Weekly Spread Ideas for Bullet Journals
Being a bullet journal newbie, you find yourself in the beginning being bombarded with various styles and ways of doing things. You get inspired by your favourite Instagram accounts, or from posts you find on facebook groups (like this one) etc. But in the end, I guess you just have to figure out what works for you and what doesn't. It's a simple case of trial and error. That's what has happened to me, especially with my weekly spreads.
Weekly spreads are an important part of my monthly planning. Especially with the kids and all the activities and the events they go to, I knew from the beginning that I had to find a weekly spread to accommodate everything - Personal, Kids/Family, Blogging, Events/Appointments and so on.
So, the quest for the perfect weekly spread begun!
My first spread looked like this:
I took inspiration from the latest video I watched on Boho Berry's YouTube channel, where she was talking about the weekly spreads she has been using. After I made some adjustments to fit my needs, I created what you can see in the picture above. I've created a FREE Printable of the above spread for you, both in coloured and black and white version.
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I guess it was ok for a first attempt and I liked that I could see everything that was going on during each day at a glance. However, while I was using it during that week, I noticed some things that were not working as well as I thought.
For example, the first column titled 'Appointments/Events' ended up being the dumping ground! I was using it for everything that didn't match any of the other categories. I thought that using boxes in front of each task/event made everything look crowded and cluttered. I also found that the space allocated for each day was too small and therefore in some instances I could not fit all the tasks that I had. Lastly, I thought that I was not using effectively all the space available on the two pages (like the space next to the month-title).
So, on week no.2 I changed things around a bit:
I moved everything up, using as much of the space as possible. And I also made the boxes bigger, so that I had more room to write all the daily tasks/events. I changed the title on the first column to 'Appointments/Misc' so that I have an excuse now to dump everything there :) and I started using dots instead of boxes in front of every task. I also used dashed lines to separate each day in order to make everything to look a bit lighter.
I have to admit that it looked much better and also it was more functional than the previous spread. However, again I found some things that bothered me and that I wanted to change - again!
Me being the only vegan in the family, means that I have a different menu from the rest! So I wanted space to note down what I am cooking each day for me and for the family. In the 'Goals/To-do' column, I was writing everything - personal and work related - and that felt a bit confusing at times. Also, I still wanted to have daily spreads as well, and having everything on my weekly spread somehow made the daily ones redundant...
So, I changed it again!
First of all, I made a master weekly housework to-do list, that basically has all the things that I usually do on each day every week. That way I don't have to write everything down again and again.
I created two columns on the first page for my 'Appointments/Misc' and my 'Blog' that are separated with the dates. That way I have lots of room and it makes everything look neater.
On the other page, I separated the 'Meals' category into two columns (one for my meals and one for my family's) and I also did the same for the 'Goals' one (one for personal and one for my blog).
Lastly, I created a 'Notes' category at the bottom of the page where I write tasks and appointments that I'm going to transfer to next week's spread.
I think this looks cleaner and less cluttered, and hopefully it's going to work even better than the previous ones! ;)
I would love to see your weekly spreads to get more inspiration! Please make sure you leave a link in the comments below. Which aspect of your bullet journal did it take you quite a while to make it work for you?
>> If you want to see my favourite Resources that I use every day with my Bullet Journal, click here to find out what I love to use. For more inspirations for your bullet journal, you can follow my Pinterest or my Instagram account.
Have an amazing day!
