Claudia Joseph is a digital creator and artist, who is especially passionate about sharing her interest in bullet journaling with her online audience. As someone with a busy life, Claudia knows how beneficial it can be to use a journal as a tool for planning and as a creative outlet.

To share the benefits with her followers, Claudia regularly posts planning videos on YouTube and created a course about journaling on a budget. To draw on this knowledge, we interviewed Claudia and asked about her thoughts on digital planners and planning for the year ahead.

Here's our conversation: 

Before we get into our longer questions, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your passion for journaling? 

Hi! My name is Claudia. I’m 25 years old. I’m Brazilian, Mexican and Hungarian and I live on the east coast of the US. I have two kids and I’m expecting twins in March, so I’m a mom first and foremost. I love making home cooked meals, vegetable gardening and spending time outside in nature.

I started journaling in 2018 when I discovered Amanda Rach Lee on YouTube. I’ve always been a planner but I never saw planning and art combined before and I thought it was the coolest thing ever! My passion for bullet journaling started there, but I’ve always loved to keep journals, scrapbooks and diaries throughout my entire life. 

I’ve always turned to journaling when I’m going through a rough time. I think the biggest thing journaling has done for me is giving me a space to organize my thoughts and feelings and help me better process them.

Not only has it been a great tool to manage my mental health, it’s also been one of the best creative outlets for me. Like I said, I’ve kept journals and scrapbooks throughout my entire life and every time I sit down to create something, whether it be when I was 12 years old or just yesterday, I still get such a sense of wonderment and inspiration.

I feel like a piece of me is being poured out onto the page. It’s such a fun and therapeutic way to document your life and I just want to share that feeling with everyone! 

My journaling course is all about bullet journaling on a budget.

I decided to create this course because I know looking through all of the countless types and brands of journaling products can be very overwhelming especially if you’re new to bullet journaling.

I feel like after my four years of experience I was able to share a lot of good information about different brands and tips on how to save money and still have a beautiful bullet journal. I am so excited to share what I’ve learned! 

I love having the freedom to switch between digital and paper formats for both art and journaling because each have their own benefits.

I tend to switch back and forth between each type for various purposes depending on where I am in life, but right now I use a paper bullet journal for life planning and digital journaling for work related planning. Digital is a great option for people that write a lot or use the same types of spreads over and over.

Which for me with work, I use video planning templates that I can duplicate in seconds and type out scripts or outlines for my videos instead of writing them by hand.

I like paper planning and journaling for my personal life and mental health to wind down after a long day. It’s a bit more wholesome than using an iPad or a phone and that way I can cut out screen time during those last few hours before I go to sleep. 

I would recommend the 12.9 inch iPad Pro, which is what I have, but you can certainly use any tablet of any brand or size. I would also recommend an Apple Pencil grip. There are so many cute ones on Etsy and it helps if you are writing a lot. My favorite app for digital planning is GoodNotes5. It’s a cheap one time purchase and it has amazing features!

When deciding to use a digital or paper journal, I would try to think about your current lifestyle. If you’re someone who has their phone with them all the time and uses their iPad a lot to take notes for school or for some other purpose, I think digital planning would be the choice for you.

Being able to switch between my phone and my iPad is such a huge factor for me when using digital planning. I’m able to add something to my calendar or to do list when I’m on the go and I don’t have to try to remember it until I get home to write it in my bullet journal.

On the other hand, if you’re someone who likes to take their bullet journal with them places to write down appointments and tasks and if you’re trying to lessen your screen time, paper planning is would be a good choice for you.

Personally I try not to plan too far in advance because life happens and things change, which is why bullet journaling is so great. I definitely use a future log to write down big events to remember but that’s about as far as I go. 

I usually spend 3-5 minutes per day in my bullet journal (if I’m not setting up a new spread or spreads). Once in the morning to check in with what I have going on for the day and once in the evening to make sure I completed all my tasks and habits.

On days when I’m feeling a little off I will head to a separate journal I use for working through personal problems and reflecting on life. Usually I will spend an additional 3-5 minutes in the morning or evening if I feel like I need to use that journal. 

I think the best advice I can give is not be afraid to try new planning methods. I think a lot of people in the bullet journaling community feel this pressure to use their journal every day/week/month, but I’ve learned to go with the flow and use different types of planning all throughout the year.

If using a digital planner one month will benefit me in some way, I won’t make myself feel guilty for missing a month in my paper journal. Journaling is all about making your life easier and more enjoyable! 

My go to is definitely my Zebra Mildliners. I seriously can’t live without them! They have the best shades of my favorite colors. 

Thanks to Claudia for sharing her story. Be sure to follow her on Instagram and check out her other social links here.