As mentioned several times on this blog, a bullet journal is designed to support you in your daily life and help you keep everything in perspective, organised and focused. Depending on your external circumstances, this can look super different.
For example, when I was a student, I needed a completely different spread than I do now as a full-time employee.
Basic requirements
If you also work full time or are self-employed, you will have noticed that not every overview presented by some people makes sense for you.
In my opinion, you should keep the following in mind for your bullet journal pages for everyday work:
- How much time do you want to invest in your Bullet Journal per week?
- Do you want to use your bullet journal every day?
- Do you need to plan your daily tasks down to the smallest detail?
- Do you need to plan long-term projects in your Bullet Journal?
- Are there any daily recurring tasks?
- Do you know in advance what to expect in the coming week?
- How far in advance do you need to be able to plan?
It is important that you answer these questions honestly for yourself. Only then will you find the overviews that can really help you.
One honest piece of advice: if you have to plan far in advance, but at the same time have almost no time for your bullet journal, I would advise you to switch to a pre-printed calendar or go for a very minimalist design.
I have found that some bullet journals can even be bought already designed. Rylee from the Rylee Autumn channel, for example, sells them on Etsy.
Inspiration for fast business
If you are one of those who don’t have much time for bullet journaling, then a minimalist approach is for you. You don’t need doodles or other drawings, you don’t need a lot of colour or material and the overviews can be done quickly. In addition, the focus here is on practicality and efficiency.
Which spread this month was your fav? Let me know in the comments below! Until next time, Xo — L
If you don’t have many different tasks per week, then this overview from @bullet_journalish is absolutely great. What’s especially cool is that you can directly track the times used for them. This is important for all those who charge someone for their time.
I also find this overview by @lizzi.hope.thompson super interesting. Here, the days of the week are divided onto a double page and there is enough space for each day.
One more note: I have found that it is very helpful to note the calendar week. In some environments, people don’t think in terms of days of the week, but in terms of calendar weeks … I’ve noticed this especially with service providers.
I find this overview from @ajournalbyannie super handy for weeks when there’s a lot to do. This way you can distribute your tasks well and structure everything. You could put all your tasks in the top section and then appointments in the bottom. You could also make a split between personal and professional tasks.
Practical and creative
If you are one of those people who can take the time to create a bullet journal, then I can only recommend that you decorate your bullet journal with elements that you enjoy. This way you can develop your Bullet Journal as a hobby and have fun with it in your free time, for example when you practice painting or drawing.
Which spread this month was your fav? Let me know in the comments below! Until next time, Xo — L
@plantbasedbride is the queen of beautiful and practical bullet journals. I’m a big fan of hers and always follow your explanation of Rolling Weekly when I’m having a stressful time. The days are all designed the same way and work on the same principle. You can find her detailed explanation here: BuJi 1010: The Rolling Weekly
Cam from @_coffeeandsarcarm_ is a really talented bullet journal artist on Instagram. The overviews are very very pretty every time.
This overview is super handy for days when you need to block out certain times of the day for certain tasks. If you either have certain events that take up a lot of your time or deadlines that you can’t miss, it’s always helpful to write down a little timeline every day.
Here’s one last idea for a weekly overview from @ryleeautumn. I think this overview has the most structure in the distribution of tasks. This overview can really help you to get sorted if you have a lot of tasks. IMPORTANT: This overview only works if you are realistic with your time allocation. Allow enough time for each task.
There is a to-do list for the whole week, a week overview for all appointments and half a page for each day of the week. In addition, each day of the week is also divided into morning, afternoon and evening.
Additional overviews as required
Of course, the daily and weekly reviews are the pages that need to stay with you and be the most useful.
However, you can also add individual overviews that might help you. Here are some examples:
- a giant to do list
- projekt planner with Step by step tasks you have to complete
- a dynamic Kanban Board for projects – Plant based bride did an amazing video explaining this method
- contact list for all important people whose contact details you must always have at hand
If it helps you, you can also plan a page where you collect all your notes from this week in an envelope, for example.
It doesn’t always have to be the perfect journal. Sometimes it’s easiest to write everything down on individual pieces of paper and then collect everything in one place so that at least it doesn’t get lost.
And if you’re in a phase where no overview works and you have absolutely no motivation for anything, then it’s time to book your next trip and add a travel page between all the work overviews. You’ll find plenty of inspiration here.
Which spread this month was your fav? Let me know in the comments below! Until next time, Xo — L
