We're thrilled to share this guest blog from influencer Alec Fischer (@fischrjournals). Alec helps you get organized through Bullet Journals every day. Read to the end and find a special announcement from Zebra Pen and make sure to follow Alec on social!
Are any of you feeling stressed? Do you need an outlet to help you visualize your day, or to put your “to-do” list in order? If your answer is yes to any of these, I’d recommend looking into starting your very own bullet journal. For anyone who hasn’t heard of bullet journaling, it’s a practice where you use bullet points & short sentences to plan out your schedule. See examples here.
When I’m feeling stressed out, I create a layout plan to help me visualize my day. It can include everything from meetings, work, time with friends, to classes (if you’re in school). The layouts can be as simple as you’d like, to more complex designs. Today, I want to show you a simple baseline that can help you create your very own!
Here are the supplies I used to create the designs I’ll be showing you how to make. Feel free to get your own via Zebra Pen USA!
Supplies Used:
Black Zebra Fountain Pen: (COMING SOON!)
Generic Ruler
Generic Notepad/Notebook
How To:
Once you have your supplies, you’re going to want to turn to a fresh notebook page. Using your ruler & pens, draw a large rectangular box that covers enough lines to mark the amount of hours you usually stay up. I wake up early & get to bed late, so my design has quite a few lines.
Then mark the lines with the time of day. It should look something like this:
I use the F-301 0.7 to draw the boxes, then the Fountain Pen to fill everything in and write my text.
Now you can decide what direction you’d like to take. I prefer two version: highlighter & minimalist modern.
Highlighter:
For the highlighter version of the daily plan, you’re going to want to use your Zebrite Eco Highlighters to fill in the time each activity takes. Fill in the space however you’d like – I draw a vertical line down the time slot to fill it in.
Next, take your ruler and draw a horizontal line next to the vertical line. I let the highlight dry, then write in my daily task. It should look something like this:
You can maneuver the design however you’d like, or in whatever way fits your aesthetic! Share you designs using the hashtag #ZebriteEcoHighlighters when you’re finished!
Minimalist Modern:
For the minimalist modern version of the daily plan (my personal favorite), you’ll want to start with the same base structure. Instead of using highlighters to fill in the time slots, you’ll want to use the ruler to trace boxes around the selected time. Class from 11am to noon? Fill it in! I like using modern patterns & fun minimalist elements to mix things up a bit.
Next, use your ruler to draw a horizontal line outward from the filled in box. At the end of the line, write out your “to-do” item, or activity. Under that activity you can also add more specific bullet points, depending on the level of detail you’d prefer.
When finished, it should look something like this:
When you’re done, you have a little piece of art that can help you stay organized and ready for the rest of the day! It’s a constantly growing adventure, so don’t worry if your designs don’t look the same as the images above. Each person adds their own style and flair to their designs – it’s what makes it so fun!
Good luck and happy planning to you! -Alec
Alec Fischer is an award-winning director, content creator, & social influencer. When he's not working on new documentary projects, you can find him working on his bullet journal, blogging about mental health & wellness, or reading awesome books while drinking tea. You can follow him on Instagram under the handle: @FischrJournals
BONUS: We are thrilled to share a complete barrel redesign on the Zebrite Dual-Tipped Highlighter. You're seeing it here FIRST! Tell us what you think:
