January 2022 Bullet Journal Setup

I can’t lie, writing 2022 in the heading kind of made me feel a little bit sick.

Moving swiftly on, welcome to my January Bullet Journal Setup! If you follow my Journal Instagram, you may have already seen a few of these spreads already. However, I have always shared my complete setup on my blog previously and today is no exception.

This month, I decided to go for an abstract theme. I was inspired by two images I saw via Plinthched on Instagram and an image I saw via google which I have to come to realise is from an Etsy store called Shopstarlightandco. I am really happy with how this turned out! I can’t wait to show you my spreads this month. I also have a few questions to ask you all which will be at the end of this post. Anyway, let’s get to it!

Cover Page

I mentioned previously that I have gone for an abstract theme this month. With this theme, I have mainly stuck to warm colours as I think they all compliment each other really nicely. The whole gist of this theme, I guess you could say, is various doodles like rainbows, leaves, stars, spots, etc. Essentially, I just went for whatever I fancied. I also think having the block colours with the doodle on top or sort of overlapping it works really well too. I also included a quote that I really like, with the font being my usual handwriting but with a brush pen. I think it goes well with the theme. Overall, I really love how my cover page turned out! It’s something really different for me but I think it looks really good.

Monthly Spread

If you know me or have seen my previous posts on my old blog, then you’ll be aware a calendar layout for the monthly spread is my favourite. I’m a visual person who likes to see the layout of a month and I really like the way it looks. Each day of the calendar in my notebook is 5 by 4 dots which is plenty of room for me. I also included a goals section for me to write my monthly goals, as well as a follower tracker for my Journal Instagram, my Law Instagram and of course, this blog.

Habit Tracker and Mood Tracker

The individual habit tracker layout has been a firm favourite of mine for a while now. I really like the fact it allows you to distinguish how you’re doing specifically on each habit. This month, I’ve cut down on the number of habits I’m tracking. This is because I really want to focus on these specific habits and I think if I have too many, it will be more difficult to track. The habits I’m tracking this month are my skincare (I’m putting both morning and night into one habit. If I don’t do one the habit will not be completed for that day), my case and statute lists (this is to do with my university degree), drinking water, doing yoga and doing a workout.

As this theme is heavy on the doodles, I wanted to make the mood tracker in the same vein if you like. I have 31 blocks of colour and I will pick a doodle each day that represents my mood. I love doing these doodle mood trackers from time to time. I always love seeing how they look at the end of the month.

Symptoms Tracker and Sleep Tracker

I have included a symptoms tracker for quite a while now. As someone who suffers with their mental health, I find it important to keep track of the common symptoms I face. The majority of the spreads included within my monthly setup all interconnect with each other in some way. For example, if my mood is looking quite low, I can check my symptoms that day and see if there is any correlation.

As someone who really struggles with getting a good night’s sleep, I find it important to track this every month. Again, I find this links back to my mood and symptoms tracker. If I didn’t sleep well the night before, has this affected my mood and any of the symptoms I suffer with? In terms of how I set my sleep tracker up, I like to get a visual representation of the hours at night I am asleep. For example, going to sleep at 2am and waking up at 9am. I will then add on top the amount of sleep I’ve had. I use an app called sleep cycle on my phone and it shows the amount of time I am truly asleep, as well as the time in which I settle down for sleep and wake up in the morning.

Expenses Tracker and Weather Tracker

I always find it really useful to track my expenses each month. However, this month I have changed the layout slightly compared to how I originally used it. I have the date, product, category, price, and whether the expense was a want or a need. I originally used to just put down each expense without distinguishing whether it was a want or a need. I think this way will allow me to clearly see where my money is going and be mindful.

The weather tracker is a brand new spread for me this month. I was inspired by Lucysjournal on TikTok. She includes a weather tracker in her setup and I thought it was a really good idea. Not only is it interesting to me to see what the weather is like each day, but I’m also going to link this back to my mood tracker and see whether there’s a correlation between what the weather is like each day and my mood.

Blog Stats and Gratitude Log

I am honestly so happy to see the return of the blog statistics spread in my monthly setup. I used to use this spread when I had my previous blog before I went to university. Now that I’m back blogging again, I made sure to include this spread again as I find it so useful to me. I’m someone who really loves tracking my statistics and seeing how I’m doing each day. I don’t mind if there are good days and bad days. I just find it really interesting.

My gratitude log is one of my favourite spreads in my monthly setup. I find it really important to express gratitude every day, even if it’s for the smallest of things. I think it’s important to have this spread in a monthly setup, as I definitely find myself being a more positive person as a result.

Brain Dump

Having a brain dump spread is such a necessity for me. I’ve had a few questions in the past asking what I use this for and I thought I would explain now. I use this for things I want to put down that don’t have a place elsewhere in my monthly setup. For example, I include my setup layouts for the following month, shopping lists, things I want to make note of, etc. Essentially, it’s a free-for-all spread.

And that’s my setup in my Bullet Journal for January. I mentioned I have a few questions at the beginning of the post and here they are now. Would you like to see this sort of post every month even if nothing has changed? Or, would you like to see these posts as and when I change the setup up, for example changing the layouts or adding in new spreads?

I would be really grateful if you could give me some feedback!

Beth