January Set Up & Templates

How is everyone getting on with setting up January? If I am totally honest after setting up my 2017 pages I am happy to have everything set up and ready to go! I have a lot of pages tracking different things this month, too many new years resolutions maybe but I have my fingers crossed that I will stick to everything I have planned. 

For anyone interested in how I set up the below pages in my bullet journal I have included templates for all the layouts at the bottom of the post. The templates are designed around the Leuchtturn1917 A5 dot grid as this is the notebook I use.

Header page and goals

I have only just started to include a monthly header page in my journal. I never had one before as I always felt intimidated to draw something. Once I decided to go with what I know and keep it simple I began to really like the header page separating each month. I like to put my goals here too, partly because I like them to be the first thing I see when looking at the month and also because it means there is less space to fill with something pretty! Functionality all the way!

Monthly layout

I decided to go back to my original monthly layout for January. I have always set my month up like this as I find the original bullet journal layout on a single page somewhat overwhelming. By the time I am halfway through the month I have so much crammed in that I don't know where to look first! I find the separate boxes and empty space helps to easily see where everything is.

I also like to keep my tracker on my monthly layout too. Partly because it fits in to the spare space and also because I like how it limits me to tracking only 7 things. When I first started bullet journalling I would have a whole separate page for my tracker and would end up listing so many things to track that I would never properly try to keep up with everything. Having just 7 tracking elements means that I am able to focus on what is important for me each month. The things I track usually relates to my goals. 

If you have trouble sticking to your tracker and keeping up with your goals I would totally recommend trying to reduce the amount you track and you may find it more productive in the long run!

Reading Log

I like to track what I am reading as I just love using this spread but also to use as a reminder of all the books I have read throughout the month. The idea is to colour in the pages you have read each day with a new colour so you can see how much you read each day while being able to see the progress you are making with a book. 

I cannot take any credit for this spread though! The idea and original design is from Kara at oak.tree.journaling on Instagram, If you’re interested in more layouts like this I would totally recommend checking out her account! I am not totally sure how Kara set up her log, but the template for how I set this up in my Leuchtturm is at the bottom of this post.

Time Tracker

One of my favourite spreads of the month! I just love how this page looks when the month is complete! I tried using time trackers on each daily log in the past and never stuck to using them but when they are all on one page I always fill them in. It's such a great spread, not just because of how nice it looks once it is full of colour but because you are able to see how you spent your time for the whole month at a glance. This page has single-handedly woken me up to how much time I used to waste and is the reason I am so much more productive today. The idea behind this tracker came from Trine at logthatlife on instagram.

Fitness tracker

This is the first time I have had a spread in my bullet journal like this and I really like it. I usually plan my fitness in my weekly layout but having the whole month all planned really motivates me to keep up with working out so I do not fall behind.

So there we have it, my January set up. As already mentioned the templates for all of the spreads are listed below. 

Thanks so much for reading!

Templates

More tempates can be found in the Templates Library!