5 Bullet Journal Weekly Spreads You Need to Try ASAP
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Plenty of people love the ability to plan, track, and glance at a week in a bullet journal. There’s a ton of ways you can create your bullet journal weekly spreads, but I want to show you my top five favorites!
What is a journal weekly spread?
Simply put, a journal weekly spread is a place for you to track tasks, appointments, habits, gratitude and anything else you want to stay on top of in the weekly format of your choice, allowing for a fountain of creativity!
The bullet journal has many strengths, but flexibility takes the cake as the most precious characteristic of this planning system. Being able to adapt it to suit your every need is completely unique when it comes to planning.
What better place to bend your planner to your will than the place you do the bulk of your planning? I’m talking, of course, about your dailies – or weeklies, if that’s what floats your boat!
I started out using a typical daily format, but I began to draw out several days at a time. That eventually led me to creating full weekly layouts in lieu of dailies, and I’m not alone!
This post is sponsored by Rhodiapads.com. Although I am receiving compensation for this post, all comments and reviews of products received are mine and mine alone. I strive to only promote products that I think are excellent.
The Rhodiarama Soft Cover Notebook
For the five bullet journal weekly spreads, I had the pleasure of playing with five Rhodiarama Soft Cover notebooks! Let me tell you about these journals really quick because they are packed full of features.
Do you remember way back when you were in elementary school and the Scholastic Fair would come to your library? Yeah, these journals smell like that. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but the smell of these Rhoidaramas is sending me back to second grade and I love it.
Besides the unexpected dash of nostalgia, these journals sport other cool features. The leatherette cover feels supple and soft, and they come in a wide variety of colors – which is always a great thing.
While these journals are soft cover, they aren’t flimsy or super bendy. They have body, which I like. Each journal comes with one attached bookmark, a back cover pocket, and an elastic band to hold it all shut. And let me tell you, these elastic bands just don’t quit. I love how strong and snappy they are.
Finally, let’s talk about the paper. Oh my yes. The pages are 90 gsm, which is 10-20 gsm thicker than your typical journal paper. That means it can handle your fountain pens, markers, brush pens, and – you guessed it – watercolors. Hubba hubba.
Elements of Fun Bullet Journal Weekly Spreads
Before we dive into layout specifics, I want to point out that bullet journal weekly spreads vary wildly depending on what you want to do. There are a number of trackers, modules, and logs that you can maneuver into your layout. Here’s just a few off the top of my head:
- Weather
- Habit Tracker
- Gratitude Log
- Sleep Log
- Random Notes
- Next Week Notes
- Calendar Thumbnail
- Work Start/End Time
- Time Tracker
- Meal Planning
- Events/Deadlines
- Inspirational Quote
- Weekly Doodles
Basically, the sky’s the limit. If any of the bullet journal weekly spreads below feel close but not quite perfect, try swapping out some of the elements!
Little tweaks and experiments in your layout could mean the difference between “meh” and “hooray”! If you wanted to, you could eliminate most or all of your monthly spreads and revert entirely to weekly layouts.
You could even have a monthly, weekly, and daily layout. It’s whatever makes you happy and productive, so don’t hold back! Okay, now let’s dig into the juicy stuff, shall we?
Journal Weekly Spreads I Love
The Basic Betty
This weekly bullet journal spread is for the minimalists out there. I drew out this lovely layout in the yellow Rhodiarama, which was begging for a splash of dark blue in her pages.
I simply drew out the boxes, added a strip of Payne’s Grey blue, and wrote on top in a rose gold gel pen to get a simple, but striking, look.
Each day gets a quarter of the page, which is plenty of room for notes, deadlines, tasks, reminders, and whatever else you might need to jot down.
The top of the left page simply has the date range and a thumbnail calendar to help you see where you are in the month at a glance. Very sleek, simple, and sexy. I do love minimalist layouts!
The Master of Schedules
This electric layout was done in the Sapphire Rhodiarama, which is a gorgeous moody color. I decided to punch up the page with pinks, purples, and blues for a wild vibe.
The page is divided just like the Basic Betty above, but there’s a slight twist. Each day in this spread has 24 little boxes for the 24 hours of the day.
You can do one of two things with this: plan out your schedule in advance with the color code of your choice, or fill in the boxes after your day is done to reflect your time usage. It depends on what you want out of your time tracker!
You might be wondering how you would know the color code for your schedule. You could write the key on the bullet journal weekly spreads, but that’s not very efficient.
What’s better is to cut out a little piece of paper (I stole this scrap from my Rhodia dot grid notepad), draw your color code key, and stick it on the back cover with washi tape. Then you can open it up and see the code super quick when you need it. Make sure you fold it so it’s not sticking out all the time!
The Divide and Conquer
This layout begins to get a little more complicated, but don’t worry! There’s a method to the madness. In the classic black Rhoidarama, each day still has space to add tasks. But a new column has been added to the far left just for deadlines, appointments, and events.
You’ll also notice that I split up a single row into two columns for Saturday and Sunday. Because really, do you need all that room for tasks and planning on the weekend?
On the bottom of the second page, I added a small habit tracker. If you are only managing a few habits, then keeping them in your bullet journal weekly spreads might make a ton more sense than devoting a whole page to a tracker in your monthly log.
It’s easy enough to add in, and it’s super easy to keep an eye on your trends throughout the week. Neat!
The Block Scheduler
Okay, let’s break up the layout even more! I put this spread in the Tangerine Rhodiarama, which is basically Little Coffee Fox orange. Yes please.
Anyway, I devote the top half of both pages to the daily tasks and events. But I created a nice fat block for morning, afternoon, and evening for better task placement.
This is not only helpful for appointments, but it can help you plan the flow of your day and see if you’ve accidentally overloaded your morning or under booked your afternoon. It’s much easier to see what’s happening at a glance!
On the second half of the pages, I have a number of different modules. On the left, I have the basic calendar thumbnail and a lovely inspiration box.
This is fantastic for practicing your hand lettering, picking a theme for the week, and giving yourself some extra pep when you open your planner.
On the right page, I added a habit tracker yet again, along with a box for meal planning and notes for the next week. See? It’s not so complicated!
La Vie Boheme
The last, but certainly not least, of the bullet journal weekly spreads is this beauty in the Iris Rhodiarama. Remember when I said this paper can withstand watercolors? Here’s the proof.
Like the Block Scheduler above, I scrolled the days of the week across the top half of both pages. This time, I made everything into exciting triangles to spice it up.
Each day has an ombre wash of color, which I’m absolutely in love with. Isn’t that just lovely? Oh, and I had an extra triangle when I was done, so I made it a space to jot down notes for the next week. Handy!
On the bottom half of both pages, I again have several different modules all mixed in. On the left page, I have a calendar thumbnail (can you tell that I like having one around?) and a catch all box for whatever I want.
I like the idea of an unspecified space in case something weird comes up and I want to draw or take notes.
On the bottom half of the right page, I have the trusty habit tracker yet again right above a gratitude log. The boxes for the gratitude log are a bit small, but if I turn the journal sideways and write, there’s plenty of room.
Now Go Create Your Own Bullet Journal Weekly Spreads
Are you feeling inspired? Weak in the knees? That’s completely normal when you begin to realize the possibilities with bullet journal weekly spreads. There are unlimited options!
You just have to try, sample, taste, and experiment to find the perfect layout for you. Or try something new each week and keep it fresh! There are no rules, so just do what makes you happy and productive.
Make sure you go grab a Rhodiarama softcover! If you’ve been looking for a journal with sturdy pages and a sassy cover, then these are for you.
- PREMIUM PAPER - 90g smooth ivory sheets, acid-free, pH neutral. French Milled. Inks won't bleed or feather.
- EXPERTLY CONSTRUCTED - Italian faux leather hardcover, glued spine, rounded corners.
- HIGHLY FUNCTIONAL - Includes inner pocket, ribbon page marker and elastic closure to keep papers secure.
- THREE SIZES: 4 x 5.5" has 72 sheets (144 pages); 6 x 8.25" (A5) and 7.5 x 9.75" has 80 sheets (160 pages).
So what are you waiting for? Break out of the boring old way of doing things. Give these a shot and see if weekly planning is your groove. You might be surprised with how much you love them!
You are so much more creative with this stuff than I am! I recently started bullet journaling and am starting to branch out as I find I need something. I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for social media posting? I’m an author and I’m trying to schedule when/where I schedule my posts for as well as some other marketing. I’m looking through what you have and I’ve seen some things I think would work and I could adapt. But I was wondering if you had anything specific? Keep up the good ideas and thank you!
Thanks so much, Tracy! My number one advice for posting on social media is making sure you have good quality photos! No one will pay much attention to your posts if the photos aren’t thoughtfully put together. You can check out my tips for flatlay photography here to see my best advice for photographing your journal. Besides that, you just have to do some research on hashtags, recent trends, and best practices. They are always changing and hard to nail down, so you have to keep learning and adapting as you go. Then, of course, you need to post somewhat regularly (at least in the beginning) to grow your following and teach the algorithms that you have good stuff to share. I hope that helps!
Now, how do you plan your weekly spread if it is in two months (let’s say Thursday is new month)?
It depends on when I create my monthly set up! When the end of the month nears and I sit down to create my monthly spread, that’s the cut-off. After my monthly, I’ll pick up the weekly that was next in line, even if the month begins on a Thursday. My currently weekly starts on Feb. 25th and ends on March 3rd, and my monthly for March is the page just before that weekly spread. I hope that makes sense – it’s kinda difficult to describe without pictures ? Basically, I don’t really mind if the weeklies are a bit early for the month or a bit late. It just depends on where it lands!
how do you do the watercolors in your journal ?
Hey Caitria! There is a post here that shows some of the watercolor techniques: https://littlecoffeefox.com/2017/05/30/4-easy-watercolor-techniques-for-your-bullet-journal/
Are the pages fairly white? I bought a journal which claimed their pages were “ivory” which looked light enough on my monitor but definitely yellow in real life. I want to do art and watercolors, a dot grid and bullet journal.
Thanks for the good question, Renae! I’d say these are creamy-white, not white-white. But definitely not yellow! I hope that helps 🙂
Shelby- I have my very first bullet journal and am loving it. But I’m confused on dailies and weeklies. I have looked all over your site and can’t seem to clarify it in my mind. I’m sure you have something, can you point me in the right direction? Also, do you have a post in how you record your memories? Thanks!!
Sure thing, Angie! You can check out this post for weeklies (http://littlecoffeefox.com/2017/05/07/5-weekly-bullet-journal-spreads/) and this post for dailies (http://littlecoffeefox.com/2016/07/27/vertical-dailies-vs-horizontal-dailies/). That should help you figure out what is best for you! And as for memories, you can find that post right here (http://littlecoffeefox.com/2016/10/08/memories-page-preserve-moments/). If there’s anything else you’re curious about, hop up to the top right corner of the site and you can search through all of my posts super quick. I hope that helps! 🙂
I love the paper in my Rhodia journal.
It’s such an amazing quality, isn’t it??
As always inspirational. Thankyou!
All of these pages are great! So many good ideas 🙂
Thanks so much, Anne! I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed it 😀
So lovely!!♥ I think I may have to try that fold-out key soon! ^-^
Thanks, Amanda! That little fold out is really super easy and handy to have 🙂 You should definitely try it!
These are simply gorgeous, Shelby! I’m two weeks in to my first BuJo and love seeing your design layout. So much opportunity!