(funky music)
- Hey everyone, it's Amanda and welcome back to my channel
and today's video is very exciting
because not only is it another bullet journal video
which I know you guys love, it's also a collab
with my friend Erica or Miss Louie on YouTube.
We're both gonna be sharing some of our top tips
for bullet journal beginners.
Kind of like a bullet journal 101.
As well as doing a fun little giveaway
on both of our channels.
So I will leave the link to Erica's video
in the description box below
as well as at the end of this video
so definitely go check it out.
You guys will love her channel.
Like if you like my videos at all,
you will definitely enjoy her content.
She does bullet journal videos,
she does fashion, she does beauty, she does everything
and she's also like on top of all of that,
she's also just such a great human being
and I love her to death.
Of course go send her some love,
we're both doing giveaways so stay tuned
to the end of this video to see the prizes
and how you can win it.
But without further ado let's just get right in
to the video.
My first tip is something that is really important,
especially for those of you who are just starting out
with bullet journaling and that is to keep it simple.
At least at the beginning,
once you get the hang of the whole system
and of how everything works, then you can add in
the fancy stuff
and I feel like this is really important
because it can get very overwhelming.
Especially when you see all of these beautiful,
crazy-looking spreads on Instagram
and on YouTube and sometimes we just forget
that the whole point of this system
is to personalize your organization
and your productivity.
As some of you guys may know
I only started bullet journaling
at the beginning of this year
so even if you go back to my first bullet journal
setup video, like the very, very first one,
you can definitely see
a big difference in terms of the simplicity of my spreads
and that's because at the beginning
I just wanted to get the hang of it.
With all of the different moving parts involved,
the trackers, the logs and all of it,
I wanted to make sure that I understood
how to fully maximize this system
before adding any of that creative stuff later on.
The creativity is definitely one of my favorite aspects
of bullet journaling but it's not the only aspect
and it's definitely not the most important aspect.
Because the whole point of it is to be more organized
and to make your life easier, not more complicated.
Of course if you find that the minimal
and simple spreads work the best for you
then feel free to stick with that
but all I'm trying to say is that if you wanna add
all of the decorative aspects of it,
I really think you should try to just
tone it down a little at the beginning
and then work your way up to it.
Just so that you can do it more efficiently.
My next step is kind of related to the last one
but I did just quickly wanna talk about materials
because I do get questions all the time on my videos
asking me what bullet journal I use,
what pens I use.
And then at the same time I also get messages from people
saying that they don't have enough money
to start bullet journaling
or the supplies are too expensive
and hold up guys.
I just wanted to tell you all you need to bullet journal
is a notebook and a pen.
You don't need any fancy notebook,
you don't need any fancy pen.
Obviously there are certain advantages
of using certain materials
like if you prefer using a dotted notebook.
It can definitely help you with lines and all of that
but if you only have a lined notebook
or a plain notebook or even a grid notebook,
that totally works as well.
Again if you just figure out the system,
any notebook should work for you
and the same thing goes with pens.
You don't need to get all of the fancy stationery stuff
that you see all the time.
You can just use that free pen
that you got from the doctor's office
and it works perfectly fine.
Of course if you wanna invest and start off
with quality materials or even eventually upgrade
towards them I would personally recommend
the Leuchtturm1917 A5 dotted journal.
It's the one that I use,
it's the one that a lot of people use and it's just a great,
high-quality notebook and what I love about it
is that it lays flat.
So when you're drawing, you don't have to worry
about that weird notebook bump or a spring coil
in the center, making it uncomfortable for you to draw.
That's something to look out for
when you're buying your notebook for bullet journaling
and then for fineliners and pens,
there's literally millions of different kinds out there
but some of my favorites are the Faber-Castell Artist Pens
as well as the Pigma Microns
and the Muji gel pens.
Again you do not need to use those specific items at all.
Anything will work.
All right, so my next tip is probably something
that most of you have been doing
since you're watching this video
and that is to find inspiration.
Now I do this all the time, especially on Instagram.
There's so many beautiful bullet journal
and studygram accounts on there
and I like scrolling through and whenever I see a picture
or spread that I really love,
I'll use the save for later, bookmark button.
I don't know what it's called.
But it just lets you compile a mood inspiration board
of the spreads that you really like
and it helps to give you something to refer to
at the beginning of the month of the beginning of the week
and get those creative juices flowing.
Especially because everyone's spreads are so different
and everyone has different styles and everything.
So having a curated list of what you prefer
in a bullet journal can help you
to apply it to your own.
Personally I find that it helps me a ton
so if you guys are looking for a bullet journal
inspiration account to follow,
you can definitely check out mine.
It's just @amandarachdoodles.
I also post a lot of my drawings on there
and of course my main Instagram account is @amandarachlee
so sorry for that little self promo in there
but in case you wanted some spread inspirations,
you can check out my Instagram.
Okay, so my next tip is to not be afraid
to try out new spread layouts or to change it up
every so often.
It can be so easy for bullet journaling
to become repetitive or mundane or boring because
if you do the exact same thing
every single week of course it's gonna get boring.
So don't be afraid to switch it up.
I always change things and not even just from
like a aesthetic standpoint,
I also change the actual layout of my spreads a lot.
If you check out my very first bullet journal video
you can see that I've changed up
the way that I organize my week on the page
and that's just because as I go along
and as I use it, I figured out what I'm looking for
in my bullet journal and what works the best for me.
So personally I found that I love having
a weekly log but that might not work for some of you guys.
So you can try out one layout and then if you don't like it,
just change it up for the next week.
You do not have to be stuck in this rut
of doing the same thing and keeping it consistent
all the way through.
It's supposed to evolve with you and your lifestyle
and your needs and that's kind of the beauty
of bullet journaling.
So I'm fully expecting that my bullet journal
will look way different in December
than it did in January.
My last tip is for those of you
who are finding it difficult to stay consistent
with your bullet journal, and keep it active
and keep it going.
That is another one of the concerns
that I hear a lot in the comments
and what I would recommend is to not to do your spreads
too far in advance.
Like right now we're at the beginning of the April,
you should not be doing your May monthly spreads right now.
In my personal opinion, that's what works for me.
Again everything is very up to personal preference.
If you like to set up your spreads
way ahead of time, go for it.
But just in general I find that if I set things up
too far in advance,
there's no motivation for me to even partake
in the system anymore.
Plus if you set up your spreads too far in advance,
you're kind of cutting yourself off from the best part
of the bullet journal system which is that
you can just flip a page and do whatever you want on it.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a weekly spread.
Like sometimes I will flip over a new page
and start writing a journal entry
or start writing a shopping list and it's fine
because all I have to do for the next week
is just turn it over and keep going.
So if you plan too far in advance
there's no space for all of those
personalized lists and entries
that you might want to do.
So I really like to sit down at the beginning of the month
to set up my monthly spreads
which is of course the Plan With Me videos
that you guys see and then at the beginning of each week
that's when I will set up the next weekly spread.
All right guys.
So those are my tips for bullet journal beginners.
One of the main things that I want you guys
to take away from this,
if you take away anything from this video
is to just kind of do it and try it
and then see where it takes you.
Like if you sit down and you find that the system
does not work for you, you can either switch it up
and personalize it to your liking
or if it just doesn't work for you at all,
sometimes that just happens.
But I hope you guys found this video helpful.
Don't forget to go check out Erica's video
if you wanna hear
more tips and tricks about bullet journaling.
I will leave that linked down below as well as up there
in the cards, so go check that out.
But now of course onto the giveaway
which is probably what you guys
have all been waiting for.
Me and Erica wanted to do kind of like
a beginner's bullet journal kit giveaway
so we're each giving away our personal favorite
bullet journaling materials.
Everything you need to get started.
So for my prize pack I'm giving away of course
a Leuchtturm1917 A5 dotted journal, my favorite.
I'm also giving away just this little side notebook
from Muji just because I thought it was cute
and I added on a rose stamp for you guys.
Along with that you guys are gonna be getting
my favorite Fineliners, a couple of other pens.
I have a Tombow Dual Tip Brush Pen in gray.
A Muji pen, this is my favorite for writing
as well as the Tombow Fudenosuke Pen
which is great for calligraphy
and then this thing which is my baby.
If you've watched any of my bullet journal videos
you guys know that this white gel pen is my life
and my savior.
So you'll be getting one of those as well
and then along with that you'll be getting
a 50 pack of Crayola Super Tips Markers,
I love these guys, they are awesome
and I use them all the time.
Then finally, you will also be getting
a pack of some fun Washi Tape from Muji.
These ones are really pretty.
It's just like this burgundy pack.
So that's everything you will be getting
in this fun prize pack.
The prizes for Erica's giveaway are completely different
and the whole entry pool is separate
so that means you guys have two different giveaways
that you're able to enter to win some
fun bullet journaling materials.
It's gonna be super easy to enter both of our giveaways
so everything you need to know
including the rules and Erica's giveaway and video
will be in the description box below as usual.
So click down there for more details.
Anyways, that's all for me.
I'm gonna stop talking now.
I hope you guys have an awesome day
and I will talk to you in my next video, bye guys.
(funky music)