It’s almost 2023, and I feel like we all sound like broken records as we say over and over again “this year went by way too quickly”. I mean truly, where did the time go? We’re all sort of processing and trying to find the answer. Whatever the answer may be, 2022 is swiftly coming to a close and that means new planners, new journals, new notebooks, or in my case a new bullet journal setup.
The Bullet Journal system created by Ryder Carroll encourages users to create a yearly setup at the beginning of the year designed to track whatever they need throughout the year, and log for the months ahead.
This year I’m using a journal by Yop and Tom. You can check out the blog for a full review as well as my YouTube Channel.
Theme
This year I decided to use a paper pack that I found on a website called Craftworld. They had several free printable paper packs available on their website and I will definitely be using them throughout the year. For my beginning of the year setup I used their secret garden paper and I really loved how everything turned out. The scrapbook feel, the adorable rain boots, the watering cans, flowers and more all came together to really complete the look.
I had planned on going minimalist this year throughout my bullet journal, but as I setup these pages I realised that I can be both minimalist and creative in the same journal. Nobody can actually step and say “this is wrong” because the beauty of creating your own journal is the leeway and freedom to create according to how you feel.
This scrapbook style craft paper is what drew me to this paper pack and fuelled my theme for this year’s setup
Spreads
- Bullet Journal Why: This year I began reading The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll and it really pushed me to look at the why behind my use of a bullet journal. I love the functionality behind the system, but also enjoy using it for memory keeping and as a creative release. I balance of both feels best.
- Word of the Year: A few years ago I embraced the idea of taking on a word of the year as a driving force for my actions rather than embarking on the journey of resolutions. This year my word is Thrive. I hope and plan to do whatever I can to thrive in as many aspects of my life as I possibly can.
- Reflection: This spread is pretty self explanatory; a chance to reflect on the year gone by.
- Goals: Here I’ve created space to divide my goals for 2023 into personal goals, family focused goals and work goals. These are actionable goals that go beyond the notion of a wish list but which I genuinely want to pursue.
- Future Log: The future log spread is a vital part of the bullet journal system and allows you to log in future events for months which may not be setup ahead. It’s a look ahead at your life, in one spread.
- Ideal Day: I created this spread with the hopes of collecting together all the things that I would love to achieve on an ideal day. Reduced screen time for the kids, lots of work done, home/work life balance, and overall a very fulfilled day. Who knows? It might be a possibility next year.
- Mood Tracker: Every month I will have a mood tracker included in my spreads, but I wanted to create one for the whole year so that I could see that data logged together.
- Body Statistics: This year I have been actively making a choice to care for my health and body and I have found that the best way to track my progress is by taking my measurements. Here I can get an overview of my body transformation throughout the year.
- Workout Log: Like the mood tracker this is in the year in pixels design and is a chance for me to get a yearly overview of my workout data.
- Period tracker: I use a digital app to track my periods and symptoms but I also wanted an analogue representation in my bullet journal to track dates, basic symptoms and flow.
- Spending Tracker: A place to track at the end of every month the amount spent. I will have a monthly tracker and can funnel the information into this spread at the end of the month.
- Recommendations: A space to track throughout the year any suggestions that come my way to try out recipes, read books, watch videos etc.
- Books Read: A reading log to track the books read throughout the year. I’ve kept this to one page for now but we’ll see how things go.
- Movies/TV Shows/YouTube/Podcasts: A spread to note down the media I consume throughout the year. This a space to only jot down the name and any further details can be made in new spreads or in the daily log.
- 23 Things in 2023: Essentially a bucket list, this is a list of items I would love to achieve this year but there is no pressure to fulfil all of them.
- 12 Healthy Habits: Healthy habits for me to embrace throughout the year, one habit a month.
- Monthly Moments: A space for me to share three highlights of the month along with a picture or significant memory item.
Final Thoughts
Overall I feel like these pages will serve me well throughout the year. They have a functional aspect behind them that will allow me to log vital data to my person, and the creativity and aesthetic makes me want to see them filled out.
How are you planning for 2023?
Full flip through and chat about my yearly setup on my YouTube Channel.
Mums The Word 