Emerging from the Spanish, Math, and English departments comes a common love and hobby–bullet journaling. Janette Rodriguez, Kayla Johnson, and Kylie Griffin have taken bullet journaling to the next level with their amount of commitment and flare. A bullet journal is a dot-paged journal that allows for more creativity and less clutter than a traditional journal. Johnson, Griffin, and Rodriguez all strive for perfection when it comes to their journals, and have different ways of meeting their needs. 

English teacher,Kylie Griffin, started journaling in her adolescence, and has been following the craze ever since. She started off journaling in a regular journal, and it wasn’t until a few years ago when she switched over to bullet journaling. 

When it comes to making her journal her own, she adds art to her spreads to make it unique. As far as the benefits go, she has seen a tremendous increase in organization. To make sure the organization piece doesn’t get lost in the art-filled pages, Griffin said, “I’ll do one color per month. It’s like my teacher’s thing.” Being able to have a preview of the month has been the most helpful for her, and she can remember things that she would usually forget if she didn’t put them in her phone.

Because she has been journaling since high school, Griffin has learned the ins and outs of the craft. She said, “It takes a while, and I would say start small. Start really small in manageable bites because if you try to do it all at once, it becomes overwhelming quickly, and you probably won’t stay with it.” She recommends that for anyone thinking about journaling, definitely try it, just know that the process won’t be quick, but improvements will be seen.

Everyone uses their journal for a different purpose. Griffin uses her journal as an agenda, as well as just a space to take notes and doodle. She finds that organization can help alleviate stress, and decorating and designing her own journal helps to meet her needs.

Spanish teacher, Janette Rodriguez, finds bullet journaling to be helpful during stressful and difficult times of life. 

She said that she is not the most creative person, so she finds new designs that don’t involve a lot of creativity. Where some journalists add drawings, others, like Griffin add lots of color. Rodriguez, on the other hand, uses colorful pens, washi tape, and stickers to add an easy artistic flair. One personal touch she also adds is inspirational and motivational quotes. She uses her quotes in times of desperation for motivation. She said, “Especially after a bad day, just kind of getting all my thoughts together and realizing that even though there were bad things that happened, there were good things that went along with just the bad day.”

For anyone finding interest in journaling, she encourages crafty materials such as pens and washi tape to ignite the creativity. Rodriguez encourages new people to stay with the hobby because it is a difficult art to pursue at the beginning, but, “Don’t get caught up in the details because no matter what, it’s your journal. So, it’s going to be perfect for you.”

Rodriguez has also noticed the benefits of journaling. She said, “I’m more organized. I know what’s going on in my life.” As days go by, schedules fill up, so it can be hard to keep up on journaling. Rodriguez said, “I try to do it at least three times a week just so it’s updated and everything is in place.” Rodriguez has found a love for journaling, and like Griffin, has found her own style that helps her throughout her life.

Math teacher, Kayla Johnson, found her love for bullet journaling from inspiration off of Instagram. She said, “I like that it’s a way to be creative, but still be productive. It kind of helps me keep focused on what I want to work on, and on myself for a month or however long I set a goal for or whatever I am keeping track of. I can be creative and still feel like I’m using my time well.”

 Her journal is unique in the way that she uses scrapbook paper to decorate her spreads. She writes quotes and creates fun ideas, such as a map of the United States to track where she has been, on the scrapbook paper to add flare to the page. It’s her way of making drawings without having to be a great artist. Along with Griffin and Rodriguez, Johnson uses colorful pens in her journal, but more for color coding purposes.

Journaling can be a hard task to begin, so Johnson said, “I would recommend that you join a Facebook page or an Instagram page just so you can get all sorts of ideas…”.

Along with an increase in organization, Johnson has seen an improvement in her personal mindset on things. She said, “I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better at focusing on, or picking something that I want to improve on a little bit and being dedicated to it… I’m not as hard on myself because I know it’s just a little thing and I don’t have to do it perfectly every day.”

There are a plethora of ideas on what to track in a journal, and Johnson is excited that she has almost made it to page 100 in her bullet journal. She is planning on doing a page on “100 things about me” as well as a wedding ring spread showcasing different friend’s wedding dates and anniversaries.

Unfortunately, being a teacher takes up a great deal of time during the year, so journaling becomes less of a priority when summer ends and fall begins for Johnson. Even when time is constrained, Johnson tries to see the positives and track grateful events that happened throughout a day.

She has dedicated a spread to, “Three Good Things, and when I’m having a bad day, I sit down and write down three good things that happened. Or, if I’m having a really bad day, I go back and I read all of my three good things, and they’re so nice. Just the reminder of there’s always these little moments throughout the day. That’s one of my favorite, favorite parts of it [journaling],” Johnson said. The satisfaction of setting goals and meeting them along with personal spreads designed for hard times in life is a component of Johnson’s bullet journal that sets hers apart from others. 

The great diversity found in the journals of Kylie Griffin, Janette Rodriguez, and Kayla Johnson illustrates how much of a personalized hobby bullet journaling is along with the different methods of organization the art holds. No matter if the journal is used everyday, or every few months, these three teachers have seen first hand how beneficial bullet journaling can be.