Whether you\u2019re just starting out with bullet journaling, or you\u2019ve been at it for years, using a practice bullet journal is something a lot of people do to help stay motivated and creative. Why? Because drafting spreads, layouts and collections without fear of \u201cmessing up\u201d your bullet journal can keep you journaling!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Perhaps you feel intimidated by the amazingly perfect layouts and lettering you see on Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest and you don\u2019t know how to start. Or you found a new layout and you\u2019re itching to try it out but you don\u2019t quite have a spot in your journal just yet. Or maybe you just aren\u2019t getting the hang of spacing out your boxes or headings and it\u2019s causing some frustration. <\/span><\/p>\n To prevent the common paralysis that can come from staring at a blank page and wondering how to get the layout in your head onto the paper, give yourself somewhere to draft and practice!<\/span><\/p>\n Before we get to the tips, I want to take a moment to say that while I personally do enjoy planning out my layouts in a practice bullet journal, I have the utmost respect for anyone who does NOT need to have their journal evenly spaced or whatnot. There is a lot of pressure out there in the community to have a pristine \u201cperfect\u201d journal and I am NOT trying to feed into that. <\/span><\/p>\n What I am suggesting is how to practice layouts and lettering, just as you would practice if you were learning to play the guitar or learning to cook. Your journal is for YOU and you alone. The purpose of this post is to say it\u2019s okay to practice and plan your layouts if you need to get over feeling \u201cstuck\u201d or you are striving to have your journal also be an expression of your creativity.<\/span><\/p>\n Here are some super quick tips on starting and using a practice journal:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n Now that you\u2019ve drafted your page in the practice journal, you can start the process again in your main journal! I recommend starting in pencil again. I use pencil a lot in my main journal because I still like to get my spacing right. I also use it throughout the day to add \u201cticks\u201d or numbers to my trackers that will change as the day progresses. <\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a before and after of a simple weekly layout I was trying out this week. I had a couple of tweaks in the practice journal before I found the spacing I liked and the colors I wanted to use. You can see I refined it a bit in the main journal, which always feels easier to do after drafting.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n And guess what? The \u201cpractice\u201d journal may feel more natural and you may actually appreciate the unrefined look! It\u2019s perfectly okay to just keep going in your \u201cpractice\u201d journal if that feels good. Do what feels right for you.<\/span><\/p>\n I hope this has given you some ideas on how to use a practice bullet journal and I\u2019d love to hear your own thoughts and ideas! Do you use a practice bullet journal? Email me and let me know<\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Whether you\u2019re just starting out with bullet journaling, or you\u2019ve been at it for years, using a practice bullet journal is something a lot of people do to help stay motivated and creative. Why? Because drafting spreads, layouts and collections without fear of \u201cmessing up\u201d your bullet journal can keep you journaling!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,120],"tags":[119,18,118],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Use a Practice Bullet Journal<\/span><\/h3>\n
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