Bullet Journal Ideas for Teenagers: Fun and Creative Spreads to Inspire

Back to School season is the perfect time to get more organized. And one of the perfect tools to give your teen is teaching them how to track and plan out their school week. The more organized and on top of their school tasks they are, the more successful at school they will feel. Each teenager is a little different in how they want to organize and plan out their week. But bullet journaling is a perfect way to test out using a physical planner  to help your high schooler be more organized this year. Here are some bullet journal ideas for teenagers to get the creative juices flowing!

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Getting Started with Bullet Journaling

To start a bullet journal, your teenager will need some basic supplies. A beautiful notebook, pens, and some of the creative bullet journal ideas below will get your teen on their way. And if you make bullet journaling more “fun”, your teen is more likely to try using a bullet journal as a way to stay organized!

Remember, we are trying to encourage our teenagers to take more responsibility for their schedule and school. But we also want to share with them the joy of seeing their goals accomplished.

Basic Supplies for Bullet Journaling for Students

Journals

First and foremost, teens will need a notebook – it can be any type of notebook, but it’s best if it has a grid or dot grid layout, as this will help in creating straight lines and neat page layouts.

This beautiful Celestial Dot Matrix themed journal has a dot grid layout, perfect for bullet journaling.

Or check out this spiral bound bullet journal that easily lays flat for more drawing and doodling.

Pens

Next, you’ll want to pick a fun pack of pens or pencils for your teen’s bullet journal.

Some popular choices include Pigma Micron pens or Tombow Dual Brush pens for their durability and smooth writing. You’ll want to find pen or colored pencils that can add a pop of color but won’t be so overwhelming that they bleed through the pages. I like the Pigma Micron for drawing lines and writing as they have a very fine point. While the Tombow Dual Brush pens are perfect for coloring and doodling.

Part of the fun of bullet journaling is to be creative. Your teen can doodle on the pages, add pictures, or add some color and style with beautiful Washi tape Set!

Bring along a ruler or straight edge to help your teen create clean lines, columns, and borders on the pages. Your teen may also enjoy having some erasers, highlighters, or a bullet journal stencil set on hand for color-coding and drawing special signs and symbols.

Understanding Symbols

In bullet journaling, symbols play a key role in organizing your tasks, events, and notes. There’s no right or wrong set of symbols to use – it’s entirely up to your teenager to decide which ones work best. However, some common symbols include:

• Task: a simple dot or bullet point
• Event: a circle
• Note: a dash or hyphen
• Completed task: an X over the task bullet
• Migrated task: an arrow to indicate a task has been moved to another day or month
• Color coding: color each school subject a different color to see at the glance what is due when

Teens should feel free to create personalized custom symbols or use color-coding to further personalize their school bullet journal.

Layouts

Your teen’s bullet journal should be tailored to their specific needs, and that’s where the customizable layouts come into play. At its core, a bullet journal typically includes a daily page to list tasks, events, and notes for the individual day. Remember, it’s all about making the journal work for your student and their unique requirements.

For teens, it might be useful to incorporate some distinctive layouts or sections like:

• Weekly spreads for planning out tasks, appointments, and reminders
• Study or homework planners to help manage school assignments
• Habit trackers to monitor progress in developing good habits
• Expense trackers to manage personal finances or savings goals
• Goals or inspiration pages for setting and reflecting on personal aspirations

Christina at Square Lime Designs shows lots of ideas for bullet journal layouts that will work for school!

And Masha at Masha Plans has a step-by-step guide here to setting up your teen’s first bullet journal

Remember, every bullet journal is different, so don’t be afraid to experiment and find the layouts that work best. Keep it simple at first. As your teen becomes more comfortable, they can start personalizing and including more advanced features. Above all, encourage your high schooler to have fun!  Enjoy the process of making their bullet journal a reflection of themselves and their goals.

Bullet Journal Layouts and Designs for Teens

Monthly and Weekly Layouts

When creating a bullet journal, one of the most important aspects is to have efficient monthly and weekly layouts. A monthly layout should include a calendar where you can easily keep track of important dates, appointments, and events. Include space for monthly goals. This very basic bullet journaling layouts by a teen will give your teenager a clear overview of the month and help your teen stay organized.

For weekly layouts, your teen can focus on breaking down tasks and schedule into manageable portions. Design weekly plans with a combination of practical applications and inspiration that will helps your teen stay on top of their tasks. Customize the weekly spreads by including sections for doodling and journal prompts for teens. Incorporate mood trackers and notes sections to make the bullet journal an all-in-one personal tool.

Creative Layout Ideas

Unleash the creativity while designing your bullet journal by incorporating fun and imaginative elements. From doodles and washi tape to creative font styles and borders, there are countless ways to personalize a bullet journal and make it a reflection of your teen’s unique personality.

Feel free to draw inspiration from these bullet journal layout ideas as a way to incorporate artistic aspects that perfectly blend with your teen’s  bullet journal’s functional purpose.

Remember to encourage your teen to have fun with their journal, exploring different layouts, doodles, and designs. With a bit of creativity, they’ll will hopefully find they love using their bullet journal not only as a planner but also as a tool for self-expression and personal growth.

Personalizing Your Bullet Journal

For a teenager, bullet journaling can be a powerful tool for self-discovery and personal growth. By personalizing their bullet journal in a way that reflects their interests, passions, and goals, they can truly make it their own. Let’s dive into a few key sub-sections your teenager can create in their journal, if they want to use their bullet journal beyond school!

Responsibility and Goal Setting

One of the most crucial aspects of bullet journaling is setting and tracking goals. Whether it’s related to your schoolwork, family life, or personal interests, having clear goals can help your teen stay focused and organized. And compare their journey less to others as they celebrate their own successes!

Consider creating a habit tracker for tasks your teen wants to complete daily or weekly. This could include chores, exercise, reading, meditating, praying, drinking more water, or even spending time with loved ones. In addition, teens can dedicate a section of their bullet journal to outlining their short-term and long-term goals. Encourage your teen to think about what they want to achieve in different areas of their life, such as education, relationships, and career aspirations, like landing their future dream job.

Unique Bullet Journal Ideas for Teens

Movie, TV Show, and Meal Tracking Through Bullet Journaling

Creating a bullet journal can also be a fun and personalized way to organize your life during the teenage years.

One unique idea that your teen may be excited to track is the movies and TV shows they have watched. Teens can even make a “Want to Watch” list! Teens can create colorful lists or even design a movie ticket stub-inspired spread for each film they loved and give the movie a rating. The same goes for TV show tracking – create a list or design a layout highlighting their favorite series and actors.

Managing Mental Health and Well-Being with a Bullet Journal

Helping our teens learn to manage their mental health and well-being is always a priority. Using a bullet journal is a great way to track and manage their mental health. One common practice is to create a mood tracker, where your teen can shade in a symbol or pattern each day reflecting how they felt. This visual representation of their mood can help your teen identify patterns or personal triggers over time.

Incorporating a “brain dump” section in their bullet journal allows them to have a place to write down any thoughts, ideas, or feelings. This allows them to have a place to get all their swirling thoughts out of their head and onto the page. Brain dumping can help declutter negative or repetitive thoughts and improve their mental well-being.

Another helpful page to include in your teen’s bullet journal is a gratitude log. Taking time each day to write down 2 or 3 things they are grateful for will help them maintain a positive perspective on life. Acknowledging and celebrating their accomplishments is equally important. Creating a journal space where your teen can be grateful for and celebrate all their wins, big and small, helps combat the comparison drain of being on social media too much.

Bullet Journal Ideas for Teenagers

Bullet journals can be much more than just a planning system. Encourage your teenager to start small by setting up a to-do list, daily spread, and monthly setup. And remember it is all about trial and error. Your teen may jump in and love everything about bullet journaling, using their bullet journal for everything. Other teenagers may prefer to just use it for school only tasks and that’s OK too. Help your teen keep experimenting with different layouts and ideas to create a bullet journal that works best for them.

If after trying out the bullet journal for a month or two, your teen doesn’t love it, ask them some questions. What did they like about bullet journaling? What did not work well for them? Did they experience any roadblocks when using their bullet journal? By asking questions, you will help your teen learn what they can from bullet journaling and to see the experience as part of the growth process. Then your teen can move on to trying another form of staying organized that they may enjoy even more!

If you have older teens, comment below on the different ways of staying organized that have worked well for your teen.