2021 Bullet Journal: Reflecting + Some Fav Layouts

2021 wasn’t my first trip into the bullet journal world, but it’s definitely my first trip making it through for a full year without abandoning it. I’m likely not the only one who’s done it because a bullet journal is very different from the planners they used to give you back in elementary school to get you ready for middle school, so it’s kind of intimidating but also so very freeing. What do I do with all these blank pages?

So I figured with all the reviews I seem to be posting and nothing else (truly, the motivation is out the door here), it might be a little fun to share some of my favorite layouts I’ve made throughout my 2021 bullet journal and maybe some lessons I learned from the first time around. (Mostly just to show my favorite layouts because I want to do a fun blog post for once and not a review.)

Yearly

Since I originally started in July 2019 (and then abandoned it), I never actually did yearly spreads like an overview calendar or events, etc. 2021 was very much an obstacle course in this department but I’ve definitely gained a few insights going into 2022.

2021’s cover was kept simple because I mainly wanted to get rid of some old stickers, so the cover reflects the simplicity and some space for stickers. Plus, I just wasn’t ready to try and complicate things for myself. Yet.

(Look friends, it’s been a long winter where it’s just blah and the lighting just isn’t reaching my room this year so we’ll pretend this lighting is fabulous.)

Just having a calendar overview rather than calendar and events

I don’t really know why I had events in the first place especially since there’s a pandemic around still. Even without a pandemic, I don’t socialize much anyways… so there’s not really a point to include both. As much as I love the ability to look at the year ahead, I honestly don’t look at it much to fully utilize it.

That being said, I also don’t feel I need a birthday calendar (2021 was just a separate list), so I may just merge it all into one overall calendar.

Moving the Brain Dump somewhere not so in the middle

I didn’t really implement this into the 2021 bullet journal until the middle of the year mainly because I’ve been a lump of coal so do I really need to do any brainstorming outside of project spreads? Turns out that no, not really, but I could use a page or two just in case. There were a few times where I utilized mistake pages in 2021 that I covered up with post it notes here and there with my brain dumps. (We do love being resourceful here.)

Potentially removing the goals page

I think time and time again I’ve proven to myself through my goals posts that I’m relatively bad at keeping track of my goals. At the same time, I really like having a sense of purpose of sorts when walking into the new year, even if I end up just surviving through the year.

I might make it a smaller half page spread instead, though, or just do it monthly. Something about doing it monthly feels a little less overwhelming than yearly; it’s like taking a small bite rather than looking down at a large pizza wondering, “So how exactly do I eat this alone?”

Implementing a bills tracker

I’m still thinking about this one since the only ones I really have to keep track of is rent and electricity since they’re either mailed or manual, but we’ll see. I might try it out for 2022 and then remove it in 2023 if I don’t feel it’s needed. Of course, since it’s a ways off, I could just be lying.

(I have more bills I could keep track but for bills that are automatic, I don’t really see the point of tracking them since I don’t actually need to track it. If it’s a temporary one like a loan, or payment plan, I think it makes a lot more sense for me to keep track on when it ends and make sure the correct amount is being taken out.)

Implementing an ARC Tracker

So far, I’ve been using a post it note and moving it all over the place every month (and replacing the note as needed) mainly because I had quite a few old ARCs. But now that I’m almost done, I’m trying my best to get my ducks together since there’s been way too many times where I thought a book was releasing later and it turned out to not be the case.

I also want to say I’m generally not too stressed about posting a review later than the release date because I’m not getting paid but I still want to make the effort to at least try if I can.

Monthly and Weekly

I think I made quite a few big adjustments that fit me better that I learned from my first trip around. My biggest adjustments was not pre-making spreads months in advance because it really left me with little to no room for flexibility that the bullet journal is actually intended to be. This may just be from pre-printed planner habits though; it initially feels strange to not have an entire year all laid out.

Just a mini monthly calendar if any

I don’t really plan my blog posts ahead of time as much as I use to (nor am I able to since I’m relying on mobile data) and I definitely not going anywhere, so I never really saw a point to have a monthly calendar spread. I also admittedly never used the monthly calendar spreads even in school provided planners either.

The only month I actually had an events portion was in June and July when trying to arrange vaccinations so I didn’t forget to tell work.

Switching from a traditional weekly layout to a weekly to do list

Honestly with my schedule by the time I get home, I don’t really want to do much of anything, so a lot of my tasks tend to be done on the days I’m off. Having a weekly to do list rather than laying it out day by day allowed me to not having to write everything down for one day only to write it again the next.

It also allowed me to have a bigger notes section when I switched from a one-page spread to a two-page spread along with a watchlist because I have an annoying habit of abandoning my subscriptions and keep paying for it. (I once paid for Hulu for an entire year because I forgot that even existed.)

I also never really used the weekly layouts in school either and if I did, I kind of just abandoned it and wrote what I had to. (In other words, they basically wasted a planner on me but it’s not like I had a choice.)

Merging Books Read and Movies Watched List

I have such a terrible habit of abandoning my Netflix (yet still paying for it) that I’ve made it my goal to watch at least a movie or show (in this case, a few episodes) a week. My movies watched list throughout 2021 was quite scattered since I wasn’t sure if I would keep clowning around or actually utilize my Netflix, so I ended up with maybe 5-6 pages randomly about with their respective bookmarks.

(It’s a mess like me.)

I highly highly doubt my reading monster streak will continue in 2022, so I’m walking in with “Maybe I won’t read 20-30 books this month.” These might be famous last words.

Flashes to September 2022. “So I’ve read 200 books already…” Rest assured if that ends up being the case, I may have spent much of my time with webtoons instead.

Other Changes for 2022 Bullet Journal

Perhaps the first and by far biggest change I’m making with 2022 is not only going from A5 to B5, but also to a blackout journal! (I didn’t know these existed until I browsed around.)

I’m actually super excited for this since I’ve always had a fascination with dark backgrounds and trying to make colors pop out. If I had a different room or still took photography class (or even had a fancy camera), I think I would’ve kept the black background theme for bookstagram I had for awhile because it was loads of fun while bringing a challenge and bringing a much different feel to bookstagram. (Also it’s me.)

Throughout 2021 I noticed while I did branch out with my layouts, I always ended up defaulting back to minimal with lines. There were very few times I really saw myself exploring with doodles, and while that’s perfectly okay, it just doesn’t bring me as much joy. The few that I did choose to be a little more artistic on, like in May and August, turned out to be some of favorite layouts (and perhaps the ones I had the most fun creating, if you want my opinion).

So in 2022, I’m challenging myself to go in with the free reigns and creativity of blackout journals, and seeing where I go from there.

Let’s talk, bookwyrms: do you bullet journal? If not, do you want to? Or do you live freely without a planner?

(Kudos to you if you don’t use a planner or bullet journal. But also if you don’t use one because it doesn’t fit you, that’s valid too.)