AD / My 2021 Bullet Journal, And Changing the Way I Journal

This post is produced in partnership with Papier, whose notebooks and beautiful stationery I’ve used for several years.

Alright, alright, I KNOW it is ‘only November’, but December is reserved for diving headfirst into Netflix Christmas specials and wrapping gifts every night. And if you’re anything like me, then by the time late November rolls round, you’re already itching to get ready and planning for the upcoming year.

I’m thrilled to be partnering with Papier again, who’ve kindly provided me with another of their beautiful dotted notebooks. As you can see, I’m quite the fan of these hardback babies: the paperweight handles Tombow pens perfectly and quite happily takes on stuck-on elements too. This year I opted for this Rosie Assoulin design – bright and cheerful, some stationery tonic for 2021.

‘Under the Capri Sun’ Rosie Assoulin Dotted Notebook, £19.99, Papier

Last year’s cover page went viral on Pinterest and I’m continuing it for the new year. Rainbows have become a touchstone of our collective 2020, and I just love the sentiment behind it.

You’ll notice that my key has changed considerably this year. I’m now adding new symbols for my blog, Instagram and for & Chai. We have big plans for 2021, and I can’t wait to get planning!

My future log has taken a new format this year. I find it easier to read across the page rather than down, and feel like this is a much better way to use up the entire page.

I’m also borderline obsessed with my new reading log. I drew a wall-to-wall bookcase with an arched window and bay seating, and can’t wait to add in all of the books I read in 2021!

As always, I plan to constantly improve and grow Daisybutter. And I’ll be honing in further on my four content pillars. Tell me; which parts of my blog do you like to see the most? And are there any things I can do more of?

In every one of the three bullet journals I have, I’ve kept a spending planner. I find these helpful in that I can tangibly write down things I need to buy (i.e. anniversary gifts, birthday gifts, a skincare product that will run out), and see where the money goes and when. This way – especially as a small business owner – I can plan for those periods of the year.

In addition to the monthly title pages I create, I’m also adding in a monthly dashboard to my 2021 bullet journal. Here I can see my month at a glance, note down a month-specific to-do list (i.e. renew Milo’s pet insurance, book a smear test, buy my best friend’s birthday present) and have those at the forefront of my mind. I’ll also be planning out my blog posts here, and using a habit tracker. I used to be staunchly against habit trackers, but throughout 2020, found them monumentally useful for my mental health, in feeling like I’d achieved something simply by getting dressed in the morning.

And, I suppose, the biggest change in how I bullet journal is that I’m moving to a flexible weekly log. I won’t be doing the seven-day set-up anymore, as I found it too rigid for my varied working week. Instead, I’ll be writing weekly, master to-do lists to refer to, divvying them out as the days come. And, I’ll be moving my written journal entries to my bujo at last! If you’d like to discover what and how I write those entries, I’ll be sharing that in a few weeks time.

Are you also starting to think about your 2021 planning systems? Do you bullet journal? Let me know your favoured logs and trackers in the comments below!