2020 Bullet Journal Set Up

I can’t believe we are about two weeks out till 2020. Last year I didn’t start over in a new journal because I had a lot left in my last one. This year however I decided to start off with a new journal.

I have to admit I’m usually one for using a journal until there are no more pages left but it feels nice to start fresh for the new year.

Table Of Contents

For returning visitors or if you are looking for something in specific here is an easy jump to table of contents for you. Just click the link and jump to the part in the post you want to view most. To come back there is a link after ever section to send you back to this table of contents.

• Supplies For The Year
• Theme For The Year
• Future Log, Birthday, and Holiday Spreads
• Goal Setting For The Year
• Master Grocery List and Family Favorite Recipes
• Cleaning Schedule Set Up
• Movie Tracker
• TV Shows
• Book Tracker
• Songs I Love
• Morning and Nightly Routine

Supplies For The Year

Last year I tried the Scribbles That Matter journal and absolutely fell in love with it. I’m using the same journal again and I really like the improvements that have been made in it.

From time to time the Scribbles that Matter Journal is sold out on Amazon. When this happens third party sellers will try to sell the journal for an insane amount of money. DO NOT BUY THAT! Scribbles that Matter should be back in stock soon. My second favorite journal is the Essentials Dot Matrix, though I warn you the pages on this one are thinner and bleeding and shadows show up on opposite sides. However, it's a decent cheap journal if you are in a pinch and just want to get started.

The journal has thicker paper now so there is less ghosting than my last one. I’m even tempted to try out small accents of water color in this journal, but I’ll probably wait till the last month in case it doesn’t work out.

Last year I started using the Micron 03 Fineliner for all my task writing in my journal. It gives the journal a more consistent look and the ink holds up without smudging or smearing as I’m taking notes. The only downside I have with the Micron Fineliner pens is the felt tip will wear down after daily use for about 3 months. This could be because I have a heavy hand though.

Finally, I bought some washi tape for the first time and plan on using it this year in my bullet journal. While I haven’t used it yet I may start using it for my February monthly spread. The washi tapes I bought are listed below.

• Moleshine Artistic Washi Tape
• 40 0.03 in Solid Washi Tape
• Decorative Washi Tape Set
• Washi Tape Storage Rings

Other supplies I use can be found here:

• Fine Point Pens
• Micron Fine Line Set Pens
• Tombow Fudenosuke Soft And Hard Tip Brush Pen
• Tombow Brush Pens
• Crayola Super Tips
• Mildliner Highlighters

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Theme For The Year

This year I have a theme for the year. The theme is be more you so I’ll be doing monthly themes of things I really enjoy. I’ve reached a point in my life where I’ve realized that doing things by the book or living up to society’s standards is pretty much impossible.

This is the year that I embrace myself, follow my gut, and start truly enjoying life. This means reading more, enjoying movies and my favorite TV shows, getting out more, and spending more time doing what I love and less doing things I don’t like.

This quote page is a reminder to me to find my calm, do more that makes me happy, and be more me.

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Future Log, Birthday, and Holiday Spreads

In the past I had created large future logs in hopes that I would fill them up. The problem was the only things that ever got put in the future logs were birthdays and holidays. So this year I trimmed down to just a one page yearly calendar set up and a circular birthday list.

This will help me to plan out my monthly spreads but doesn’t take up 4 pages that I barely use.

This has been my favorite design of this spread so far and I may use it again in future journals.

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Goal Setting For The Year

If you haven’t noticed by now I’m a goal oriented person. I like to set and work to reach goals. This year I’ve broken up my goal planning into a few different sections.

I created five of the same exact page for different areas of my life. I have one for the personal development I want to go through in 2020. I have one for goals I want to reach with my mommy blog. Finally, I have one for goals I want to reach with this blog.

The two extra goal pages are for other areas of my life where I want to set and reach goals and I can set them up later in the year.

I like having my collections at the front of my journal instead of needing to search through for them as they pop up. So I try to be prepared with every collection I need for the year.

Over the years I have learned that if I don’t write down my goals and the actions I need to take to reach those goals, I rarely actually reach them. I end up getting distracted and work on things that don’t pertain to my goals.

If you’ve struggled in the past with reaching your goals I highly recommend doing something similar. Use your goal spreads to build your to do lists with the tasks that will help you reach your goals.

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Master Grocery List and Family Favorite Recipes

This worked out well for me in my last bullet journal in helping me stick to heavy in plants diet. While we aren’t fully plant based we do put more of an emphasis on plant foods as the main dish and meats as a side dish.

Having a master grocery list helps me to create my weekly or bi-weekly grocery shopping. It acts as a reminder to check on all of my favorite foods to see what I should order. Likewise the family favorite recipes spread helps me to determine what foods I need to purchase for meal planning.

The Family Favorite Recipes spread helps me to plan out our meals every week. It’s also a great spread for those nights that I didn’t plan for dinner. I just scan through then list and find something to whip up.

These two spreads work well in conjunction with one another to keep us on track in our diets and helps me to plan out all of our meals and even do some meal prep.

In 2020 I plan on making more meals at home from scratch. I’m trying to cut out a lot of the processed foods that we eat.

I’ll also be utilizing our freezer more by buying large amounts of fresh vegetables and preparing to freeze them. Then when I make dinner I can just dump everything I need into a frying pan, crock pot, instant pot, or sheet pan for baking.

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Cleaning Schedule Set Up

Now I’m not the greatest at sticking to a cleaning schedule but this year I’m hoping this spread will make it easier for me to stick to it. In the past I’ve just listed my chores but this spread is meant as more of a schedule. I can more easily stick to it because there is only one or two big things I need to do on any given day.

If I have just one major chore each day of the week I’m more likely to stick to the schedule and get the one chore done. The cleaning schedule is my basic guide to making sure everything I need to get done gets done each week.

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Entertainment Trackers

This year I’ve added more complete spreads with larger spacing to track my entertainment options. For the past 4 years I’ve been collecting a lot of shows to watch but haven’t actually gotten around to it. In 2020 I want to actually spend a bit more time watching those shows and movies.

I also have a goal of reading 80 books this year so I’ll need to make sure I track all those too. Finally, I added a songs playlist for songs that I like. These don’t have to be songs that are released this year, just songs that I enjoy listening too.

Movies

This year I’m hoping to spend some time actually watching movies that I’ve been meaning to watch for years now. My movies spread will help me to keep track of all the movies I’m watching and what I think about them.

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TV Shows

We have a bit of a streaming service addiction in our house, we cut the cord a long time ago and yet we are getting to the point of paying about the same for cable with streaming. I have two blank boxes for services we plan on adding this year too.

I’m a binge watcher. I wait until there are plenty of seasons of a show available and then I watch them all over the course of a week or so. Having a tracker is essential to helping me remember which shows I want to watch at some point.

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Book Tracker

My favorite spread is my book tracker. While it seems like a lot of books to read over the most of a year, I think I could fill up this tracker. With Amazon Kindle Unlimited I read a lot of books and this tracker will help me remember everything I’ve read this year.

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Songs I Love

When I work I often listen to Pandora. This spread is meant so I can remember songs I really like and eventually put together a playlist.

I’m fairly positive there will be a lot of songs that are older so this will probably not just be brand new songs. It’s a great spread to look back on in a few years to see which songs I really enjoyed in this period of my life.

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Morning and Nightly Routine

The quote page before my morning and nightly routines is a reminder to keep working on finding things I’m grateful for to be happier. This quote actually appears in my journals quite a bit.

My morning routine is meant to actually slow me down. In the morning I tend to rush through drinking coffee and getting ready for the day without stopping to take a minute. The entire day ends up feeling rushed. By slowing down and checking off a 5 point routine I slow down more in my day.

At night before bed I have a routine set so that I can sleep more easily. I record and close out my day with this routine to signal my brain that it’s ready for bed. This helps me to sleep more soundly.

My routines are meant to set me up to have a more focused day. I find that in order to help manage my ADHD I need to have set routines. When I ignore my routines I end up feeling extremely unfocused and waste an entire day doing things that I’m not wanting to do.

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Bullet Journal Collections 2020

This year is all about focusing on being more myself. I’ll be enjoying more time relaxing and doing things that actually make me happy. This is a year of self discovery and my bullet journal is going to help me do that.

I have a lot of goals for this year and I’d like to reach them all. I also have the peace of mind in knowing it’s time to slow down a bit and enjoy my life more. 2019 was filled with stress and while I’m closing out the year on a high note, I know that there are improvements I can make still.

2020 is about finding peace inside, managing my stress, becoming aware of triggers, and learning how to more effectively get through them. It’s about enjoying my life more with new activities, diving into my hobbies more, and embracing who I am.

In case you need them again, here are my recommended bullet journal supplies.

From time to time the Scribbles that Matter Journal is sold out on Amazon. When this happens third party sellers will try to sell the journal for an insane amount of money. DO NOT BUY THAT! Scribbles that Matter should be back in stock soon. My second favorite journal is the Essentials Dot Matrix, though I warn you the pages on this one are thinner and bleeding and shadows show up on opposite sides. However, it's a decent cheap journal if you are in a pinch and just want to get started.

• Journal
• Stencils
• Fine Point Pens
• Micron Fine Line Set Pens
• Tombow Fudenosuke Soft And Hard Tip Brush Pen
• Tombow Brush Pens
• Washi Tape
• Crayola Super Tips
• Mildliner Highlighters

What are your goals with your journal this year? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite bullet journal boards.

Related Posts:

• How To Start A Bullet Journal
• How To Keep Using A Bullet Journal
• 21 New Bullet Journal Collections
• My Bullet Journal Story