Setting Up my Bullet Journal for 2019 (+video)
With the New Year fast approaching, now it’s the perfect time to setup our bullet journals for 2019! I like to take this time to reflect on the year that is almost over and to plan ahead for the new one that’s coming. It helps me to put my head and thoughts in order and to get a head start before the 1st of January. Even if you’re not starting with a brand new notebook, it’s nice to dedicate a few pages in your journal to denote the new year.
Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the post, because there's also a video, where I'm showing you step by step how I've setup each spread for 2019. 😉
I’m actually starting a brand new bullet journal for 2019. I’ve chosen the Dingbats* Earth Lime Yasuni Journal, in A5 size and of course dotted style. I am in love with these notebooks ♥ This is my second Dingbats notebook that I’m using and I highly recommend them! I was almost finished with my previous notebook and because there’s not many pages left, I thought it would be better to setup for 2019 in a new notebook, instead of creating my spreads for the new year in a journal that I would just use for a month or so. But, don’t worry, i’ll still use my previous notebook until it finishes.
The first page I always make is a Review page for the year that ends. It’s nice to reflect and to actually see what you’ve done during the year, what worked and what didn’t, your accomplishments and your mistakes. All these will help you to plan better for the next year. You can change your strategy and the way you’re doing things in order to be more successful and to achieve everything you want. Like last year, I decided to include some questions on little notes that I drew on the page. That way, it looks more fun and the different categories are highlighted better.
I used my Tombow markers and my Polychromos coloured pencils to get the desired effect. As always you can check all the supplies I’ve used at the end of this post.
The next page is a Quote page that I like to add in the beginning of all my notebooks. I found this nice quote on Pinterest and I thought that it was the perfect one to add to my new bullet journal. I like to see the new year as a new beginning full of opportunities and adventures! I used my Tombows as watercolours to get the desired effect. I also chose to add different fonts for each line to highlight the quote even more. I love how it turned out and it makes me feel really excited every time I look at this page!
The next page is dedicated to my Word of the Year. My word for 2018 was ‘believe’ and it was the perfect word for me! During this year I believed more in my dreams and myself and that word would always remind myself to believe more in what I do. So, for 2019 I chose the word ‘ignite’. That word has so many meanings for me and I’m sure it will help me to move forward and to ignite my life in more ways than one! I have a blog post on how I choose my word of the year each time, if you’re interested.
So, I used my watercolours to create the background and then I added the word in the middle of the page with my thick black pen. The page responded really well, even though I added lots of water on it. If you see that your page goes a bit wrinkly, add a piece of paper on top of your design, close your notebook and add some weight on top of it. Let it sit for some time and once it’s completely dry you’ll see that your page is straight again.
The next page is one that I always include in my journals. I like to have a Year at a Glance page to plan things, but also to refer to when I’m setting up my bullet journal each month. So, I printed one of my layouts on a sticker paper and added it on the page. That's a much quicker and cleaner way, than to write all these months by hand! You can find the 2019 Year at a Glance on my Etsy Shop.
Next comes my Future Log. I decided this time to use a simple grid and to turn it into a one-page layout. This is enough space for me to plan ahead if I need to. I’ve noticed in previous notebooks that I wasn’t using this spread as much, so I thought to make it more simple and adjust it to my needs. I also kept it very simple with the colours and I used only light blue and grey.
I also added a Notes page after my future log, to add any miscellaneous notes or any future plans that might need more space to right about. That way I’m covered whatever happens.
This is my Accomplishments page. I created a grid, like before and I added all 12 months. I use this spread to write down the best memories, events, successes and generally anything I want to remember from each month. I love that I can see straight away what I've achieved all through the year, and this also pushes me to try harder in order to add something for every month.
Next come two pages that work together, hand in hand. The first one is my Goals page. I’ve separated it into 4 categories: Me, Work, Relationships and Fun. You can add any category you want and that is important to you. You can also add more or less sections, depending on what you want to achieve. I decided to keep it simple with only 4 categories, and I added the things that I want to focus more during the new year. I made sure to include a category for ‘fun’. As part of my ‘ignite’ word and theme of the year, I want to make sure to ignite my life and live it to the fullest. I want to intentionally create and pursue more fun moments and make sure to be happier and laugh more every single day.
So, after I set my goals per category, I go to the next page which is the Actions per Month page, and I write steps and actions that will help me achieve the goals I’ve set up for myself. That means that every month, I have to do at least one thing that will get me closer to each one of my goals. That way I keep myself accountable and I don't lose track of what I want to achieve during the year. I intentionally kept everything simple and grey, so that I don’t get distracted by colours and doodles.
Then next page is dedicated to Birthdays. I actually use this page to write any birthdays, name days, anniversaries etc. that I need to remember each month. I like to keep those separate from my event and task planning. So, they have their own special page, which I check in the beginning of each month while I do my monthly planning.
Moving on, the next page is my Reading List. This is where I write any new publications per month, or any new book I want to read. I try to read 4 books per month and this list always helps me to keep track of my reading and to plan what book to read next.
One of the most functional spreads in my bullet journal is my Shopping List spread. This is where I have created a master shopping list for both my supermarket and my vegetable shopping. The way I use it is to go through it, while I’m creating my shopping list each week, in order to make sure that I don’t forget anything. Simple and practical and one of the few spreads that I’ve kept in all my 6 bullet journals so far!
The next two pages have to do with my bullet journaling. I created a page for my Theme ideas and another one for my Videos. I’d like to start creating more videos during the month, and this will help me to brainstorm ideas and plan ahead my videos and monthly themes.
And the last spread I created in my new bullet journal is my YouTube Workflow. A workflow is a chart where I create a list of each step of my work process horizontally and then I can make another list, with all the different projects where this process can be applied to, vertically. Then I just cross off each step as I’m doing it. That way, I can take on multiple projects and keep up with everything that needs to be done. I apply this to my freelance work, all the time. Therefore, I decided to use this type of spread for my YouTube videos as well. There’s a series of steps I have to do for each video and it’s nice to see how many things you’ve done and what’s still left to do.
SUPPLIES USED:
Tombow Dual Brush Markers (N00, 451, 673, 800, 452, 620, 243, 533, N15, 025, 062, N95 and N75)
Sakura Gely Roll White
So, this is the way I've setup my bullet journal for 2019. I hope you found some inspiration and that you apply some of the layouts in your own bullet journal. If you do, please tag me @christina77star. I’d love to see your recreations!