The very first pages that you are going to put into your bullet journal is your key and your index pages. You key page tells you what all your symbols means. This helps you to reference tasks, completed tasks, projects, events, and other aspects of your life that you need to track. The index page tells you where you can find everything in your journal.
When you come up with your key you can use any symbols that you wish. As you use the symbols enough you will eventually memorize them and actually rarely reference this page.
Your index pages will tell you where to find all your different collections and spreads. This makes for an easy reference guide if you ever need to come back to an old journal to find out a date.
Why You Need A Key
You will eventually memorize your key and you won’t need to reference it but you should still place at the start of each and every journal. If you ever decide to change the symbols of your key and you are looking back on old journals you may not remember your old key.
Perhaps in 30 years you won’t be journaling anymore. If or when this happens you may look back on your journal and not remember what the small little symbols mean. That key will be a much needed reference guide.
Why You Need An Index
If you have approximately 192 pages worth of information in this journal you are going to want to make sure you can quickly find what you are looking for. Having a few index pages does exactly that. You can keep track of your spreads, collections, trackers, and planners. That way you can reference them quickly and efficiently.
Design
Most bullet journalers set up new themes each month. With having a different theme each month it only makes sense that most people keep their key and index pages extremely minimalist.
That doesn’t mean everyone does. I personally like giving them their own theme. Something to make them stand out on their own.
You can do whatever you would like for your designs but if you are here you are probably looking for some inspiration. Let’s take a look at some different ideas and inspiration for bullet journal keys and index pages.
Before we get started here is a list of my recommended supplies.
Recommended Products
From time to time the Scribbles that Matter Journal is sold out on Amazon. When this happens third party sellers will try to sell the journal for an insane amount of money. DO NOT BUY THAT! Scribbles that Matter should be back in stock soon. My second favorite journal is the Essentials Dot Matrix, though I warn you the pages on this one are thinner and bleeding and shadows show up on opposite sides. However, it's a decent cheap journal if you are in a pinch and just want to get started.
- Journal
- Stencils
- Fine Point Pens
- Micron Fine Line Set Pens
- Tombow Fudenosuke Soft And Hard Tip Brush Pen
- Tombow Brush Pens
- Washi Tape
- Crayola Super Tips
Bullet Journal Key Pages
First up, we are going to take a look at key page ideas.
@dotted.plans
@notetakingg
@my.life.in.bujo
@bujocchi
@workde.art
@journeyintomyjournal
@all_thingsbujo
@cocoarhymes
@loveyjournals
@forestgreen_bujo
@dreamxawaybujo
@dulcineas_bujo
Bullet Journal Index Pages
Now we can look at ideas for index pages.
@happyplanner13
@cocoarhymes Index
@outworn.reader
@owlaroid
@lalutotale
@latvianbujo
@zolabujo
@postslm
@venustar23
@nowherepaperco
@cinnamon_studies
@abulletandsomelines
Now you can see how you utilize the key and index pages. You also have a bunch of really great ideas for them too. Remember, make sure you give yourself enough index pages to be able to mark all the different spreads you have.
Recommended Products
From time to time the Scribbles that Matter Journal is sold out on Amazon. When this happens third party sellers will try to sell the journal for an insane amount of money. DO NOT BUY THAT! Scribbles that Matter should be back in stock soon. My second favorite journal is the Essentials Dot Matrix, though I warn you the pages on this one are thinner and bleeding and shadows show up on opposite sides. However, it's a decent cheap journal if you are in a pinch and just want to get started.
- Journal
- Stencils
- Fine Point Pens
- Micron Fine Line Set Pens
- Tombow Fudenosuke Soft And Hard Tip Brush Pen
- Tombow Brush Pens
- Washi Tape
- Crayola Super Tips
Are you going to use a theme for your key and index pages? Let me know in the comments below. Do you have bullet journal spreads you would like shared? Email them to Crystal@BulletJournalAddict.com and they may be featured on an Instagram post and/or to the blog. Please leave your IG Username so I can tag you in the posts. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your Bullet Journal boards.
Related Posts:
- How To Keep Using Your Bullet Journal
- New Year – New Bullet Journal?
- How To Start A Bullet Journal
- What Is A Bullet Journal
Love your blog, thanks for all the great info and suggestions. Minor thing: you might want to update your journal suggestion, as it is pointing to a pricing scam on Amazon.
Thanks for that heads up. Scribbles That Matter is currently sold out on Amazon and due to everything that’s going on it will probably be awhile before they get restocked. I’ll create a notice for all of my recommendations.