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 about creating self-compassionate (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.

What We Can Learn From An Epic Story’s Moment Of Truth

By Marisa Porter | January 16, 2024

Each of us in on our own hero’s journey It’s always a big sigh of relief to me when I reach the part of each story that writers call the moment of truth.This is where the protagonist, the main character, realizes the truth about themselves. This is where they understand who they are. It’s when Hiccup…

bullet journal daily spread trade grit for hope and joy

Rebellion and Faith: 10 Reasons I Journal Daily

By Marisa Porter | January 12, 2024

Reflective daily journaling is defying the establishment. I have made a lot of lists in my life. But list-making, and checking things off, in and of itself is not worth much without reflection. When I shared about how my paper planning journey started, I had been in digital notification hell for years. Digital notifications don’t…

One Atomic Habit Is Worth A Lifetime of Resolutions

One Atomic Habit Is Worth A Lifetime of Resolutions

By Marisa Porter | January 4, 2024

Trade Guilt and Resolutions For One Atomic Habit While many have caught on that New Year’s Resolutions are typically abandoned in the warm glow of Valentine’s Day, and have ditched them, many of us still have a lingering guilt for not improving something: ourselves, the world, our bodies—our kids, our homes, our careers. We’re not…

Notion and Bullet Journaling Are A Powerful Way To Manage Life

Notion and Bullet Journaling: A Powerful Life Management System

By Marisa Porter | November 30, 2023

How I Manage My Life Digital and Analog Planning Using Notion and Owl Paper My heart is analog and always will be. You can read my full story here, but I will never go back to all digital life management—I don’t want to be managed by a robot.  However, some things should not be analog.…

prioritize

Prioritize: How To Make Decisions While Drowning.

By Marisa Porter | October 5, 2023

How this simple exercise can help you prioritize and deal with intense overwhelm Have you ever been hit by a wall of paralysis that made you feel like you shouldn’t couldn’t prioritize? Maybe you got big news (good or bad), and emotions you didn’t know how to deal with efficiently overwhelmed you. Or maybe you…

atomic habits tomoe river paper planner

Is Focusing On Atomic Habits Better Than Focusing On Your Goals?

By Marisa Porter | August 2, 2023

Atomic habits build character, grit, tenacity, and the determination to reach your goals. Goals are wonderful, and I have been tracking mine since 2019. However, when I read Atomic Habits by James Clear in 2022, I was intrigued by the concept that life-long gains could come through tiny, incremental changes. After all, I was a…

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…

favorite daily bullet journal layout tomoe river paper planner daily affirmations journal

My Favorite Daily Bullet Journal Layout—Insanely Simple And Functional

By Marisa Porter | July 22, 2023

Looking for a Bullet Journal Daily Spread That Actually Works? Part I: I’ve Used This Simple Three-Part 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…

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,…