Setting up my bullet journal for the new year

A new year, a new bullet journal. Here is how I will set up my bullet journal for 2018!


What did I keep?



1. A front page
I started this post by writing: "A new year, a new bullet journal", but in my case it is just a new page, since I did not finish the bullet journal I bought last year. This means I do not need to write down a new key or index.



2. Add your future log
Maybe you have read my previous post on how to start a bullet journal. In which I confessed I do not use all the suggested features in a bullet journal. However I do use a future log - and I would highly recommend you to do the same.



One of the huge plusses of a bullet journal to me is the fact that it is not preprinted which means you can design it exactly the way you want. However, this also has a downside. If you decide in January to buy plane tickets to go on holiday to Rome in July, chances are you have not drawn the monthly overview for July - unless you are a complete control freak who plans everything months ahead of course. Now, if you have a future log you can just write the date down there underneath the month of July and you won't forget you are going to visit one of the most beautiful places in the world in a couple of months.

3. Add your monthly log for january


The monthly log helps you to overview - you guessed it - your month! For some people this might seem like an unnecessary feature, because 'the big dates' are already written down in their future log and the daily log plans the small events from week to week. However I really like the monthly overview, since I think it gives me a good overview of my appointments that month.
On a side not: I am not important enough to have a lot of 'big dates', but I do have a lot of 'semi-big appointments'. Those are a perfect fit with a monthly log.


Not only does my monthly log contain an overview of my entire month, it also shows which tasks I really need to do or want to do that month. Just to make sure I do not forget to do them.

4. Add your daily log for the first weeks of the year
The daily log is surprisingly enough a daily overview of your activities. This is how mine looks like most of the time. It varies depending on what I have to do that week.



Now if you are a true neat freak, you can already draw February, March, April, ... But since I am a procrastinator at heart, I will wait until the end of January to map out the lay out of February.
My bullet journal has helped me a lot in becoming a more organized person, but some things never change. Waiting until the very last minute to do something so I experience more stress than I should, is one of them. It is clearly a part of me, and may I say so: it is part of my natural chaotic charm.

What did I add?
This year I am for the first time in my life a full time working human which means for the first time in my life I am making money! But with great paychecks - or not so great since I am just starting out - comes great responsibility. That is why this year I will add a financial spread and a saving goals feature to my bullet journal. Just to stay on top of things - or at least to pretend I am...


I will draw the financial spread after every monthly log. While the saving goals will be right after my future log. Since saving for stuff takes a lot of time I figured I only need one a year.


No comments:

Post a Comment