New Bullet Journal: July-December 2021
It’s that time of the year: time to move into my new bullet journal for the second half of 2021. This is only part of my six-month reset process, but it’s a big part.
This year especially, I felt that I needed to re-evaluate some of my processes. I’ve done some of that already, but some of it I’ll continue working on over the next few weeks, so you’ll see that I’ve left some of the pages blank for planning purposes.
New Bullet Journal Title Page
I decided to set up my yearly pages with a moon and stars theme, so I wanted to choose a quote that would match. I found this one that also happens to echo the one I used in my first 2021 journal, making it a perfect fit:
It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.
William Shakespeare
I also included the same ox design from the beginning of the year, but this time I drew it to look like a constellation to fit the theme.
New Bullet Journal Grid Spacing Spread
This page doesn’t really change from journal to journal, aside from theme colors. Since I haven’t found that I needed any measurements besides these, there’s no reason to change it. I may come back and add a title to it at some point, or I may just leave it as is.
I also haven’t thought of what to put next to it yet, so I just placed some washi tape along the edge of the page on the right. If I think of something useful that fits in this space, I’ll add it later. But if not, the washi tape serves as a divider to signal the start of the yearly planning pages, and it also helps me find this page quickly.
New Bullet Journal Future Log
Since my theme has to do with the moon and stars, I decided to try something really different with this and draw in the moon phases for each day of the coming months. It was pretty time-consuming and tedious, as you might expect, but I love the final effect.
New Bullet Journal Goals & Vision Board
I’ve written plenty of times before about my process for goal-setting, but the gist of it is that I set three main goal categories, and within those I plan out the steps or small projects that make up each one so that I can check them off throughout the six months. Normally I make these in a standard list format, but this time I thought it would be fun to draw them branching off from the larger goal like a mind-map-style constellation.
Then, on the right-hand page, I like to create a mini vision board to help me visualize what kind of life I want to be living six months from now. It tends to work best if I include both large-scale things (that have to do with completing one or more of my overall goals) as well as small-scale things (simple changes or details about an improved daily life). I’ll probably draw in a little star or planet for each item on the board, along with its title.
New Bullet Journal Goal Timelines
This is the next step in my goal-planning process. Once I have my main goals identified and the smaller steps written out, I’ll plot them on an estimated timeline separated into months. But to remind myself that plans can and will always change, I have a separate timeline where record the dates I actually accomplish those steps (and other important milestones that happen along the way).
New Bullet Journal Discoveries & Mantras
The Discoveries page is one I’ve used in the past couple of journals under a different title. Essentially, it’s a collection of unexpected things that bring me joy throughout the months. Things like spontaneous activities, opportunities that seem to fall into my lap, or even discovering a new favorite Starbucks drink.
On the right-hand side, I’ll have my mantras page. I haven’t gotten to setting that one up just yet, but it’ll look a lot like my previous ones. (I wrote an entire post about this page here!)
New Bullet Journal Savings & Bills Trackers
Another page I’ve used a lot before. These help me visualize savings, and plan for upcoming bills. Again, this layout works great for me, and I don’t usually change anything except the colors, headings, and sometimes the shape of the bottle(s).
Dramalog
My dramalog is probably the page I’ve used (and kept in the same format other than the heading design) the longest. I had one in my very first bullet journal, and I anticipate keeping it for quite some time. It’s a fun way to keep track of what I’m watching, and makes it easy to look back for reference.
There’s no table or extra embellishments here, because I draw a unique symbol for each show, and color them in as I watch each episode.
Last journal, I followed the Dramalog with a routines page, but I actually didn’t end up using it at all. So this time, I left those pages blank, in case I find a different use for them.
July 2021 Spreads
And that takes us into the setup for July. If you’ve been reading my bullet journal posts, you’ll know that I’ve been experimenting with lots of different themes and layouts. This time I decided to simplify a little and not choose a defined theme. Instead, I chose a color scheme and added washi tape for decoration.
July Monthly Calendar Spread
I’m keeping my basic monthly spread pretty similar to what I’ve been doing, though I did change up where on the page some things are located. On the left, I have space to write monthly goals and projects, and on the right is the calendar for writing in important dates and reminders.
July Trackers
I’ve really enjoyed having a separate spread for habit trackers, which is something I started doing last January. As usual, I’ll be tracking the hours I sleep, my daily mood, and a number of daily habits (which I’m still deciding on). I also have a space to write a keyword of the day — some word or phrase that summarizes or stands out about that particular day.
And with that, I’m ready to finish planning for the second half of 2021. I’d love to hear what you’re doing to prepare for the remaining six months of the year!