My 2020 Bullet Journal Set-up

This post is not sponsored, however the notebook was previously gifted to me and some links are affiliate links.

Can you believe it’s already time for me to share my third bullet journal set-up?! Me. Either.

I’m heading into my third year of using a bullet journal to organise my life and I’m thrilled about it. It’s been illuminating — and so fun — to see how my needs and wants from a diary/notebook have changed over the years, and even more exciting to know that this is the organisation system that works for me. Of course this is for a number of reasons, but just to recap several posts I’ve already shared:

It’s customisable and flexible. Perfect for my never-two-the-same working weeks.
It keeps me motivated. Trackers make me want to tick things off.
It affords me the chance to be creative on paper.

For 2020, I’ve opted for a Papier Soleia Notebook with dotted paper (£19.99; mine was previously gifted for an earlier campaign in 2019). Whilst I absolutely adored my Mossery bullet journal, I’m excited to get stuck in with a brand new notebook this year. There are several differences: the Mossery lays flat when opened and features bright white paper, whilst Papier’s is hardback and perfect-bound with cream paper. The Mossery closes with an elastic band and has business card slots, as well as two storage pockets, whilst the Papier version is just a notebook. Regardless of these differences, I’m over the moon with my 2020 bullet journal set-up.

I use my bullet journal for personal tasks, everything related to my copywriting business, and to stay productive with my blog. I have a variety of trackers and logs for each of these, and I’ve definitely honed their functionalities throughout the years.

Let’s explore…

Title Page

I had a vague idea of what I wanted my title page to look like; it’s inspired by these desktop wallpapers on Design Love Fest. To create this, I lettered the year in the centre in a jaunty little, angled fashion, and then used some Tombow pastel brush pens to create mismatched, deliberately wonky neutral-toned rainbows. I just LOVE how cute this page is and although not perfect, it isn’t a page I look back on much, if at all.

Index

The Index is a classic bullet journal feature that I’ve used in all three of mine so far. It acts as a contents page, perfect for finding trackers, logs and collections as your journal develops throughout the year. As the bullet journal system means you have more freedom than 4x week-to-view pages, you may end up with random habit trackers, notes, etc. amidst other pages, the Index makes it easy for you to go back and find things. For example, last year I devoted pages to planning paid content on Instagram, birthday present lists, and these sat amongst my weekly logs.

This year’s design is simple: it follows the classic system by Ryder Carroll and I’ve added in the definition/explanation as a decorative tool, more than anything.

Future Log

The Future Log is another classic bullet journal page. This works by mapping out the year in months and leaving room to ‘future’ log events coming up, as you won’t have created the monthly/weekly pages for months further on in the year. I’ve used mine each year and found it to be incredible useful.

Again, the design is simple with the definition at the top, and then my beloved STABILO Pastel Highlighters to signify each month. These colours then formulate the colour theme for each month as the year progresses, i.e. January has a pink theme, February a yellow theme.

Vision Board

A new addition! Hand in hand with the vision boarding I’ve been doing digitally for my life ‘plans’ and manifestation, I wanted to create a 2020 vision board in my bullet journal to put good things out into the universe and also act as a source of pivotal inspiration. It’s unfinished — a work in progress — but so far I’ve just printed images from my Pinterest vision board.

2020 Reading Log

In 2020, I hope to read a whopping 60 books! This year I’ve managed to read 50 (and I have four more on my to-be-read pile), so I think I’ll be able to manage it. Last year I drew a bookshelf log in my bullet journal and really enjoyed it, although it didn’t fit all of the books I’d read. So for 2020 I’ve replicated it on a double-page spread to maximise space. To use this log, you simply draw books on a bookshelf and write in the title and author on each, as you complete it. I also then highlight it in the aforementioned colours to mark when I finished reading it.

30 Before 30

I turn 29 in March!! Which means I’ll be on a fast-track to 30! So, I thought I’d include a list of the things I’d like to do before I turn 30. I don’t think I’ll do it in a particularly grand fashion, but it’ll be nice to try and tick some things from my bucket list and it’ll also be nice to look back on in coming years.

Client Bookings

I haven’t managed to include a photo of what this tracker looks like as I’ve, excitingly, already booked in lots of clients for early 2020 and I’d like to maintain client confidentiality. Last year I also logged blog partnerships in the same one, but I think I’ll separate them this time because I’d like 2020 to be a year of real focus and growth for Daisybutter. I just adore this space and would love to eke out some time to grow it into an even bigger platform for me. I’ll check back in again soon when I’ve worked out the perfect way to log my paid partnerships.

2020 Monthly Covers

And finally, the pièce de résistance of the Daisybutter bullet journals! My monthly title pages! Last year, my Diptyque-inspired title pages drew so much attention that the hits via Pinterest basically kept my blog traffic afloat for around five months. I was, naturally, over the moon and I’m thrilled it’s inspired so many of you to create similar pages.

For 2020, I was originally going to continue the theme — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… — but then I felt incredibly inspired by the baggage tag print that hung on my wall in my bedroom. And so, I’ve created my own version of it for January’s title page! The black arrow at the bottom will contain my ‘focus’ word of the month, and the page adjacent will be a collage of sorts. I’ll print my favourite blog post of the month and glue it in, write some goals, and track my gym-going too.

January Weekly Logs

Like I’ve mentioned numerous times before, I ultimately still use my bullet journal with a diary-esque format. It’s basically full of my daily to-do lists and notes, and I follow the seven-day layout. For January, I’ve created this minimalist spread with the date in a colourful highlight, ‘B’, ‘IG’ and ‘S’ to plan out my blog, Instagram and Stories for the day, and space to add my daily lists. I find these quarter-page layouts to be the perfect amount of space to add everything and if it doesn’t fit, I’ll just add in a Post-it note.

Do you keep a bullet journal? Or are you planning on starting one? I’d love to hear more about your customised systems.