Are you still using a regular planner? Have you ever thought about going digital? Maybe you didn’t even realize there was such a thing as a digital planner? Well, let me tell you a little more about them and why you should make the switch to a digital planner (or bullet journal) today!
First, let me say I am not talking about using your Google Calendar or using some fancy calendar app. I am talking about a digital version of a physical planner. It looks like a paper planner and it acts like one too but better!
See, a digital planner is just a PDF that is made to look like a planner and then you upload it into a note-taking app that allows you to edit the PDF such as GoodNotes or Notability. I am an iPhone user so I use GoodNotes.
GoodNotes is only available for Apple users but Andriod users can use Notability and others. So here is an example of what a digital planner looks like. This is from GoodNotes Goods, Co. It has hyperlinks in the PDF to allow you to jump to certain sections of the planner, like the tabs on the right take you to each month.
It looks just like a real planner, doesn’t it?! So why make the switch to digital? Let’s talk about all the benefits you get from a digital planner that a physical planner just can’t do.
Pros of a Digital Planner vs a Physical Planner
Can be use right from your phone or ipad
More convenient to use
Saves paper
Only need one pencil
Don’t have to buy a new one when it is full
Easily add more pages
Don’t have to buy stickers, tape, pens pencils markers
If you do buy digital stickers you only have to buy them once, when physical stickers you only get one use out of them.
You can use any font you want (not just what you can write)
More customizable
More efficient
Easily make edits
Add images and graphics
Add charts and graphs
Won’t rip or get all banged up
You can add links to other sites or link within the planner
Won’t bleed through and ruin the next page
Going digital you are able to make easier edits and adjustments with a few swipes of your magic wand…I mean stylus. I can’t do that on a regular planner. When I mess up (which happens a lot) I am stuck with that forever. Even if you are using a pencil it still isn’t the same.
Flaws of a Physical Planner or Bullet Journal
I joined a few Bullet Journal/Planner Facebook Groups to get inspirations and ideas on how to use my bullet journal. It is amazing how creative people can be! With a blank paper, they turn it into this beautiful functional work of art.
However, I have seen so many of these talented people share their layouts that have a smudge, a rip, or a bleed through on all their hard work.
For me, I struggle with having a steady hand and the patience to create a layout. But with each of these flaws I just see how much easier, it would be to use a digital version.
There are no mistakes that can’t quickly be fixed with a digital version that you can’t fix on a physical version.
What is The Best Digital Planner
There is no one perfect planner that fits all. One layout may work better for someone than another layout. I think that is the beauty behind the bullet journal. You are able to customize each page to your own liking. It can be a planner, a mood tracker, a notebook, anything you can dream up! So to me the best would be a digital bullet journal. I love them so much I created a free one just for you to test this whole digital process out for yourself! It works great with an ipad pro and the GoodNotes app or any other note-taking app.
I will say that GoodNotes does cost I believe $7.99 for the app. But I have spent more on wasted planners than that so this way I can now reuse the digital planners and bullet journals I create over and over again in the GoodNotes app so it is well worth it to me.
Plus, the options that are offered in the app are what makes me love it so much. It makes using your planner so easy!
How Do I Import a Digital Planner into GoodNotes
Once you get the app there is a dotted square with a plus sign, click on that and then choose import, from there you just find the PDF you saved and import it! In the GoodNotes app you can create folders to keep all of your notebooks and planners all organized. There are free templates and notebooks that you can create in the app as well.
Where Can I Purchase a Digital Planner
There are so many wonderful digital planners available on Etsy that you can purchase one and reuse. Or you could always create your own digital planner for free like I did. If you are thinking you may be interested in creating your own digital planner but need some guidance than no problem, I can help you!
I had the same questions when I first heard about bullet journals: What is a bullet journal? And how do you start a bullet journal? It wasn’t until I had one for a few months did I finally see the full potential of a bullet journal thanks to Pinterest.
When I first heard about a bullet journal it was from another blogger and she shared how she used hers for planning out her blog and scheduling her time. Nothing too fancy. I gave it a try and really I wasn’t having any luck.
Then I realized that there was such a thing as a digital version of the bullet journal. That’s when all the flood gates opened up for me on how to use a bullet journal!
Pin this to your Bullet Journal Board on Pinterest
What is a bullet journal?
First, let’s cover what is a bullet journal. It is a journal (not necessarily a notebook but more of a blank journal) with dotted pages (bullets). Each page has small light-colored dots on them to serve as guides while you are creating each page. In this picture, you can barely see the dots on the page but they are there and act as perfect guides to create this awesome layout.
See that is the whole appeal of a bullet journal. It is a blank canvas for you to turn each page into your own creation! Now, I myself am not a very artistic person so you will have to take a look at some of these beautiful designs I found on Pinterest to fully understand!
Each of these is so pretty and they are really just the tip of the iceberg of all the different designs you can do with your bullet journal.
How to Get Started?
To get started with your very own journal you would first need to purchase one. I got mine off of Amazon. There are several to choose from so here are some of the ones listed on Amazon. They range around $8 for a journal.
There are tons of supplies you can purchase also to decorate your journal. Things like stickers, pens, markers, and even fun designed washi tape! Or you can just grab a bundle deal like this one.
Now here is where I want to stop you for just a sec. As I mentioned above I came across digital bullet journals. I want to share those with you real quick so you can move forward in the direction you choose.
What is a digital bullet journal?
A digital bullet journal is just like it sounds. It is a digital version of a bullet journal that you can use on your iPad, tablet, or even your phone. It comes as a PDF so you just need a program that will allow you to edit or write on the PDF for it to work.
For example, there are note-taking apps that allow you to write on a PDF such as GoodNotes, Adobe, Notability, and OneNote. It just depends on your device and your style on which one works for you.
To learn all about how awesome digital bullet journals are (and why I feel like they are actually the better option) check out my post here. Or to see how you can use your Notes app on your iPhone as a bullet journal, read this post here.
Or if you’re sold and you want to give digital bullet journals a test run for yourself you can grab a copy of my free digital bullet journal here!
Once you have chosen your bullet journal format (physical or digital) people will often get stuck on how to use them. Use these 5 quick steps to help you get started.
1. Ask yourself why you got a bullet journal to begin with?
Was it just for fun because you love all things office supply related? (That is literally half the reason I got one myself) or was it because you are trying to get your life organized and running smoothly? (that’s the second reason I got one)
2. Now elaborate on your answer even more.
If it was just because it looked cool then you are free to draw on each page to your heart’s content! Or if it was to become more organize then think about what part of your life needs the most help. Do you need help tracking your tasks, do you need help tracking how much water you drink or what you eat, or do you need help with all of your daily activities?
Really think about why you got the bullet journal to begin with so you can then find the best way to utilize it to help you!
3. Search ideas on Pinterest.
For an overload of inspiration on how you can use each page to track your habits, daily tasks, and more, you can research on Pinterest for more ideas. There are thousands of ideas on Pinterest to help get your creative juices flowing on how to best use your new bullet journal.
4. Go with your gut.
Then go with your gut. Pick the one that makes sense to you. If you see a beautiful design but you are confused about how that design helps you achieve your goal, then don’t go with that one. Some people love the over the top designs and some people are more cut and dry and to the point.
Pick the layout (or spread) that works for you. Find your inspiration and use it to create your own pages that fit your life!
5. Follow through daily.
This is probably the most important step of all. Work on your journal daily. If you got it to help you get more organized and stay on task then you have to look at it daily. You can’t design all these beautiful pages that have all your daily activities on them and then not look back at it again for a week or two later.
That is where everyone goes wrong. Just like how you check social media daily to find out what’s going on in the world, you need to check into your bujo (bullet journal) or planner daily too. Consistency is key.
If you stay consistent with using your bullet journal then you will consistently achieve the goals you set out to accomplish on why you got it to begin with!
Comment below with your spreads!
I most definitely want to see the new spreads you have created with your new bullet journal! Please comment below so we can all enjoy it!
5 Reasons I Had 4 Viral Pins on Pinterest in One Month
After 4 of my pins went viral in one month, I took a step back to analyze why and I came up with 5 reasons I had 4 viral pins on Pinterest. In this post, I go into detail with each pin and explain why I feel each pin did so well. I also share a few pins that didn’t do so well and why.
As you continue to grow your blog and share your blog posts you will find that certain topics do better than others. That doesn’t mean that you have to only write about those topics but you can count on them bringing in new traffic.
For example, I share blogging tips for new bloggers and when I write about making money or getting traffic to my blog those topics do better than others.
I still share other tips because you never know who is in need of that specific tip. Once I wrote a blog post on how to set up your sidebar. It received a very kind comment from a reader stating how thankful she was for that post because it helped her.
I love those comments! Even though it isn’t a super popular topic it still helped someone!
By always writing about all the tips I can share and not just sticking to the popular topics it helps me find new popular topics. That is what happened when I wrote a blog post on something I found that I thought was better than the bullet journal.
New Topic
This was a new topic for me. I haven’t written any blog posts on note taking but it is a popular topic because everyone is always looking for better ways to organize their lives. So I wrote this blog post one day just sharing how I found something that (in my opinion) is better than the bullet journal.
First, in case you don’t know what a bullet journal is, it is a journal full of empty pages and each page has dots for guides on it.
I had first heard of them through another blogger. She shared some of the ways she uses hers to organize her days and keep on task with her blog.
I ended up getting one to try for myself. There were some flaws for someone like myself. Such as I have horrible handwriting and I am not the most artistic person. Yet I am a perfectionist so each page I felt like I was constantly trying to fix it.
If you look at some of the amazing ways bullet journals can be used you can see the appeal but that only works if you have a steady hand. For me, it was more work than fun and I didn’t end up using it.
Another reason is I would always forget it or decide not to bring it because it didn’t fit in my purse and I didn’t want to carry around 50 different colored pens.
If you check out my post I share that I had just recently purchased an iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil and used the free notes app to create my own bullet journal. This improved the handwriting issue because I could easily erase any mistakes. I go more into detail about why I like it better in that blog post so I will skip all of that for now.
Hot Topic
Little did I know while writing that post that it would end up being a very hot topic. I shared the post on Pinterest and with the help of Tailwind the pin took off!
I had over 24k impressions on that pin in 24 hours. Today after being pinned a little over 30 days ago it has over 201k impressions. My blog traffic for the month of June 2019 was over 20k page views. Which let’s just say that is MUCH higher than normal.
I had no idea that it was going to be such a hot topic.
How I got so many page views
As I said it was definitely thanks to Tailwind and Pinterest for sending all of that traffic to my blog. I usually create several images for each blog post and pin them to Pinterest at different times.
With this particular blog post I originally only created one pin and that is the pin that took off. To test it out and see if it was the content (topic) of the pin or the visual look of the pin that made it go viral, I created others to put to the test.
What I found out is there are 5 main reasons this pin took off compared to my other test run pins.
Hot topic
Visually appealing pin
Enticing Title
Keywords in the pin description
Scheduled to pin to all group and personal boards and Tailwind Tribes
While I was creating the test pins I also scheduled out the first pin to all of my group boards, personal boards and added it to all my Tailwind Tribes. I knew that I needed to get this pin out there since it was doing so well from just one pin to one of my personal boards.
Then I created several other pins for my test run. A few did very well and a couple did not. I noticed there was a trend on the ones that did well and the ones that didn’t.
Test Run Results
The main difference was the enticing title. Take a look at these results to see for yourself.
Enticing Title – Pin 1
This pin has a very enticing headline. It creates curiosity and I feel like that was why this pin had the best click-through rate compared to the others.
Visually it is a pretty pin so it was easy to save but I believe the curiosity is what made this pin do so well. It had the most impressions and saves of them all. It was also the first one I pinned so that could be why because the next one did very well too.
This is the stats after a little over 30 days of being pinned.
Enticing Title – Pin 2
These two pins I did the same enticing title because my test on these was to see if it was the pin image or the content that made the first pin so popular.
This one did fairly well. It didn’t receive as many impressions or saves but it came very close and still did very well. What is interesting is this pin had fewer impressions and saves but yet had more link clicks than the first pin.
I’m not quite sure why on that. They were both pinned to all the same boards and all within the same time frame.
Here are the stats after a little over 30 days for this pin.
Enticing Title – Pin 3
However, this one didn’t do well at all. I am not sure why this one didn’t do as well as the first two because it has the same catchy title with similar colors and fonts but for some reason, this one was not a winner.
Looking back I think I forgot to schedule this pin out to all the group boards like the other two did. I just looked back through my pins and I don’t see it mixed in like the other two are. I only pinned it once and must not have scheduled it out. It will be interesting to see what happens after I add it to the schedule!
Freebie – Pin 1
These next two were to test and see if the freebie inside the blog post was popular. Once readers click through and read the blog post many of them signed up for the freebie I put into it after it started taking off.
Originally, I had the normal freebie that I always offer in the post and it always does well because it teaches readers how to start a blog. That freebie always gets sign ups but none of these readers were signing up.
This told me that the people reading were bullet journal folks and not blogger folks. I created a freebie from my other blog that I am starting up because I felt like it fit with that niche better. My other blog is going to be about planning and productivity tips. I created a freebie that was a digital bullet journal which ties into that.
Around 30-50 people a day were signing up for that freebie after I added it. Once I realized the amount of traffic going to the post and yet no email subscribers were coming out of it I knew I needed to switch freebies and it worked.
Like I said I could tell the readers were not interested in my other freebie about blogging. So, I was happy to see they wanted the free digital bullet journal. I did learn though with these two pins that it still was the curiosity the first pins had that was bringing readers in.
These pins did not do well, however, once in the blog post they did sign up for the freebie. But the freebie alone was not bringing in readers.
Freebie – Pin 2
The first freebie pin looks like the second popular pin. I made another that looked similar to the first popular pin to again see if it was the look of the pins that made them do so well.
Neither of these pins did that great. So this told me it was bullet journal folks curious about what I had found that was better than the bullet journal. Not people excited about a freebie and not people that only saved the pins based on their looks.
Safe Title – Pin 1
The other clue was the backlash I received on the two popular pins. I received about 6 comments and most of them were mean.
They were from personal accounts of people who clearly were die-hard bullet journal lovers. They did not like my opinion of the notes app as being a solution that could be better than the bullet journal.
They also did not like my idea of a digital bullet journal also being a solution. Apparently, the curiosity pins made it sound like there was some new amazing thing that was better than the bullet journal that they did not find after reading the post. I personally love the idea of going digital. It works so much better for me. I have found so many amazing fun resources too that solve all of my personal issues with a physical journal.
These were just folks that mean and grumpy and taught me a valuable lesson on how to handle mean comments. One told me my freebie was ugly. There is no reason other than being mean for that to be commented. I had to remind myself that over 300 people had signed up for that ugly freebie so one person’s opinion shouldn’t matter.
However, to make the pin less “deceiving” because I was also told I was fake advertising pretty much. I made this pin to explain a little bit more without giving away all of the info or I wouldn’t get click-throughs.
It seemed to have worked. I stopped receiving very mean and hurtful comments and still was able to have a pin that had good numbers. This is about 30 days of the pin being up. I don’t have as many click-throughs (because of the less enticing title I’m sure) but I still reached a good amount of impressions off of this pin.
Safe Title – Pin 2
I created this pin with the same theory in mind. Again, I just wanted to test out the different titles and see what was working and what wasn’t. This pin is still going so I don’t have a full 30 day stat on it but so far it is doing okay but not a crazy good as some of the others.
It doesn’t have as catchy of a title but I feel like it is less likely to make any readers feel tricked as well.
Here are the stats so far on this pin. I know that is says published May 31, 2019, but this pin was definitely not. The first pin I created (which would have the same URL) was. This one has only been on maybe 2 weeks.
What this has done for me
By continuing to write blog posts on other topics other than just my main popular ones, I have come across a great topic that ties right into my new blog that I just started. I was nervous about branching out but this helped show me there is an audience out there for my new blog.
I have heard other bloggers say this but I didn’t understand until now but they say you never know what blog post is going to just take off! That is so true! I had no idea when I first wrote it that it would bring all of this. This is what this one blog post has done for me.
Gained 378 email subscribers in 30 days thanks to this hot topic and my viral pins.
Made 6 Amazon affiliate sales and my Amazon affiliate account was officially approved! (most of my affiliate links in my blog posts are for blogging resources so I don’t have many with Amazon affiliate links so I always had to reapply since it wasn’t my target products. Thanks to the bullet journal Amazon affiliate links in this blog post I was finally approved!)
Made $30.13 with Google Adsense which is the most I have made in one month from ads.
Broke two records of blog traffic to my blog. Not only did I hit 10k page views for the first time but I broke through and had over 20k pageviews!
I was only 7,000 sessions away from being able to apply for Mediavine!
Gained over 100 Pinterest followers.
My monthly views on my Pinterest account went up from around 75k to over 400k!
I had not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 viral pins in one month!
It was definitely a crazy and amazing month for my blog and all because of one post on a completely different topic than I normally write about!
Have you heard of the bullet journal? I thought surely everyone had but I met someone the other day that had no idea what a bullet journal was. Maybe it is just popular for us mom bloggers and the crafty Pinterest moms? Isn’t it funny how something you see all the time seems like everyone else does too?
Well, I pinned my post on Pinterest and it took off! Traffic started rolling in!
It was wonderful, however, it was not my target audience. I am used to my audience being mom bloggers. I knew it wasn’t mom bloggers though because no one was signing up for my freebie that always gets sign-ups. That freebie is geared toward moms looking to start a blog.
However, I was also receiving some comments on my pin (again from loyal bullet journal folk) that nothing is better than the original bullet journal.
My Audience
Again, I am used to talking to bloggers. And I, a blogger, love my new alternative to the bullet journal! But I can see why maybe the loyal fans would not.
So I decided to write a different blog post (this one) that is tailored to my peeps specifically – Bloggers!
The Alternative
I will cut right to the chase. The new alternative bullet journal that is perfect for bloggers that I am talking about is a digital version. Now before you get all worked up, let me explain my reasoning.
Digital Bullet Journal Benefits:
1. Easy to erase and edit
I am a perfectionist when it comes to writing things out. I end up erasing and rewriting 100 times because I hate my handwriting. Yes, I know I could use a pencil but it still shows. Yes, there are erasable pens but they show too. Digital is 100% erasable, clean, and it is much faster too.
One of my favorite options with a digital version is that I can move my text around easily. The apps I use let’s you circle your text you just wrote or typed and then drag and drop it somewhere else.
This is perfect for a to-do list! If something needs to be moved to the next day I just circle it and move it over!
2.) You only need one pencil (or finger)
The point of the bullet journal is to create your own pages and customize every detail. Therefore you have to have a bunch of different colored pens, markers, pencils, and tapes. So that means you have to store all those and lug them around when you go anywhere.
It’s summer right now and we go to the pool, the park, or the library and I like to take my work with me. Well, I have to carry that all around with me to still be able to use my bullet journal. With the digital version, you can do all of that and more with just your iPhone or iPad.
And let’s face it you aren’t going to forget your phone so it is always accessible!
Note: You do not need to have Apple products to utilize a digital bullet journal. I am an Apple user so that is just what I refer to.
3.) No need to replace supplies
With the physical bullet journal, you are going to run out of pages and you will have to buy another bullet journal. Your pens and tape are going to run out and you will have to buy more of those as well. Our puppy chewed up half of my supplies that I never even got to use! With the digital version, you will never have to buy more supplies. You can purchase designs already made for you but you can also create your own for free.
Again, with the app that I use, there is an option to add more pages and to bookmark pages. This means I can add more pages to my bullet journal and bookmark where I have important pages to not get overwhelmed.
(The app I use is Goodnotes)
4.) Efficiency
We are bloggers. We like digital things. Turning anything digital is much more efficient so making your bullet journal digital makes it more efficient too!
You could track all of your blog posts, images, social media posts, pins and more! That is why I feel like it is the perfect bullet journal for bloggers.
5.) Endless customization
There are many different options. A physical bullet journal has endless options as well but with a digital bullet journal you can get free fonts, borders, premade layouts, stickers, designs, and images!
Adding images is perfect for tracking your blog posts, ebook progress, pins, and so much more!
You could even turn one section (or the whole journal) into a baby book or scrapbook and upload pictures and memories!
Grab a free digital bullet journal and give it a try for yourself!
If digital bullet journals are not your thing and you would rather have a physical version I completely understand! I myself have a physical version but it wasn’t working for me.
After I did some research and came across digital planning that’s when I realized the possibilities of a digital version of the bullet journal!
I would much rather have all of my work and notes be digital. It just makes more sense to me. Now again, I had some backlash from loyal bullet journal fans who did not like this option.
That is fine too! No big deal!
However, if you are like me then you may find this to be a wonderful idea! I hope you try out the free digital bullet journal and see how it works for you!
Here is a glimpse of how you can use this digital bullet journal for blogging!
Sorry about my horrible handwriting!
Yours will be much prettier I am sure! But as you can see you can still customize each page with the added benefits I talked about above.
This would be a great way to look back through your daily/weekly schedule and quickly at a glance see what posts you published, what images you created, which freebies you created, and what you posted to social media.
It would also be a great way to track your pins visually!
This is why I feel like the digital bullet journal is the perfect bullet journal for bloggers!
How will you use your digital bullet journal?
I would love to see how you could use this digital bullet journal for your blogging business! Send me a screenshot of your layouts on how you use it to track the process of your blogging business!
I love journals, planners, pens, pencils, stickers, anything office supply related. And I know I am not alone! There is a whole community out there of people who are obsessed with office supplies too! I don’t even know why I want all these things but I do! One year for Valentine’s Day my husband got me office supplies and I was so excited! That’s why I can’t wait to share with you what I found that is even better than the bullet journal!
The bullet journal has taken over by storm. Every blogger I see is talking about this bullet journal and how awesome it is. I finally decided to get one for myself after seeing all the fun everyone was having with them! I ended up getting this journal, this washi tape bundle, and these pens. But this bundle right here comes with that and much more so looking back I should have just got this bundle instead.
My sister told me about these gel pens that erase so I got those too and they are much more my style because I like to erase (I’m a perfectionist some times).
The big craze with the bullet journal is that each page is customizable. Every page just has dots to use as a guide to be able to create all kinds of beautiful pages. One page could be your grocery list, another your calendar, and the next your cleaning schedule. There is no limit to what you can do with each page and I do really enjoy that flexibility.
I just had one issue, I would always forget it. I don’t think to always have my journal with me. So even though I like to write things out and use the fun pretty colors and all that, I would never bring it with me. It was just one more thing I had to remember to lug around. (However, if you do love to carry that thing around and you are looking for more ideas on how to use your bullet journal, Suzi has an amazing post that you can check out!)
Digital Planners
I tried to use apps and a Google Calendar instead to make it more digital and less inconvenient but it didn’t work. I like the fun bright colors and I did find one app that worked well enough to keep me on schedule however, I didn’t have the flexibility of each page being something different.
So I needed something that was a digital version of the bullet journal. The only thing I could find was the Notes app on my iPhone. I use it quite often to keep all of my important information all in one spot. I started that about a year or so again and that has been great! There is an option where you can write things out with my finger but then you couldn’t read any of it. So I was missing the fun artistic appeal the bullet journal has.
That is until I got my new iPad! I have been wanting to get a new iPad to be able to make my business more mobile. When school is out and I don’t want to lose work time and I don’t want to lose precious time with my daughter either. I thought if I could be more mobile then I could work on things while we are at the pool or the park. That’s when I decided to invest and get the new iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil and keyboard.
After I got it I started researching all of the ways to use my Apple Pencil with my iPad. That is when I came across digital planners. I fell in love with them! It was everything I was missing in a physical bullet journal! So I created a digital bullet journal that you can download for free to try out for yourself! Don’t worry you don’t have to be an Apple user to use this. Learn more about digital bullet journals and planners here.
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Or here is why I love the Notes App on my iPhone and how it can be used to replace your bullet journal!
Notes App Features
It’s FREE
You can add tabs and organize thoughts
There are options to Bold or Underline Text
You can have clickable links in it
It automatically saves new changes on any device
You can scan documents
Take Photo or Video
Add Sketch
Photo Library
Mark Checklists that actually checkmark off for you
I like the option to add documents or photos to the note. I have actually taken pictures of notes and stored it in a note in the app instead of retyping it all in there just so I could throw the paper note away! As you can see I really do use this app a lot. All along the side are major categories in life and then there are folders under them to organize further down.
Then lastly within each folder is individual notes as you see in the second column. This helps me break things down and everything is easy to find! Now with the new iPad Pro, I can use my Apple Pencil and write on the screen just like you see (sorry I have horrible handwriting).
I can change the color, the style of pen or pencil, and even the thickness of the stroke I am using. With a bullet journal, you can’t break down into categories or sections as easily as you can with this notes app. You would have to bookmark every new section in a bullet journal.
But wait it gets better, there are lines and grids!
You can add lines and grids to your note! Just like the bullet journal you now have guides to help you design your page. Also, you only need one pencil and you can change it to any color!
Before if I would remember my bullet journal I would want to bring all the pens so I had all the colors I wanted to use for each page! This way you only need one pencil and one device.
Now you don’t have to take your iPad with you everywhere you go (but let’s face it there is a better chance you bring that than your journal). Because if you need to refer to that note you created such as this one below… Then you can still do that from your iPhone and no one’s going to forget their phone! You can make all these changes from your iPhone too it just isn’t as easy using your finger but you can still access the same note.
So if you are at the grocery store you can still cross off your list as you get each item. The Add Sketch feature is pretty cool because it gives you a ruler to use as a guide that you can move around!
All This For Free
A lot of people are Apple users so if that is you then you have all this for free! If you have been on the fence about switching to Apple then here is a little insight into some of the features! I’m sure there is something similar on the Andriod phones too though.
It is just nice to know some of the ways you can utilize what you already have access too. If you have an iPhone then odds are you have an iPad and might have been in the market to upgrade to the new iPad Pro. So far it is amazing!
Not just because of this example but so many other reasons! But if you are like me and you want to be able to have all the fun colors and designs but are not good at using a bullet journal then I hope you learned something fun and new with this post! I know I was so excited when I realized it!
Thanks for reading!
Vanessa
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Here is more information on the iPad and Accessories that I bought.
iPad Pro
This is the exact iPad that I bought. I did go with the lower storage because I need to get a hard drive anyway so this way I can just get one of those and save money on buying the extra storage.
We looked into purchasing the iPad through our phone carrier to add data to it but that costs more also. Plus we found out that our T.V. provider has hotspots I can use when I am away from home. Just some things to think about!
I wanted the bigger screen so that was my main priority. I wasn’t as worried about storage because I have a bigger icloud storage plan and then again I plan to get an external hard drive to save all pictures and important documents on it.
Now I don’t pretend to be all tech-savvy, I know just enough to get by. I know that I am a busy mom and this all makes my life easier and more portable. I do want to say that it comes with a completely new charger.
Supposedly it is to be able to connect to your computer better or other techy stuff I don’t understand but my point is no more USB on one end and no more of the other normal end that all Apple products have.
The cord has the same end on each end. So either way, it connects to your converter to plug into the wall and then into the iPad to charge. Just a heads up.
Keyboard
Then since I got the bigger screen I had to get this keyboard that fits it. They are both 12.9 inches so that gives plenty of room for using your screen and typing on a good-sized keyboard, not a tiny one.
The iPad connects magnetically to the keyboard and there are three dots on the back of the iPad that connect it to the keyboard.
Then you can have it in two different positions to adjust it to your liking while typing. Then when you aren’t using the keyboard you can fold it over to close and you will hear the iPad lock. Also, you can flip it around and under the iPad to quickly use the iPad only.
Apple Pencil
Then, of course, I got the Apple Pencil 2nd Generation that is compatible with the iPad Pro. It is very sleek and easy to use.
There are no buttons, it looks and feels just like a regular pencil. It doesn’t erase like one although I think it should. I keep wanting to flip it around and erase with the pencil eraser like you normally would.
But it doesn’t work like that, to erase you just double-tap your finger on the pencil and double-tap again to go back to writing. Another fun feature of the Apple pencil is that it connects to the side of your iPad magnetically to charge.
This is great to keep track of the pencil and know that it is always charged up. No plugging it in or cords involved! Once you connect it to the iPad it will tell you what charge level the pencil is at as well.
I don’t know if that effects the double-tap feature to erase or I don’t know how the gripper effects it charging magnetically and staying safe on the side of the iPad. I worry that it might come off and I would lose it.
There you have it. Let me know if you have an iPad and use it for digital planning!
I ended up
As you can see I really do use this app a lot. All along the side are major categories in life and then there are folders under them to organize further down.
You can add lines and grids to your note! Just like the bullet journal you now have guides to help you design your page. Also, you only need one pencil and you can change it to any color!
Then you can still do that from your iPhone and no one’s going to forget their phone! You can make all these changes from your iPhone too it just isn’t as easy using your finger but you can still access the same note.
Then, of course, I got 
