The Bullet Journal: Jul-Dec 2019

The month of July marks a halfway point in the year. Here we are, already  halfway through 2019. How crazy is that? If feels as though the year has begun just yesterday! 

As you know, one of the ways I stay organized in my busy life is my bullet journal. It is my primary organizational system. I also keep a calendar book and a white board calendar, but these days I use them scarcely.

While June has ended, so has my previous bullet journal. Each journal I create is divided for every six months; this allows me to use as many pages for spreads as I need. I get to start fresh and try out new layouts and themes!

JAn-JUN 2019.

January-June's bullet journal is a Leuchtturm1917 A5 dotted hardcover notebook. I went for a more minimal layout compared to my July-December 2018 journal. I used color predominantly in the weekly and daily spreads. You can check it out here.

Jul-Dec 2019.

For July-December's journal, I used a Lemome A5 dotted notebook with a pen loop. This notebook has super thick pages and I experience no bleeding at all. There is only no pre-printed index or numbered pages like the Leuchtturm, you'll have to make them yourself. There is only one ribbon bookmark in the Lemome compared to the two in the Leuchtturm. However, this Lemome notebook comes with tabs to further organize your journal and a standard back folder.  

For the Jul-Dec journal, I wanted even more minimalism. I start grad school in the fall and I wanted something I could keep accountable for with a part time job, a full time job, and a full time school schedule. I chose a black and white theme mostly inspired by YouTuber's AmandaRachLee, Shayda Campbell, Mariana's Study Corner, and Caitlin's Corner. I also took some inspiration from Pinterest (check out my board!).

SPREADS I REMOVED:

• The 'my birthday' page. For the past two journals, I never utilized them. I figure this year, if I do want to record my birthday, I could make a page after that weekly spread.
• The 'dream journal' spread. I have such vivid dreams and I stay in bed wanting to hang on to them for as long as I can. But by doing that, I never automatically reach for my journal in the morning. By the time I remember to write it down, I already forgot most of it.
• The '2019 in pictures' spread. Like a lot of the ones I removed, I made it with the intention of using it. But life gets in the way and it did not become functional to my life. 
• The tasks and goals section of the monthly calendar. I just wanted a space I could write down important notes as they happen that did not fit in the weekly. This was extra stuff that was not functional for me at the time.
• The goals, next week, and note sections of the weekly spreads. They took up too much space and I did not utilize them consistently.

SPREADS I ADDED/CHANGED:

• The 'future log' spread. I moved the future log to be just before the planning section instead of the beginning of the personal section.
• The '2019 goals' page. I changed the layout of the goals page for a flowchart aesthetic. I met some goals for the year, transferred the incomplete, and added new ones.
• The 'wishlist' page. I changed the style to match the theme. I prefer this one than the other. 
• The 'payment tracker' page. I changed the name to 'income tracker.' I also fixed the layout of the income grid to flow effectively for my two jobs and added a 'total' row to the extras grid. 
• The 'bills and expenses' page. I removed the 'needs and wants' grid and added more space for the 'bills' grid. The 'needs and wants' was extrapolated to the monthly budget spread. Drawing the boxes to check off a month was too tedious for me to replicate, so I used grid spaces instead. I removed the 'auto?' row and added dots next to the bill to indicate that it comes out of my bank account automatically.
• The '2019 birthdays' page. I changed the layout to be more minimal. I can fit more birthdays in this page than the previous one. 
• The 'brain dump' page. I added a brain dump page. Sometimes ideas pop into my head and the new weekly spread does not have a space for those random ideas. 
• The 'media' spread. I completely changed this layout. It was heavily inspired by AmandaRachLee. I renamed it 'things to check out!' like she did. In retrospect, there isn't nearly enough space for books. 
• The 'cleaning master list' page. I changed the colors to match the theme and removed the 'quarterly' and 'annual' sections.
• The 'self care routine' spread. I added a self care spread. This will be most important to me. In my slow pace, I haven't decided how I want to layout this spread so it is currently incomplete!
• The 'monthly budget' page. I was inspired by AmandaRachLee and a Pinterest post for this one. I adjusted it to my needs and it turned out amazing. Even though I love my 'expenses' page, it didn't tell me much. I never took the time to add how much I spent. This spread tells me how much I spent on what so I can adjust accordingly the next month.

Jul-dec 2019 Flipthrough.

The next big project for my bullet journal will be a student section. I am starting a new chapter in my life; graduate school. I want my transition back into an academic environment to be be a smooth one. The graduate program is tedious and I need to stay on top of my tasks. I've been looking at student bullet journal inspiration and doing mockups. It's almost complete! Stay tuned! You can check out my inspirations here.