2020 Bullet Journal Set-Up

In this blog post, I will finally show you my 2020 bullet journal setup. I have been planning this bullet journal setup for about six months thinking of what journal I wanted to use, or in this case, how I was going to build my bullet journal and the spreads that were going to welcome this new decade and amazing year that is going to be 2020. In the picture above, you will be able to see the journal I handmade. It is a hardcover 304 page half-letter sized journal. I did a kettle-stitch to sew signatures (pages) that I learned how to do in a tutorial by Sea Lemon on YouTube which I will make sure to link. It is a great tutorial and easy to follow. Keep in mind, I didn’t follow it to the point on the following videos teaching how to make a hardcover style journal and did some things differently because I had to replace some of the supplies she used because I didn’t have them at hand, so I would recommend you, either way, check it out if you are interested in creating your own journals. Also, if you are interested in me to make a whole blog post on how I created mine, comment down below so that I can add it to my future content calendar.

I wanted to go all out with my bullet journal pages for this year as well as make as simple of pages filled with functionality and the inspiration I need to have in my bullet journal. The main use I have for my bullet journal is creative and personal. Anything regarding my creativity, education, personal development, and lifestyle. If you want to start your own bullet journal and don’t know where to begin, I invite you to check out my previous blog post on how I started my bullet journal and my recommendations a few days ago.

The yearly spreads don’t have a theme themselves, I designed each page individually to serve its functional purpose. I added essential bullet journal spreads originally from the bullet journal system in its purest form; as well as collection pages with designs that I felt the need to do to inspire me to use them and to fit my needs. But don’t worry, I only have one spread that is sort of complex and doodle heavy and the others are simple to get done. I truly had fun making these spreads and getting ready for the new year.

Cover and At a Glance

First and foremost, I did the cover page that includes my quote and sort of mantra for the year as well as my personal information just in the tragic case that I lose the journal. Next, I did my 2020 year at a glance. I must admit that the only purpose of this spread is for the aesthetic. It wouldn’t feel right for me to use the journal as my planner without this page. And, as a bonus, it can come quite handy for a person like me who misses the dates often.

Index

The index is one of the original pages from the bullet journal system. The one used in the bullet journal is either already built in the notebook itself or simply made with a title, page # and page title. I did mine as a table because I feel it will work the best for me since I truly enjoy the structure of the tables in this case. There are many bullet journal brands out there and a lot of them include and index and the pages already numbered. Some people don’t feel the need to have an index in their bullet journal; in my case, I do.

Future Log

Last year, in 2019, I didn’t create a future log spread that is also featured in the original bullet journal system. Halfway through the year, I realized that I could have made great use of one. That’s the amazing thing about bullet journaling. Previous to that I had been using little blank notebooks in which I would set up each month individually and as I grew into the planning, I figured I wouldn’t need I future log. Fast forward to this year, I realized I would get very much use out of a future log for the things I like to use my bullet journal for. I made it really simple with the title and divider headers with the corresponding number of each month.

Goals

I have two 2020 goals pages for this year. One of them is just based on all of my goals for the year divided into 4 categories. These are the same categories I used last year and they worked pretty well for what I wanted so they stay. One thing that I felt that I needed as one of the last years’ spread was a more task-based list with a little deadline I could use throughout the year to keep myself accountable for my goals and not forget them. I always come up with monthly goals and had to figure them out as I went leaving my yearly goals out of the loop. I think I fixed that for this year with my quarterly goals list which I’m hoping to reach out for every month to keep up with my goals and not try and fail to achieve them all in the last month of the year.

Ideal Day and Habits

I made an ideal week spread last year that I only used once. For that reason, this year, I decided to create my ideal day page. To me it seems more tangible than the mixed up weekly and, instead of including every step of my morning and night routine in the hourly ideal schedule, I made a sidebar bullet point list with said routines.

Just beside the ideal day are the habits I want to incorporate into my life. I really liked focusing on my daily habits so that I can develop a healthier lifestyle both mentally and physically. I have always tracked specific habits throughout the months and for that reason, I decided to make a list of all the habits that would be good for me both personally and creatively for me to reach out for every month I want to incorporate a new habit into my life.

Books to Read

Now we go into my slightly more developed spreads. I love books and I love reading; for this year, I want to at least read 52 books. Some of the books that are on my list I have already read, but I decided to add once again to my ‘to be read’ so that I can re-read them once again because I really enjoyed them. I got this spread idea from a great author-tubers youtube channel named Sarra Cannon and she got the idea out of Pinterest. I will make sure to link both the video in which I saw the spread I got inspired by here and the pin here. Every bookworm dreams to at least have a reading nook; though we wouldn’t complain if we got a whole room in our house library inspired. (that’s the dream, keep believing)

Upcoming Movies to Watch

Next to my love for books, is my love for movies. I truly enjoy watching movies throughout the year and keep myself up to date with the movies that will be coming out. This spread was simpler than the previous one of the bookshelf with the reading nook. You just have to do a little bit of math, sketch out with your pencil, go over it with a pen and then erase all the pencil marks. (thank God this was the easy one.) But for real, if you want to also keep up to date with the upcoming movies, you could just put the name of the month and below it, the day and the movie’s title.

I hope you liked this blog post and found it somewhat helpful. My next blog post will be my January Bullet Journal setup which I hope you are excited about. Make sure you check out my social media and subscribe to my email list for more fun content coming up. Also, if you have a bullet journal, feel free to comment down below your favorite spreads and what sort of collections do you find most helpful on a yearly basis.

Be Yourself, Be Happy, Be Human.
Xoxo, Patrick