How To Bullet Journal—For Beginners

Bullet Journaling Can Be Simple

Social media has spread the wonderful concept of bullet journaling. But for many people, it has also conflated it with looking presentable: a performance art.

At Owl Paper, I take the goal of sharing what I've learned to create self-compassion (but more meaningful) days seriously. It's my passion. It's how I've balanced the many hats I wear and overcome the challenges I've faced without losing my will to live. I want to give you a bit more peace and meaning. The following blog post is a good place to start.

How To Bullet Journal In The Owl Paper’s Planner Journal

By Marisa Porter | March 4, 2023 |

My answer to the many wonderful problems I encountered when I embarked on the beautiful journey of bullet journaling.

It’s the natural, almost effortless, creation of four years of growing out of a weekly planner and into bullet journaling.

how to use a bullet journal index tomoe river paper planner journaling

How To Use A Bullet Journal Index—However You Want

By Marisa Porter | July 24, 2023

Use Your Bullet Journal Index To Index Your Favorite Recipes, Or Your Least Favorite Neighbors.“Mrs. Betsey Fremantle (née Wynne) kept diaries throughout her life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, diaries that were later published by her great-granddaughter Anne Fremantle. The index to volume I, prepared by Anne, contains the following entry:dislikes Bombelles family, 119,…

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My Favorite Daily Bullet Journal Layout—Insanely Simple And Functional

By Marisa Porter | July 22, 2023

I’ve Used This Simple Daily Bullet Journal Layout For A Year. I’ve used this simple favorite daily bullet journal layout for at least a year because it’s easy to remember, easy to set up, and helpful to me in my mental health and organizing my day. It contains three sections: Gratitude, The Day (list), and…

bullet journal essentials

Bullet Journaling Essentials—Best Tools For Practical Life Planning

By Marisa Porter | June 24, 2023

This has been my second most requested blog post. (First is how to use bullet journaling for goals planning and goals mapping). Here are my favorite tools, starting in order of importance. For Bullet Journaling Essentials First, best pens for bullet journaling on tomoe river paper. Frixion erasable .38 pens “When I make a mistake,…

bullet journal

Bullet Journaling—How To Break Down Your Goals So You Can Actually Accomplish Them

By Marisa Porter | June 24, 2023

Bullet Journaling How To Set Goals Part II In part one of this series, I explained how to use the goals pages (or any pages) of my NightOwl Journal to draw a life map and then your first 1-5 list. Now you have your weekly and daily pages to help you track your progress. I…

bullet journaling how to make a life map you'll actually use to reach your goals

Bullet Journaling–How to Set Goals You Can Achieve By Mapping Your Life

By Marisa Porter | June 17, 2023

Walk towards your goals in 2024. News year’s resolutions don’t have to be made in January. And they don’t have to be resolutions, which are white knuckle ways of muscling through something that is guilt-driven and usually result in failure. Instead, make yourself a map.  (The following mind map is purely fictional and any resembles…

daily gratitude habit

Daily Gratitude–Powerful Reasons For Daily Gratitude In Your Bullet Journal

By Marisa Porter | April 10, 2023

Why starting a daily gratitude habit could change your life. A daily gratitude habit is not a chore. It’s a gift to yourself. “The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become.”– Robert Holden On Sunday, we went to Hefner Lake and watched the seagulls. We watched…

Three Simple, Functional Daily Layouts To Use In Your Bullet Journal

By Marisa Porter | March 31, 2023

It is beautiful to see the incredibly artistic records of life bullet journalers have created. I celebrate them and the joy they bring to the creators and the viewers like me. But it is also sometimes disheartening to see how the bullet journal method, invented by Ryder Carroll and customized and built upon by many…

5 Powerful Affirmations To Use In Your Bullet Journal

By Marisa Porter | March 19, 2023

I have a huge decision coming up, and sometimes having a huge decision paralyzes me. This is an exercise I sometimes do that is helping me now, that helped me recently, and I hope it will help you. Affirmation 1: Everything will be all right. Write this affirmation out. Then journal all the worse case…

5 things fans love about tomoe river paper

5 Things Fans Love About Tomoe River Paper

By Marisa Porter | March 9, 2023

It’s thin but mighty. Tomoe River paper is thin but mighty. When my Hobonichi Cousin first came in the mail, a memory that’s still precious to me, I fell instantly in love. There was so. much. paper. One for every day of the year, plus all the weeks and months had two. And it was…