One of the things I was most curious about for the last 2 years or so has been bullet journaling. I've watched many videos on this, because I find them relaxing, but it wasn't until Clo, Jamsu, and Izzy gave me the courage to try it out that decided to give it a shot in 2019.
Let me share my journey with you as well as my 2020 bullet journal setup.
2020 Bullet Journal Setup
My first year of bullet journaling was all about trial and error. I had fun making all the spreads, and drawings, but I went through many days, even weeks, of not actually using any parts of the spreads, aside from the weekly schedule, which I was using for my blog mainly. It wasn't until I decided to do what was best for me and my needs and not copy all the spreads others may do, that I saw an improvement in my daily life. I was more organized, I didn't have to stress over forgetting to do something, especially blog related, and I definitely felt an improvement in my personal life. Basically I could trick myself into doing tasks that I hated.
2020 is the year I'll have a proper bullet journal, the one I used before was just a regular lined journal that I hated filling in, which is another reason why I had trouble filling the spreads. But this journal keeps me inspired and it keeps me wanting to add stuff to it.
I was inspired my Amanda @ AmandaRachLee in most of my spreads. And like her and her planner for 2019 (I made these spreads back in November), I decided to stick to a very simple design. Nothing flashy, nothing too difficult to do. I'm especially proud of my title page for some reason.
After watching her videos I realized that a grid spacing spread would be super useful, although I wasn't entirely sure how to do it. Eventually I figured out how I should use it for my own needs, and let me tell you, this is probably the best spread I could have on my bullet journal. The quote on the right says "new year, new chances, same dreams, fresh start" which is a quote Amanda had in her journal in 2019. I included this quote because it resonated with me a lot. I basically have the same hopes and dreams I did last year, only now I have a new chance and many days to make that happen.
I decided to make my calendar on the left side of the journal. As you can tell, I made some errors in writing the dates and when I tried to erase the pencil I messed up the page but it's fine. Totally fine. I shall ignore it. MOVING ON!
I love how the monthly planner spread pages turned out. I used 4 pages for this (won't show the other because honestly I forgot to take the photos) but they're all the same. I wrote the important dates, like birthdays, anniversaries and other important days. This is just so that I can find these dates easier, because honestly I am a very forgetful person and some of these dates I wouldn't remember otherwise. And yes, I know I could use the calendar on my phone, but I've become a pro at ignoring that alarm, and I also want to go back to relying on something other than technology, which many times can fail me.
My 2020 goals spread is the one I'm most proud of. I divided my goals into personal, blog, career, fitness, finance, art, photography, and "by this time next year". I started filling them in with small, achievable goals. I find that this spread makes me think about what's actually important and how I could achieve them, instead of saying "I wish I could do this". That's what that last box is for, and it's just a guideline, not something I want to stress to much on.
Last but not least, I made a Blog Post ideas spread, and I divided that into three columns: discussion, tags, guides/lists. And I made my January title page next to it, which I wanted to have a bunch of snowflakes on.
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My bullet journal is a mess when it comes to which language I'm using. As you can tell, it's a mix of English and Romanian, and there's some Italian thrown in for seasoning. I personally enjoy that, especially since it forces me to use all my main languages. Also my brain just functions like that, in at least two languages at the same time because why wouldn't I make life more difficult than it is?
***I'm pretty happy with how I structured my bullet journal. I'll show you guys my January spreads later this week and I'll show you exactly what I changed from what I did in 2019.
Let's talk. Have you guys started your bullet journals? What are some spreads that you copied from last year and what are some of the new ones you included this year?
