A Student's BuJo Story

I'm Silvija - a 23 year old student from Lithuania. As a 5th year masters student, I felt like I'd cracked the code of success in my home university. I started Bullet Journaling in 2017 when I was a 3rd-year student. At first I only used my Bullet Journal for tracking my grades but soon I figured that it might be useful to track my study progress, homework, assignments, and deadlines.

I was curious how I would perform in different surroundings so I applied for a semester abroad. One thing led to another and a few months later I became an official exchange student at Stockholm University. Looking at my schedule I anticipated that studies would be a breeze, but oh boy I was wrong.

The study system in Sweden is completely different than in Lithuania so I had to find new ways of conquering these undiscovered waters. Even my usual Bullet Journal spreads didn't work! The amount of homework I had was overwhelming, so the only way to make sense of it all was to write it down. Soon enough, my Bullet Journal became my best friend because it was the map of a disaster I had to get out of.

My favorite method was my essay word tracker. Every time I was done writing for the day, I would write down how many words I wrote that day. I noticed that almost every day that number went up and I was writing more and more with ease. I was trying to reach my personal best result every day, and it worked like magic. I never could have done it without tracking those numbers in my Bullet Journal.

Systems I had created were super useful and frankly life-saving on my bachelor thesis and on my semester abroad. These were the hardest parts of my studies - filled with an overwhelming amount of work and information, covered in anxiety and helplessness. I used my Bullet Journal to write down my thoughts, create study schedules and different strategies on how to conquer challenges that seemed too big.

Bullet journaling gives me a place for everything that's in my mind. I feel way calmer and more relaxed ever since I started using it. Putting in the effort allowed me to clearly see that it really works - just by writing down everything I have to do, I believe that it can be done. By organizing my mind in my Bullet Journal, my life also gets more organized.

My bullet journal was my number one motivator to keep going and strive for more. As silly as it sounds, writing in my BuJo, turned me into my own personal motivator. For someone who has self-esteem issues, it was a super powerful realization that I can motivate and support myself in everything I do just by writing in a notebook. I am really grateful for Bullet Journaling because it changed the way I see myself as a student and as a person. It puts everything into place - my mind, my plans and my life.