Will The Bullet Journal Trend Stick?
My blog would flat out fall to pieces if the bullet journal trend doesn't stick around. They're still the most popular posts I write to date, they've given me a massive audience, they've provided me with a few viral pins on Pinterest and they gained me a LOT of traffic last year. In my personal life, I would probably miss bullet journaling if it disappeared. Sure I'd still carry on working in this way because it really is successful for me but I'd be sad there wasn't as much hype, interest or inspiration around.
Bullet journaling has been around for a little while now but I think it really came into it's own, certainly in the bloggersphere around Spring last year when high profile bloggers like Hannah Gale, Robowecop etc started sharing snippets of theirs. This is when I first cottoned on to the idea and created my own in May 2016 and whilst those bloggers don't use or talk about theirs anymore, my blog has been founded on it. Some of my favourite bloggers were found through bullet journaling; think Hannah and Megan straight off the bat and Pinterest is a hive of inspiration.
For the moment, bullet journaling is still a big deal. There are still blog posts being written about it day in day out. There's still Instagram accounts dedicated to sharing their favourite spreads or the innovative new ways they're using them. Pinterest is awash with the most divine flatlays with the most gorgeous groundbreaking layouts. There are Youtube stars showing you how to recreate what they've done or what they're using for their bujo tools these days. There's even progress on the actual bullet journal website with an app to help you and continual updates.
But will the trend stick?
By it's very definition, a trend is a fashion and we all know fashion is fast. A trend is something that doesn't stick around for long like Pokémon Go or cargo trousers with tassels on or over plucking your eyebrows. So is the bullet journal system a trend? I'd definitely have said so this time last year, it was a fad, something everyone was doing, the type of thing that we all do for a month over the summer and never remember to pick up again.
But now, a year on I'm still going. My whole blog squad is still going. Half my favourite bloggers are still going. And these days I am getting more and more requests for me to make my own bullet journals, to help others make theirs - I'm getting more and more messages from people saying reading my posts has got them tempted to make their own.
So at what point does a trend become something we just do? No longer a trend just a part of life, just a system of journaling?
I predict that actually yeah, bullet journals will stick around. This time next year maybe they won't be as big a thing, maybe we won't all be blogging about them, maybe they won't be trending anymore but I for one will still be using them.
There's something about the bullet journal that just works for people. It's simple for people with busy lives, it offers something a phone can't give you and it changes with you. What I love most about the bullet journal trend is it doesn't have to be a trend - it could easily last you a lifetime. It can change with you, can grow as you grow and become whatever you need it to be.
Maybe now my bullet journal is my work and my blog - maybe in 10 years it'll be home and my kids after school club schedules. Maybe now your bullet journal is your university timetable - maybe in 10 years it'll be your job notebook.
I can't see the bullet journal trend leaving us because the system is so personal, it can be developed as time goes on. Maybe there'll be new elements, maybe there'll be new online tools to help us, maybe it just won't be a trend anymore, maybe it'll just be a thing we've always done.
