We are now the fourth month into 2021 and it’s flying by. April is one of my favorite months, up there with October. It’s a month that signals a change of seasons.
As I’ve gotten more into planning and personal development, I have found that I love when a new season starts. It gives me a chance to restart and reflect on my past goals and plan for the next quarter of the year.
However, before we do that we need to set up our bullet journals for April so we are ready to start planning for this new season of life.
So grab your bujo’s and let’s set up my April 2021 Bullet Journal spreads.
April 2021 Bullet Journal
Cover Page
If you saw my January bullet journal set-up, you’ll know that I’ve been trying my hand at watercoloring. While I didn’t do as much in February and March, I decided to bring it back in April with this umbrella cover page. What do you think?
Monthly Page
Here is my usually two-page monthly spread to track events coming up this month and a space for goals on the side. I always like to pick 3 main goals to aim for by the end of the month. It always gives me something to work on when I get bored.
Affirmations
Continuing on with the past few months is my affirmations page. I have yet to decide what my affirmations are gonna be yet because I haven’t done my monthly review to see if I want to change it up, but my main affirmation last month was:
There is nothing to fear because I cannot fail. I can only learn, grow, and become better than I ever have before.
and
I decide how I feel. And today I choose Happiness.
In April I am going to make a blog post on Affirmations. If you would like to be notified when that post comes out, make sure to subscribe to my email list!
Gratitude Log
As always, here is my gratitude log. It’s such a good idea to write down what you are grateful for every day to keep that positive mindset going.
Habit Tracker
I found last month that tracking my habits this way really helped keep me accountable. Last month I used it to keep track of my morning routine habits. I haven’t full decided which habits I want to track this month. I know I really need to work on posting to my social media accounts more often so I figured that would be a good habit to track.
What habits are you tracking this month?
Moving To-Do List
We are moving at the beginning of May and have so many things to do before then. I made a spread in my bullet journal to keep track of all the things we need to do before we move and even a couple of things we need to do once we move. I hope just one page will be enough room for all the to-dos…
Which spread was your favorite? Or what are you tracking in your bujo this month? Let me know in the comments!
I hope you have an amazing first full month of Spring! ?
A new month means another bullet journal set-up. Grab your bujo and join me in setting up my March 2021 bullet journal spreads.
For the month of March many people start to do spring type spreads but I have a hard time doing that when March is very much a winter month here in Michigan.
In fact, sometimes March is the snowiest month.
To be honest I had a difficult time coming up with a theme so I start going through my scrapbook paper and stickers and here’s what I came up with.
I hope you enjoy and get some inspiration for your March Bullet Journal.
March 2021 Cover Page
For this page, I ripped up some brown construction paper to frame out the middle, and used my grey Tombow brush pen, color N55, to write March in cursive.
I felt like it needed some definition so I added the shadows with a gold metallic pen and used a black pen for the traced line on top.
Still not sure how I feel about it. I was being very indecisive during this whole spread. What do you guys think?
As I mentioned before I found some scrapbook paper and embellishments to sprinkle throughout the whole set-up.
Finally, I used my Artist’s Loft Illustration Pen in a size 0.5 mm to add more dimension to the page and also fill some empty space with some random lines and dots.
Monthly Spread
To be honest with you, I am not a fan of this monthly spread, at all. I really wanted to use the gold and grey washi tape but just couldn’t find a brush pen color that worked with it. So let’s just ignore that page.
Affirmations Page
For the third month in a row I’ve made an affirmations page. It makes it easy to flip back to when reciting my affirmations in the morning.
I haven’t full decided on my main affirmations for the month yet. That’s next on my to-do list.
What are some of your favorite affirmations?
March Gratitude Log
It’s always a good idea to find something you’re grateful for every day. That’s why this will always be a reoccurring page in my monthly set-ups.
Also, this page became an example of how you can fix a mistake in your bujo.
I messed up when writing the dates the first time so I fixed it by writing it on a separate piece of paper and then gluing it down.
It also helps add some definition to the page with is always nice. So win-win I guess.
March Habit Tracker
I don’t normally do habit trackers but I am quite curious how consistent I’m being with these 6 habits.
I have recently been doing them almost every single day. So for this month I’m gonna actually track them and see how consistent I really am.
I also added an arrow to the habit I’m going to be most focused on this month which is meditation.
We are coming up to the end of the first quarter in 2021 so to make sure I’m on track to finish my goals for the quarter I made an extra planning spread where I can see the whole month spread out into weekly to-dos.
Well, there you have it, my March 2021 Bullet Journal set-up.
I hope you enjoyed coming along and planning with me.
What spreads are you recreating this month? Let me know in the comments below.
Curious to see my other monthly spreads from this year, check out my 2021 Bullet Journal posts.
The first month of 2021 is already almost over so that means it’s time to pull out our bullet journals and plan for February. Like many other people are doing this month, I’m focusing on self-care. So grab your bujo, your favorite supplies, and a cup of coffee. Let’s get planning our February 2021 Bullet Journal spreads!
February 2021 Bullet Journal
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I decided to go for a more minimal cover page this month and it turned out beautiful. I still used my watercolor paints like I wanted to but in a very minimal way. I drew out the flowers before painting them for an even more simple look.
Reminder, you don’t have to be an artist to create beautiful spreads. I am definitely not. It isn’t too difficult to find some clip art pictures online and attempt to copy them. It’s your bullet journal so don’t judge it, no one else has to see it. This is for your enjoyment!
Cover Page
Monthly Spread
Here’s my usual monthly spread. Also much simpler than January’s spreads. I even found a February sticker in The Happy Planner – Winter sticker book and the colors fit perfectly.
Like I said last month, I’ve started to include reciting affirmations in my morning routine.
The first one is the same as last month and comes from Hal Elrod’s book “The Miracle Equation”. You can use this affirmation too and make it personal by putting something you are working on in the blank spot. For example, it could be “run a marathon” or “get straight A’s this semester”.
When I recite this affirmation, I put my current goal in the blank, recently that’s been training for a marathon. I’ll say it right before I go for my run and it gives me so much motivation to keep going. Try it for yourself!
If you want to know more about affirmations, let me know in the comments and subscribe for my newsletter. I would love to help you with your affirmations!
Gratitude Log
Similar to the line a day page that I did last month is a Gratitude Log. I decided to call it a gratitude log instead as it is February, which is a self-care month, and practicing gratitude every day fits right in with the theme.
Self-Care Bingo
Alright, I’ve been saying that February is self-care month so here it is; my Self-Care Bingo board. There are 24 self-care ideas and 28 days in February so basically, I’m gonna do something self-care-wise every single day in February.
I encourage you to make a bingo board of your own and fill it with different self-care ideas you enjoy. This is a fun way to make self-care a priority in February.
Alright, I have something to admit to you guys. For those that saw my January spreads, you saw that I had committed to a 30-day water challenge for January, well I failed. Quite badly. I just didn’t set up a good enough tracker to keep me engaged. So this month I made this cool tracker and I ask my best friend to join me, so I have an accountability partner.
If you want to join in the challenge, enter your email below and I’ll send you this tracker so you can join us on the challenge. Plus I plan to send weekly emails to see how you all are succeeding, that way we all have an accountability partner!
**Yes I realize that February doesn’t have 30 days. So either start on the 30th of January or go into March or heck I don’t care, start in the middle of February. I didn’t add many decorations to the printable to it can be used in any month that you want.
Also, you don’t have to put this in your bullet journal like I did. Put it on your fridge, or next to your desk. Somewhere you’ll see it. And set timers throughout the day to remind you to drink water.
Let’s take care of our bodies this month by simply drinking more water!
My Supplies
Here’s the supplies I used this month if your interest:
Watercolor paints – This has been the best deal so far that I’ve found on Amazon in terms of affordability. Sometimes starting new hobbies can be expensive but I did some digging for you and found a nice, inexpensive Paint and Brush Set
Illustration Black Pens: These are the best pens I’ve found so far for bullet journaling. They don’t bleed through the paper and they are smooth to write with. They are also fairly inexpensive. This pack comes with 5 size nibs: 0.8 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.1 mm, 0.05 mm
Tombow Dual Brush Pens: These are by far my favorite brush pens for bullet journaling. They come in so many beautiful colors and the different palette packs fit every style you could think of. There’s bright, pastel, portrait, landscape, and so many more. I, like so many other bullet journalers, love these brush pens.
Sticker books: I have mentioned The Happy Planner stickers before and they are awesome. They are intended for The Happy Planner but I love using them in my bullet journal to add some extra character. The quotes sticker book is the one I plan to use throughout the month of February because it has a lot of “self-love” type quotes that fit my theme perfectly.
Final Thoughts
2021 is kind of already off to a rocky start so this is just a friendly reminder to make sure you are taking care of yourself.
Seriously, try the self-care bingo board. I’ve done it before and it’s super fun making sure I do something for myself every day.
And join me in the 30-day water challenge. Let’s drink more water together.
Comment below which spreads you’re recreating in your February 2021 bullet journal this month and which spreads you are doing that maybe I didn’t include. I’d love to hear about it!
Like I’ve been promising, here’s how I’ve set up my Bullet Journal for January 2021. I’m so excited about this new bujo. As I explained in my last post, I’m focusing on making this a kinda life journal. But don’t worry, I’m still including some regular spreads to help give you some inspiration for your bullet journal.
And without further ado, here’s my January 2021 Bullet Journal Set-Up
This article may contain affiliate links. That means, if you click through and make a purchase using an affiliate link, I will earn a small compensation at no extra cost to you.
January Cover Page
This is by far my favorite cover page I’ve ever done. Like I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I started learning how to watercolor paint. It’s been so much fun. However don’t think I created this all on my own, I’m not that good yet. I got some inspiration from this youtube video.
Here’s my usual monthly spread as I’m sure you expected. This spread was a lot of fun to create. I highly recommend getting creative with your spreads in your bullet journal.
I also left space to put my January goals. Try planning goals for each month and not just at the beginning of the year. It keeps your going all year long.
I’ve recently started adding affirmations to my morning routine so I figured I’d write them out in my bujo. The first one is inspired by Hal Elrod’s book “The Miracle Equation”. I highly recommend you check out any of Hal’s books. All of them are so encouraging and inspirational.
Anyway, I covered up the main part of the affirmation cause well it’s a secret. Shhh. But really though that affirmation can be used for anything in your life, just fill in the blank.
One Line A Day
If you haven’t heard of the “One Line A Day” spreads, you basically write about your day in one sentence. I personally haven’t done a spread like this but I’m excited to give it a try!
30-Day Drink Water Challenge
For the last spread of my January set-up, I decided to do a 30-day water challenge. I’ve seen so many people do 30-day challenges on youtube and it’s so interesting to see what happens over 30 days. I’m excited to try focusing on drinking more water this month. I’ve left the rest of the page empty to record how I feel throughout the month during the challenge.
Well, that’s it. My January 2021 Bullet Journal set-up isn’t very long this time since I’m using Notion for tracking everything else. However, I’m so excited to use the empty pages in my bujo to journal about my days using different artistic elements. One of my goals for 2021 is to use my creative brain more and this is gonna be perfect.
I hope some of my spreads encourage you to try something new for the first month of the new year. Which spread are you gonna recreate? Or what spreads are you using this month that I’m not?
2021 is right around the corner so it’s time to set up a new bujo. Follow along as I go through my 2021 Bullet Journal Set-Up.
Supplies
This article contains affiliate links. That means, if you click through and make a purchase using an affiliate link, I will earn a small compensation at no extra cost to you.
I got most of my supplies this year from Michael’s Craft Store. I love shopping there cause they always have coupons available *wink wink*
The Journal I got this year is an Artist’s Loft Dot Journal. I went with this one this year because I want to experiment with watercolor paints and this journal is 120 gsm so the pages are thicker and less likely to bleed through.
Next, I picked up some new Illustration Pens. This pack of three contains a 0.1 mm, a 0.3 mm, and a 0.5 mm pen. I love these pens cause they don’t bleed through the page and they write nice and smooth.
If you’re a beginner at bullet journaling, you can just start with a pen and a journal. As you begin to experiment with spreads I recommend picking up some Tombow Dual Brush Pens to add some color to your spreads.
This year I decided I want to learn how to watercolor with the extra time I have at home. I picked up a simple set of watercolor paints from Michael’s.
And also some brushes. These are watercolor brush pens. I picked up these cause I didn’t know exactly what brushes to use for watercolors. I like them so far as a beginner.
Planning My Setup
When starting a new journal you should take some time to decide what pages you are including in your new journal and in what order they are gonna be. So grab a blank piece of paper and let’s plan it out.
First, decide what pages you are going to include and how much space you think you’ll need for each spread. I always include a cover page, a future log, and a quote page. Then I knew I wanted to include a books read page, year goals, and a bucket list too. This past year I’ve seen a grid spacing page, a year in pixels, and a weather in pixels page and decided I wanted to include that. Oh, and of course it’s a good idea to track your finances as well.
Now that I know what pages I want to include I have to decide what order they are gonna be in. So I grabbed a pencil and lightly wrote what I was gonna put on each page in my bullet journal. There, that’s planned out.
Next, I decided what colors I was gonna use for the theme. I chose to use greens, blues, and purples so I found all my pens in those colors.
Now, I’m ready to start setting up my Bullet Journal for 2021!
Cover Page
My cover page is super simple this year. I decided to just add a few stars around 2021 and that’s it. Super simple.
Future Log
Next up, the Future Log. Like I mentioned earlier, I wanted to start incorporating watercolors into my spreads. Starting off simple, I used watercolor for the headers. Then I continued the stars from the cover page.
People use their future log in many different ways. I use it for birthdays and any other events that pop up before I’m ready to make the monthly log. For example, if I planned a trip for June of this year, I’m gonna write it on this page because I haven’t made the June month page yet cause it’s only December.
Grid Spacing Guide
I recently discovered this page idea. Instead of taking forever to count every box when I’m setting up a new layout, I can reference this page. I put it very close to the beginning of my journal so it’s easier to find whenever I need it.
Quote Page
After the first few simple spreads that are included in every bullet journal, I decided to find a quote for the year to separate the first spreads from my yearly trackers. I decided to do this quote because we all need a new start after 2020 but the only way we get a proper fresh start is if we shift our mindset first.
Goals and Bucket List
I went crazy with the watercolor here but I like it. It frames each of my goals for this year nicely. I didn’t include a lot about my goals on this page because I’m planning them out somewhere else. I instead found a quote about the goal to help keep me motivated. Then the next page I’m continuing with what I did last year with 21 bucket list items to do in 2021.
What are your goals for next year? And what’s on your bucket list for 2021?
After this past year and the uncertainty it brought, I decided I want to be able to track my finances better. I made a Savings spread to track some of my sinking funds like Christmas, Birthdays, and Vacation. I also decided I should build an emergency fund asap and I’m going to track that here. Then if all goes well, I’m trying to save for a new car too.
Next are my expenses and income. I’m trying to be better about seeing where my money goes so this tracker is gonna help. I’m going to track my day to day expenses somewhere else but this is where my total monthly expenses will go.
Books Read in 2021
This spread is probably my favorite. I incorporated a little bit of scrapbooking stuff for this page. I ripped up some brown paper to add character and found an image off google to print out and put in the spread as well. Thanks to my boyfriend for getting me a colored printer this year, I can print more stuff like this to include in my future bujo spreads.
Year in Pixels and Weather in Pixels
My last two spreads are new this year. The Year in Pixels is to track my emotions throughout the year. It’ll be cool to see it filled up at the end of the year and it’ll help me reflect over the year as I get ready for 2022.
Then my last spread is the Weather in Pixels. Like the previous page, I’ll fill this out every day to show what the weather was. I’ve been really into tracking the weather lately and it’ll be fun to look back at this and see just how often it snowed, or rained, or was cloudy.
Final Thoughts
After I finished my 2021 Bullet Journal Set-Up I started to feel really excited for the new year. I think we are all ready for a new start and to put 2020 behind us. Now that my 2021 pages are set up, it’s time to start working on my January spreads. I’ll be posting that towards to end of the month so watch for it!
Also, I mentioned a few times that I am tracking some stuff elsewhere. After some reflection on how I used different planning systems this past year, I’ve decided to have a Dual-Planning System. I’m gonna use my Bullet Journal and one other thing. Check back at the end of the week for that post!
