Reasons to start a journal in the New Year

With a fresh new year around the corner, it's the perfect time to start a regular journalling habit! I've written many times on this blog about how I love writing in my journals - I use a bullet style journal to plan my week and a blank journal which I fill with my thoughts, ephemera and simple sketches. I find that journalling is a great way to keep those superfluous thoughts from running around inside my head, and it's also a way of bringing a dose of creativity to my daily life.

Why start a journal in the New Year?

It's a great time to start a journal. When a new year begins it's natural to want to reflect on the year just gone and to plan the year ahead. Everyone else is doing the same thing so there is plenty of motivation, and after the excess of Christmas you are in the mood to clear some space both physically and mentally. 

What do you need to get started?

Recently I wrote an article on how to journal when you don't know where to start and it contains plenty of advice to help you get over any block you might have to starting. All you need is something to write on and something to write with, and you don't need any expensive supplies. You probably already have a blank notebook around that has been waiting for a purpose! 

When it comes to physically putting pen to paper, I always start a new journal a few pages in. Then I can come back and fill the first couple of pages at a later date, or else I fill them with stickers and ephemera as time goes on. 

Photo credit Daria Shevtsova via Unsplash

What are the benefits of a regular journalling habit?

I find writing in my journal an enormous help to my wellbeing. When I have too many things running through my head, writing them down helps to clear my mind and organise my thoughts. It helps my anxiety to get things down on paper, and it's also really relaxing. 

Journalling helps me to work through and solve problems, for example a tricky decision that needs to be made. Often writing out a pros and cons list can help to find the answer that I'm looking for.  

In the new year I like to think about the things that I want to work on and achieve. For example changes that I want to make to my lifestyle, or things that I want to do. A journal can help to keep a record and track progress, or be a list of places to visit, recipes to make, activities to try. 

Recently on social media I've been seeing examples of dopamine menus. I don't like the name but I do like the concept - it's basically just a list of things that you enjoy doing. I had a similar list in my first bullet journal and I'm definitely going to create a new one for my next journal. 

Writing regularly can create a lovely record of things that you've done, especially when going through a life event that you will want to look back on. For example I've been journalling about the building of our house extension, both a factual account of what has been happening and also how I've been feeling about it at the time. 

Keeping a journal and pen handy is a great way to reduce screen time. You can fill a few minutes by jotting down some thoughts, or else settle down for a longer session away from the screen with a hot drink and a good view. 

Journalling is also a great way to improve creativity. I like to try out different layouts and styles, accessorise pages with stickers and washi tape, or try some simple sketches and start an illustrated journal. 

Finally...

One important thing that I want to mention is a reminder that your journal is personal to you. Don't feel the pressure to share it on social media - when you see beautiful journal pages online they have been created for that purpose and are designed to gather views and interaction. They can be great for inspiration, but can also make you feel inadequate and feel like stopping when you've barely begun.

Start with some cheap supplies so that you aren't intimidated by a beautiful journal that you don't want to ruin, and just take it from there!

Christmas themed bullet journal and journalling supplies

This post contains Amazon affiliate links

I regularly write in both my bullet journal and my everyday journal, and one of the things that makes it enjoyable for me is decorating and accessorising the pages to match the season. With Christmas well on the way, I thought I'd share some journalling supplies which are perfect for brightening up a journal now that the days are feeling gloomy!

Photo credit Alisa Anton via Unsplash

I get through a lot of stickers in my journalling! I use them as accents in the corners of pages, to decorate a themed journal page, and sometimes as image journal prompts.

Sometimes I like to use a large Christmas sticker (affiliate link) for some emphasis, or else I also like to use smaller Christmas stickers (affiliate link) as tiny accents or to create a border around the page.

Another way that I like to decorate my pages is with washi tape. I have quite a collection now since I first bought washi tape back in 2013! I love this colourful Christmas washi tape (affiliate link), or else this simpler vintage Christmas themed washi tape (affiliate link).

Finally another addition to Christmas journalling supplies is a set of Christmas paper punches (affiliate link). You can use them for either the punched pieces themselves or to add interest to the edge of a page by cutting away a line of outlines. You could also look for a larger paper punch like this paper punch Christmas tree (affiliate link) which could be used to decorate a festive journal page.

Try working on entries with some cheerful coloured gel pens (affiliate link) or some glittery highlighters (affiliate link) and bring some festive cheer to your journal pages this season!

An update on my Bullet Journal

I started my first Bullet Journal nearly a year ago, and it's an organisational system that is working really well for me! I wrote in January about how I was trying out a Bullet Journal, and as I've just migrated to my second journal I thought I'd write a little update with how I'm getting on, and what has changed since I started using it. 

My first Bullet Journal was an A5 Seawhite Journal from Hobbycraft and I paid £8.50. This is a really thick journal with lovely sketchbook thickness pages. Unfortunately it was rather wasted on me as I was only using it for writing, and I found the ink didn't flow very well. It's much more suitable for people that want to get a little arty with their journals as it holds watercolour paint very well.

For my second journal I bought an A5 Bullet Planner in store from Flying Tiger which cost £5. It's very slightly smaller but the pages are much thinner and smoother to write on. It also has a pen holder which the Seawhite one doesn't have, and two place marking ribbons. I much prefer it! 

What worked and was carried over

My daily/weekly/monthly planning system - this still works really well. I make it a habit on a Sunday afternoon to transfer tasks from the nearly completed week to the next, and to make my weekly page for the following week and a monthly page if needed. 

My yearly calendar of regular dates - I've really kept on top of birthdays this year by making it a habit to check important dates that are coming up.

My list of passwords and registration details - These are written down in a coded format in case I lose the journal. I've referred back to it many times!

The Household Tasks planner - This is a list of regular household tasks with a highlighted checkbox to show how often they need to be done, things like cleaning out the lint in the tumble dryer, a maintenance wash of the dishwasher, defrosting the freezer. This has been so helpful, and I've really kept on top of these boring jobs that get worse if you don't do them regularly.

The To Watch page - I like to keep a list of things which I want to watch or which have been recommended to me. I trimmed it a little for the new journal, as it was a good time to see what was still relevant.

What didn't work and has been left behind

The Exercise Tracker - I very quickly lost interest in this! I just didn't find it useful, I can tell by how I'm feeling whether I've exercised recently or whether I need to go out and do something.

Monthly habit trackers - I still use these occasionally but not as often as I was intending to.

My To Be Read pile - This was useful when I started the journal as I had a whole page of books that I needed to read. Now that I've caught up with it (following these tips - How to conquer the To Be Read Pile!) I only have 5-10 books at a time which is more manageable. I read so quickly that I don't want to keep going back and adding/removing books, and I track my reading in Goodreads. 

Too many lists of projects - I had lists of craft projects, home projects, long-term projects, goals for the year and so on. It was too many pages to keep track of, so I'm going to pick out the key ones and make just the one page in the new journal called 'Projects'.

Contact details - I never ended up filling this page in, I have all the information I need stored elsewhere.

Photo credit Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash

I'm really pleased with how well I've kept up with the Bullet Journal system and I've found a way to make it work for me. I was a little over enthusiastic at first when I was seeing all the inspiration online and wanting to make pages for everything, but over time I've managed to pare it back to what I really need!

Do you keep a Bullet Journal? If you want to know more about the system this is a good place to start - The Bullet Journal Method. I'd love to hear how you use one!

You might also like this post - Things that don't go in my Bullet Journal