This Little Sticker Totally Upped My Bullet Journal Game

This year (technically last year, but this year in a fancy journal) I started using a bullet journal to keep myself organized. I'm still really liking the system and my little journal is filling up fast. I'm a real journal nerd and have a whole collection of stickers and pens to customize my planner, but it wasn't until I was over half a year into my journaling that I discovered the most simple, yet life changing addition to my menagerie. 

It's a pen holder that you can add to your journal (or really, anything) and it it a complete game changer. I used to keep a pen floating around in my bag that was always a pain to carry, then when I wanted to have multiple pens at hand I'd attempt to keep them in a pouch, but that was also a pain to dig out of my bag and rummage around in. I cannot believe i had no idea these pen holders existed until now. They are so simple, so basic, so essential. 

I bought a pack of 6 pen holders on Amazon for $10. They're essentially stickers with elastic loops attached, so you stick them wherever you want to have easy access to a pen. I thought of adding two to my journal (I regularly use two different pens in my journal) but I decided to just start with one and see if it felt any bulkier and go from there. 

For adding a whole extra element to the outside of your journal, these pen loops are incredibly low profile. I tried to keep it so that the pen would stay as close to the pages as possible and keep things tidy, and it's working amazingly well. The elastic is very sturdy and tight and that pen doesn't move an inch once it's locked and loaded. At first I tried to be gently when I stuck the pen back in the loop too, because I was worried about loosening the sticker that held it all in place - no need. That sticker is STUCK, so go ahead an finish writing a note and jab that pen back in there like a task-tackling monster. 

The great thing about these pen holders just being stickers is that they can go anywhere you need them. Need one on your journal? Go for it. Want another one on a sketchbook? Sure! Sick of pens falling out of clipboards and don't like the look of a pen tied to a string (I mean, really, let's class up your petition/sign in/Girl Scout Cookie Order Form)? Get yourself one (or more!) of these little suckers. You'll never have to dig around in the recesses of your bag for a pen again.