How to be a Better Hobbyist with the Bullet Journal

One of the coolest things about the bullet journal community is the striking diversity of its people. There are people from all walks of life using this awesome system to organize and improve their days. I imagine many of you who use the bullet journal are also very creative. I fall into this category. I have loads of creative energy, often with no specific structured outlet. Sometimes I will go months without touching a hobby of mine because I don’t feel I have the time, or I can’t really get my ideas into motion. The bullet journal helps me be a better hobbyist in three ways:

       – I can budget my time in a way that lets me do fun things

       – I can jot down my inspiration all in one centralized location

       – I can break big goals into more manageable goals to make projects feel less intense

I’m going to show you how I used the bullet journal (learn details on how to start your own here) to tame my leather working hobby, which is a bit of a time and money eating beast. I needed a little bit of organization to keep me focused and mostly stress free through every step of a project.

Use your bullet journal to draw inspiration! Literally, draw in your journal. I would flip back to old half used pages in my Ecosystem and doodle designs for key chains, journal covers, and journals themselves. Sometimes I would devote a full page to potential cover art for a new leather journal so I could really let loose and brainstorm.

I would also brainstorm possible projects to try in the future. This would usually come after I came into some new materials, such as after Christmas or an unexpected garage sale find. I would list out what I could do with that suede scrap or what awesome things I could make with the heavy weight leather roll. Sometimes they were within the realms of what I could actually do and some were pipe dreams. But it’s nice to set goals for yourself and remind yourself of what excites you in your hobby.

I would use my bujo to shop around for the best value of an item. A few months back, I made a hand bound journal for a friend’s wedding, so I went on a hunt for the best paper to use. Not too thick, nor too thin, nor too expensive. I compared several products online side by side before making a selection, which was the wonderful Canson sketchpad. I am able to reference back to my notes for how to cut the paper to get the best yield. It’s nice to have that on hand rather than squirreled away in a drawer.

Using your bullet journal for your creative business makes sense. You can track everything you need to monitor expenses, sales, and time commitments. But using the bullet journal for your personal endeavors is still very rewarding. Being able to keep track of your materials and projects is extremely useful, and it’s always nice to be able to jot down a passing inspiration while you’re busy and then be able to find it later. So if you’ve been using your bullet journal to organize your chores and meals, well done. But consider giving yourself permission to use it for the fun stuff, too. You’ll be surprised how much more time you will find yourself thinking about and planning for your hobby!