One of my favourite things about using a bullet journal is that it’s a creative outlet. With an empty journal, you get to decide what you write, how you write and how it looks. More than that, you get to be adaptable and experimental. To have fun with it.

In my journaling journey (great alliteration), I’ve tried so many things. I’ve used different styles of weekly summaries, habit trackers and mood trackers, to name some. At the end of every month, when I sit down to create the next spread, I always take a moment to think about what it is I want to focus on the following month.

I like to play around with different page ideas because it breaks routine and makes me excited to use my journal at the end of each day. Lately, I’ll admit, my journal has become tedious to use. It takes me less than 10 minutes to fill out the pages and I’m not happy with that.

So, I told myself in the month of December, I am going to shake things up in my monthly spread. I’m going to add more pages and write more in-depth. And I thought it would be fun to share my journaling process with all of you. I use a lined journal, which can be a difficult medium to work with sometimes, but it’s a challenge I accept. So, if you want some inspiration for your own journal, stay right here and read the rest of this post. Journal with me as I go over my journal setup for December 2019.

My pre-journaling activities:

Color palette:

I like to choose at least 3 colours to create a palette for my monthly spread. I use these to fill in trackers, write titles, and to draw any other little decorations. Given that December is the month of Christmas, I’ve chosen a dark red, dark green and a light brown (because it reminds me of gingerbread biscuits).

Photographs:

Since I’m not talented at drawing or painting, I like to use photo collages to decorate the pages. I go to sources like Pinterest and Tumblr to find my images, and sometimes I’ll add bits of brown or white paper. For December, I wanted to use a couple of Christmas-inspired photographs to match the color scheme. Often, I won’t use every one that I print off. .

Rough draft on paper:

I take a piece of blank paper and I fold it so there are about 8 rectangles on each side. Then, I write down what I want to do on each page. Sometimes, if I want to try a new layout, I will also draw how I want it to look. This time, I’ve added a lot of fun page ideas in between my weekly summaries.

Once my pre-journaling activities are done, I can begin setting up my monthly spread. (See journal pictures at the end of the post for visuals).

My journal spread for December:

Title page:

I like to make this the focal point of the spread. It’s where I add the signature color and the most decorations. One thing I always do is draw up a mini calendar with the days of the month. One thing you might like to do is add some drawings or quotes, something pretty and festive to fill the rest of the page with. I like to keep it simplistic.

Goals tracker:

This is the first thing I do when I start to fill in the pages. I sit down and think about all the long-term and short-term things I want to accomplish throughout the month and I write them down neatly and clearly. Once those goals are completed, I like to put a strike through each of them. You might prefer to use more color or tick boxes.

Health trackers:

These are the healthy activities I track throughout the month. I like to monitor things for my mental and physical health such as daily exercise, clear skin, no stress, and so on. As a young woman I also prefer to keep track of my monthly cycle in my journal instead of on a phone app.

Habit trackers:

These are the hobbies and other activities that fill my day, which I try to do every day if possible. Keeping a list of habits helps keep me motivated and to stay productive every day. I look at things like studying, cleaning up, reading, writing and more. It’s basically a little reminder at the end of the day to focus on my goals.

One thing I like the most about health and habit trackers is that it’s fun to study them, the different things I did throughout the month and see where things correlate. My skin might be worse during my monthly cycle. I might get less things done if I’m not sleeping well. It gives me some perspective on the things in my life I need to focus on for my self-care and personal growth.

Quotes roundup:

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I enjoy quotes. Whether it is a song lyric, a line from a book or a phrase spoken by someone. On my Tumblr, I’m always looking for and reblogging new quotes that catch my eye. In December, any new quotes I find will be written down on this page. This is a fun way to record affirmations and words that inspire you.

Songs roundup:

This is essentially the rough draft of a “songs of the month” playlist. Here, I’ll jot down any new songs I discover during December. It also gives me a good excuse to listen to new music every day.

Currently watching/reading:

I’m considering organizing this page into weekly subsections; that way I can quickly jot down anything that I watched or read during that week. Like tv show episodes, films, YouTube videos, blog posts, book chapters. This page will me more of a summary compared to my in-depth media journal I keep on my nightstand.

Gratitude list:

I don’t do this enough but I want to start writing down the things I am grateful for on a monthly basis. I think I’ll use it in a similar fashion to my monthly goals page, something I can add to as it comes to my mind or something I will fill out at the end of each week, or the month itself. My main concern with this idea is that it will become repetitive and dull, but I want to try it and see if it’s something I would do again.

Weekly summary – a diary and reflection:

These are my favourite pages, alongside the trackers. When I rush through the day, it’s important to sit down and reflect on everything that happened. It doesn’t have to be in-depth or meaningful. Again, I have another journal for that. Still, I like to jot down at least 3 things that happen each day. Whether it was something that upset me, or an activity I did, or something general that happened. When I write my weekly reflection pages, I will skin through the summaries to remind myself of what I did and experienced in that week.

A year at a glance:

A lot of the pages have the same page layout as this one. I didn’t want to decide weeks ahead what these pages would look like, how i would write on them because then it would be too restrictive. I used a page like this one at the end of 2018 in a previous journal. This time, I am changing how I fill it in. At the end of December, I will write a reflection about everything that happened to me in 2019, the good and the bad. The highlights and the lowlights of the year. In addition to my hopes and goals for the next year.

There you have it. My monthly spread for December and how I like to fill in my pages. I hope you found this post useful, whether you have a blank, lined or grid journal. Everyone’s journal is unique and a reflection of what matters the most to them. so, go have fun creating your own spreads for December. Have a lovely day!