Hi everyone! It’s been a little while since I shared a bullet journal post with you all. One of the reasons for that is that I took a small break from journalling at the end of 2018 as my brain wasn’t in a place where I was able to do it. Setting up my 2019 journal and month for January has reminded me how much of an outlet journalling can be and so you can expect to see some more from me about my journal and also how I use it.

Today I’m going to share with you my 2019 set up which includes all of my staple spreads for the year. Then we’ll dive into my January set up so you can see what pages I’ve included for my monthly and get an idea of how I use my journal. All images can be clicked to enlarge if you want a slightly closer look. Some images have blurred parts where I have blurred out some personal information.

In tradition to my previous journals, 2019 starts with a quick ‘hello’. I wanted to keep it simple this year but I ended up drawing a half mandala and I really like how it turned out. I thought about adding colour but decided that it look good in black and white so I left it be. In case you’re wondering what I use, this is a Leuchtturm 1917 journal. With pens I use a variety of Staedtler triplus fineliners and Faber Castell PITT artist pens. Later on you’ll see me add colour, I’ve used a mix of Tombow Dual Brush, Crayola Supertips and Midliner pens.

First up inside my journal are two of my staple yearly spreads. A quick 2019 at a glance page, which is a pain to write out but I find that I refer to it often so it’s worth it in the end. I then added in birthdays and decided that I’d keep this super simple this year with a grid and just added a little dash of colour to each box.

My future log has been kept pretty similar to last year. I decided that I quite liked the columns rather than the horizontal spread from my first journal. It gives me a bit more space to add dates to. This is always my first turning point once I’ve set up a monthly so I can transfer over dates. I added a cute washi tape to the bottom of the pages too.

Next up is my work calendex. I’ve been asked before why I don’t just put my work dates on my future log and there’s a simple reason: I need more space. As a teacher I have a lot of important meetings, deadlines, parents evenings etc that I need to keep on top of. If I were to put that into my future log there wouldn’t be much room for anything else. I also like that I can fit the rest of this academic year into this snug double page spread. I decided to include a little quote to motivate me too: Dreams don’t work unless you do.

Then we have my 2019 goals page. I took this picture before I wrote down my goals but I have set myself 8 goals for 2019 since doing so. I kept it simple in a list with a tiny bit of colour. Then I decided to go with another grid for some monthly memories. I’ll either jot down my favourite memory from each month, draw a picture or maybe just fill each box with as many memories as I can. I think it’ll look cute and be lovely to look over at the end of the year.

I love these two spreads! This year one of my things to focus on is ‘ME’ and giving myself more me time so I came up with this quick Self Care page and filled it with ideas of what I can do on a bad day. When I have a bad day I often find it difficult to think of what I could do to pull myself out of it so I’m hoping that flicking to this page will remind me how many options I have. Next to that I have my Year in Pixels spread. I fell behind with this last year but I think I was trying to track too many different moods. This year I’ve decided to rate the ‘day’. I’m looking forward to seeing this one filled out.

This double spread is just for me to look at and make myself smile. I’ve written out a huge list of things that make me smile and then written one of my life mantra / quotes next to it. I’m really, really pleased with how this turned out and may do more like it in the future.

My bookshelf is a staple in my journal and has been for the last couple of years now. I plan on filling the shelves with all the books I read in 2019 and also using a different colour for the cover based on the rating I gave it. This year I haven’t drawn all the books on but will do so as I go along.

My final spread at the beginning of my journal is this recommendations page. I often get recommended books, TV shows and movies to watch and always forget to jot them down. This will be really handy and I can track if I’ve read/watched them too. I’ve left a couple of blank pages here too in case I want to go back and add anything else. If I don’t then I will fill them with quotes or doodles.

Now it’s time to take a very quick look at my January monthly spreads. I kept my first page really simple with some calligraphy and simple floral patterns. I’ve used a floral washi tape at the top to mark that this is the beginning of January and make it easier to find.

My monthly overview is one of my favourites after many trials and errors over the years. It’s simple but effective and the boxes keep everything nice and neat for me. I’ve changed up the placement of the boxes on the right hand side this month and I’m pleased with how it looks. This spread gives me plenty of time for the lists I love to write.

Next up are my January habit trackers. I much prefer doing these vertically now, they are so much easier to set up. Rather than have them all separate I decided to merge them into a giant grid for this month. Then we have my ‘Mindfulness and Me’ page. This is slightly different to the gratitude pages I used to do. I a focusing on writing down what I have done for my own mindfulness that day. If I can’t think of anything then it means I need to go to my Self Care page and pick something to do before bed.

I’ve kept my January mood tracker super simple this month but it’s already looking good from a few days of filling it in (not seen above). I decided to reduce the number of moods I’m tracking and I’ve correlated the colours to my Year in Pixels. Then we have something new which are two mental health trackers so I will have a complete graph by the end of the month and an overview of my mental health for the month.

Books and Blog – these pages are so necessary for me each month. They’ve gone through some transformations during my journalling time but I’m finally happy with this. I keep track of the posts going up on my blog as well as books that are being released and arcs I have due to read. Then I set myself some reading goals, add the books I’ve read to my shelf and keep track of any book post I’m lucky to receive.

Finally we have a brain dump page where I can jot down anything that springs to mind that I need to get out of my brain. The first weekly for January was super simple and small because I was off work and knew I didn’t have too many things I absolutely had to do. This year I’ve decided not to draw out all my weeklies in advance so I can make changes each week. The second week of January has a very different weekly to this!

And there we have it. My 2019 bullet journal spreads as well as my January plan with me. I’d love to hear any thoughts you have on my journal and also if there is anything in particular to do with bullet journalling / my journal that you’d like to me to share or write about here.

Do you use a bullet journal? What is your favourite thing about it?

What spreads are your essential to start a new year in a new journal?

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