January 2023: Bullet Journal Set Up |

It’s 2023 and I’m back to bullet journalling. I used to live in my bullet journal (you can check out some of my posts here) but took a break last year. This year I’m back and wanted to share with you how I’ve set myself up for January. We’ll take a look at my yearly spreads in a separate post at some point!

Monthly Spreads

I’ve kept things pretty simple for January as I left it kind of late setting up my journal but I still like how it turned out. My January cover page just has a simple title and doodle and I’ve included some washi tape down the side which I do each month to keep things organised. This month I’ve stuck to my usual spreads as I thought I’d go with what is familiar.

My monthly spread is one of the most functional spreads I draw each month. A simple header and space to list my personal and work commitments for the month on one side and some simple boxes on the other for the things I need to do, my work deadlines, must read books and some goals for the month. Usually I draw in a quote but this time around I had some stickers lying about so thought I’d use a couple of those to tie in with my pink theme.

Next up are my trackers for the month. I like to track my habits just to see what it is I manage to do every day and this is always useful to reflect on at the end of a month. I had a little spare room on this page so decided to include a little brain dump for doodles or thoughts. My mood tracker is really simple this time around but I do have a plan up my sleeve to bring back a favourite in February. I’ve gone with less emotions than I used to track so we’ll see how this turns out.

Finally for my monthly pages I will be logging a daily gratitude to remind myself of all the things I a grateful for. I always love looking back on this at the end of a month as it reminds you just how lucky you are. I’ve then got a page to log my books for the month which I’ve kept simple but will hopefully get everything I need in one place. There will be more bookish spreads when I post my yearly spreads later this month.

I’ve gone back to an old favourite of mine for my weekly spread but I have made a couple of tweaks. As a teacher and head of year I already have multiple diaries and planners on the go, some physical and some digital, so I find that I don’t need dailies in my bullet journal like I did many moons ago. This weekly is usually enough for me to include my to do’s, some highlights and a reminder of the meals I’m cooking that week plus space to add bits of colour and doodles too.

I’m feeling good about being back in a bullet journal and am already looking forward to seeing how ti will turn out. I’ve revived my HP Sprocket too and hope to include lots of my own pictures throughout my journal so that it isn’t just repetitive all the time. If there’s something here that inspires you I would love to know!

Do you use a bullet journal? What are your favourite monthly spreads? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!