How students use bullet journaling as an artistic escape from the stress of college

Class, homework, sleep, repeat. 

A busy college schedule can leave little time for pursuing artistic passion. But students on UNC’s campus who feel they have sacrificed their love of art are making their calendar a little more creative.

Bullet journaling walks the line between academics and art by combining a planner with a sketchbook. 

Bullet journals typically consist of hand-drawn daily, weekly or monthly calendars. Artistic elements, such as sketches and trackers, are dispersed between the traditional aspects of a planner, creating a personalized experience. 

When starting college, bullet journaling became more appealing, said student Jessie Zheng. Zheng wasn’t able to take art classes between her busy schedule, so she started a journal at the beginning of her first-year at UNC. 

"I feel like I can still plan and draw a little bit every single day,” Zheng said. “I know some people don’t like to make it super artsy, but I try to be creative with it.” 

Unlike a traditional planner, bullet journals are empty at the time of purchase, guaranteeing total control. This lack of structure is appealing because some planners can be too strict, said student Emily Modrow. But with a bullet journal, Modrow said she can organize her planner exactly how she wants it. 

“It gives the freedom to maximize the utility of keeping a planner, and, also, it allows you to be artistic in different areas," Modrow said.

Each bullet journal is different. UNC sophomore Kayla Dang, who has been journaling for two years now, has a YouTube channel, DangItsKayla, dedicated to recording her process, she said. 

“Essentially, I start off with a page which is where I just creatively design whatever I want to draw,” Dang said. “From there, I add a monthly calendar to remind me of all of my events and then, depending on the month, I add a habit tracker and an expense tracker and other stuff like that.” 

Dang sets her bullet journal up at the end of each month, altering the layouts based on her schedule. Senior Alexis Byrd, however, chose to set her journal up over the summer before the semester started in order to find a productive way to spend her time, she said. 

“The way I decided to start was because I needed a planner for the school year, so I elected to make my own through bullet journaling,” Byrd said. “Since I had the summer to work on it, I figured that would be a lot less stress than trying to actually design the pages over the course of a school year.” 

Bullet journaling is not only used by students as an artistic outlet. 

Junior Sara Coello said that, although she doesn't consider herself artistic, she’s found bullet journaling to be a stress-relieving activity that helps her manage her time. 

“It’s so helpful to write everything out,” Coello said. “It’s nice having everything in one space because I tend to, when I’m falling asleep at night, think of all the things I have to do. So, I usually keep it by my bed in case I think of something and I’m like ‘Oh my gosh, I have to do that tomorrow.’”

The process of journaling and writing things down on paper has been proven to have many health-related, emotional and behavioral benefits. For students, the activity of writing and keeping a journal can be incredibly stress relieving, said Mildred Witt, a psychologist and psychology practicum coordinator at Counseling and Psychological Services. 

“There are many, many different benefits, but I think they’d fall into three broad categories: health-related, emotional and behavioral,” Witt said. 

Behaviorally, bullet journaling can reduce stress and anxiety, leading to a boosted GPA and improved productivity, Witt said. Health-wise, it can lower blood pressure and strengthen immunity. Journaling has also been shown to improve mood and increase confidence, Witt said. 

Although bullet journaling and normal journaling have many proven benefits, the process can still seem intimidating to students. Modrow said she experiences pressure to be perfect and have a neat, aesthetically-pleasing journal. 

“I kind of just kept reminding myself that I’m doing it for me, not really to show other people, so a lot of that pressure was lifted,” Modrow said.  

Although the process of creating a bullet journal can be intimidating and time consuming, Byrd said she feels it’s worth it to have a physical product that is enjoyable and increases productivity. 

“If you haven’t done it before, who knows, maybe you will do it and you’ll really enjoy it, and it’ll be something that takes stress out of your life or just lets you feel more creative," Byrd said. 

@sarah_campbs

arts@dailytarheel.com