TM of @bulletjournalnoob | November Feature

November 30, 2018 Elizabeth Ghekiere

This month's featured bullet journal is @bulletjournalnoob, an account which I follow and have found inspiration from on dozens of occasions. Normally, a featured bullet journal applied to be featured; however, this month, I reached out to TM and asked if she would be the November feature and she accepted. I am excited to share her inspiring work with you.

Meet TM of @bulletjournalnoob

Hi, lovelies! It is I, TM, the creator of @bulletjournalnoob and promoter of boob(s). I’m a 26-year-old female human being that enjoys clean sheets and fried chicken, but not at the same time - unless it’s in somebody else’s bed.

I’m a Norwegian graphic designer, currently doing a top-up year in the UK so I can get a bachelor’s degree in my trait. I am also:

A pastry chef
A proud Hufflepuff
The owner of too many rose gold objects

In my bullet journal life, I am a bit anonymous. I’ve had people I know following my account without knowing that it’s me – which I find highly amusing. I like being able to talk to people without them having a way of judging my body, and only knowing my soul. Is that cheesy? That’s cheesy. That’s like mozzarella cheesy. Oh well.

November Bullet Journal Feature | TM of @bulletjournalnoob

My Bullet Journal Journey

It was the summer of 2016, July to be specific. I had just moved to Oslo for the second time. In Oslo, I had about a month and a half to just enjoy the summer and get reacquainted with the city before I started my graphic design studies. I remember lurking about on Pinterest. Eventually, I stumbled upon bullet journaling in a post while looking for clever ways to plan my schoolwork.

Instantly, I hooked, and the first account I remember following on Instagram was @boho.berry. I also made an Instagram account for myself, although I don’t think I at first planned to post anything on it – I just liked to use separate accounts for different hobbies (which means that I have an account that’s all about fitspo that only follows athletic accounts).

The Learning Process

Looking back at my first spreads now, I just have to laugh. At first, I had to work on the spacing and sizes of stuff, and I struggled for a bit. I used these really horrible coloured pencils as well, and they were really not cooperating with me. Additionally, I remember making a multiple pages long Pokédex, so that I could track every Pokémon I’d caught. I drew lines too long, lines to short, and smudges everywhere. I never used the spread and I stopped playing Pokémon Go as well.

It took a while, I didn’t feel like I got the hang of it. My spreads never looked like the ones on Instagram, and I used so much time on something that I never felt content with.

In January 2017 I bought an iPad and tried to use that for my planning and tracking needs, but that didn’t do it either.

Finally Figuring It Out

It wasn’t until January this year that I finally found my spark, and also found my bullet journal style (although it is ever evolving). There was a BuJo-meetup in Oslo, with a lot of lovely people, including my very talented friend @buujooo. We passed around our books so we could absorb some inspiration from each other. For some reason this just made me go full on Instagram mode. I got myself a consistent background for my images, I spent a lot of time planning what I wanted to post, and I set reminders to remember to take pictures while the light was good.

I’ll gladly admit that the overwhelming amount of response I’ve gotten on Instagram is what drives my bullet journaling. I honestly don’t think I’d be using it as much as I do if it hadn’t been for the social media aspect of it all. It might sound a bit shallow, and I guess it is, but I honestly just love the community, and it is amazing to be a part of it and be able to inspire others.

Tips For Bullet Journal Beginners:

The best tip I can give you isthat you should use your journal for exactly what you want. Bullet journaling has evolved into much more than what it was intended to be, and you shouldn’t feel like you have to use it in any certain way.

My bullet journal actually isn’t used for planning at all. I never writedown what I am going to do, I only track what I’ve already done. For instance, I track how many hours I’ve slept, how many steps I’ve walked, and whether or not I’ve used my inhaler this morning. I also use it to draw flying dicks, which I guess is a pretty unique trait for my book.

Bottom line – if you want to use the book as a planner, that is absolutely amazing!
If you want to just track how your life is going – also amazing!

I for one am using three books; my bullet journal, my planner (in which I use the original bullet journal method), and my little handy dandy workout book (this also has drawings of penises on the inside).

Thank you, TM, for sharing your story and advice! I love the way different people bring bullet journaling into their life in such unique and wonderful ways!