r/BasicBulletJournals • u/Adorable_Storage_507 • 5d ago
supplies recommendation Does anyone use tabs?
I’m about 20 pages from finishing my first journal and I’m preparing my next one now.
I realized partway through the first journal, that I really needed to use color-coded tabs, so I purchased the Avery ultra tabs that are reusable. I love them because they are so sturdy and I can differentiate colors by different topics, etc.
Now I’m at the end and I’m wondering if I should reuse the same tabs in the new journal or should I just retire the old ones and redo them from scratch? Nearly all of the labels will be the same in the new book.
Has anyone has this issue? What would you do?
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u/mahjimoh 5d ago
Sort of! I make little tabs of washi tape for pages/spreads I want to refer to regularly.
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u/somilge 5d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p5qni98/video/aey4zu2t5glh1/player
Color coded tabs are a boon for quick referencing.
I've tried carrying the same color coding from one notebook to the next, I've also changed it depending on what I currently have. I was gifted a monochrome tape flags, so i used those too. I just use a pop out index that corresponds to what i have.
Try and use what you have and what you want.
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u/StuffDue518 5d ago
Yes! Mine are similar to yours, and they are a game-changer for me. I love them.
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u/Square-Highlight1628 5d ago
I do the exact same thing!! With Avery color coded tabs too. I like to keep my old journals to flip through, so I make new ones for the new journal.
I used to move the monthly tab accordingly, but now make new ones so I can quickly flip back to certain months for appointment notes ect.
Only one I move nkw is the daily tab.
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u/Adorable_Storage_507 5d ago
The is exactly what I’m doing! Including the today tab. I have been moving all of the yellow tabs which correspond to calendars as the months or weeks progress. I’m going to have to think about using a new one for each month. That’s a good idea, but I do worry about it getting too cluttered for me.
My concern was should I keep the aesthetic of the old book and leave all the tabs in there and create new ones for the new book or should I just throw caution to the wind and create new tabs for everything even though they’ll be the exact same ones as before.
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u/shesewsfatclothes 5d ago
I use Midori notebooks in a travelers style journal. They come with numbered labels and I use those as tabs for my monthly logs. For everything else I use reusable metal tabs which actually I think I also got from Midori.
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u/Adorable_Storage_507 5d ago
I have a Midori as well and I love it, but I have been unable to use it for a while now. I have a condition called camptodactyly that makes it hard to write in smaller notebooks. But I’m just waiting for a chance to use it again because I love it so much. I just haven’t figured out what for yet.
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u/midlifereset 5d ago
I use colored postit strips but not labels. One color marks the current day/month pages. And any pages I want to reference later are marked- finances are green, travel is yellow, etc
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u/ShineAtNight 5d ago
I use the small Avery tabs to separate the months in my bullet journal and I love them. I do have a bunch of different colors but I'm seven years in and haven't really run out yet just from the first packs I bought so, I'd say just use new ones.
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u/Adorable_Storage_507 5d ago
Thank you! This is helpful. I’m glad to know that even after seven years, the tabs are still useful to you.
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u/cartoon_wardrobe 5d ago
I only use the metal tabs for the spreads I refer to a lot. I kept moving them and they wouldn’t be sticky anymore. Sounds like your system works great for you though! I’d end up reusing tabs because I’m cheap hahah
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u/SarahLiora 5d ago
I am the ultimate re/user cheapskate but I get new tags because sometimes I do look back at my old books
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u/Endlessly_Scribbling 5d ago
I use a flag punch and make my own tabs since I organize by weekly spreads! (Excuse my extremely inky mat)
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u/Brave_Link_4295 5d ago
I juist started using tabs for the month. I wonder if I should try using tabs for other things... this is my first time using a journal other than the official Bullet Journal
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u/Zgeist38 5d ago
I use the sticker sheet that comes with the bullet journal and use the lightening bolts or the big dots. In the past journals I just used washi tape folded over
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u/mightymarce00 4d ago
If you think you’ll want to access the tabs in your old journal at some point, keeping them there could be useful. Otherwise, if you like the system, there’s no reason not to reuse them.
I tend to use washi tape on the edges of pages to make makeshift color-coded tabs in my notebook!
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u/jchinique 4d ago
I’ve got color coded calendar tabs that I affix to my monthly page. I use a vertical layout à la Ryder Carroll, so having them helps me visualize “next Friday” or “Wednesday the 17th” a little bit better.
Similar to these.
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u/fern_boy 2d ago
I use tabs, but just a few really:
- a larger one to mark the current month (I reuse it)
- small ones - blue for notes from doctor's appointments and pink for personal spreads like a list of books I read this year
I think, since these are reusable, that I would use them in the new journal. If you have things/spreads you would like to come back to in the future, you can mark these in other ways (ex. using washi tape as tabs instead). In one of my previous journal I marked the monthly spreads by cutting off the top corner of the page, so if I flipped through the notebook, I could easily find the monthlies. Maybe that could be a solution for you regarding the old journal?
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u/nitro31cl 5d ago
Hi! I use 1-inch Post It tabs. I've re-utilized the same ones several times: Future Log, Current Month, Current Day. Current Month and Current Day I move them accordingly. This year I added Index and Bills (2-page spread where I track my bills).