal at your filled up pages. I find these a great motivation to keep journaling, so I keep having something to look back over. I also find filled pages of writing very satisfying!

10. Most of all, don’t beat yourself up

I’ve found perfectionism to be the biggest killer of journaling. Sometimes you will make mistakes, and that’s okay. You bullet journal is drawn by hand, and mistake give it authenticity, and an aesthetic that can’t be faked. Embrace it. I have mistakes on almost every page of my journal; a wobbly line, a hand slip, a spelling mistake; it’s normal.

Some days, you won’t journal, and that’s okay. Blank pages can also speak of a memory or time in your life, as much as a full page. If you miss a day, you can always come back to it later, don’t overthink it.

Do you have things that you do that help you keep up with journaling daily? Share your spreads and ideas and tag us @ArcherandOlive and @LivingLetterPlans!

I hope you’ve found these tips useful! If you liked this blog, you might find this blog with 10+ Ideas For Bullet Journal Dailies really useful!