My 2020 Bullet Journal Setup
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This is my spread from December 2019, but I hope it can still serve to help inspire you as you prepare for the new year. If you’d like more inspiration you can check out my other new year spreads:
Entering a New Decade
As hard as it is to believe, we are bidding farewell to 2019 and ushering in a brand new decade. That means it is time to take our lessons from the past and move forward into 2020 with big dreams and open arms. With my 2020 bullet journal setup, I feel like I am ready to do just that as we begin a brand new chapter.
Learning from 2019
If you watched my 2019 bullet journal flip through, you know that this was a tough year for my planning. I just could not get into a planning rhythm.
That’s why I have decided that I am trying something new for my 2020 bullet journal. Despite the fact that I have about half of my green Leuchtturm1917 left, I have opted to switch my bullet journal notebook. I have been going through this journal particularly slow — I started it before my 2018 bullet journal setup and I’m STILL only halfway through this journal. So I’m trying a full reignition by trying the Archer & Olive watercolor dot grid journal this year. My old bullet journal felt like the same old, same old. Hopefully, a new journal with the ability to truly get wild with watercolors will allow me to experiment and grow in new ways.
My 2020 Bullet Journal Setup Supplies
Let me share the supplies I used to create my gorgeous 2020 bullet journal setup!
- Archer & Olive Watercolor Dot Grid Journal
- Sennelier Watercolors
- Colirocolor Gold Watercolors
- Grumbacher Paintbrushes
- Pentel Aquash Water Brush Pens
- Pentel Pocket Brush Pen
- Sakura Micron Drawing Pens
- Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen (Soft)
- Wescott 6-inch Steel Ruler
- The January Watercolor Sticker Set from the Little Coffee Fox Shop
Watch Me Create My 2020 Bullet Journal Setup
My 2020 Bullet Journal Setup
After a full year of struggling with planning, I wanted to approach my 2020 bullet journal setup carefully. I gave it a lot of thought and decided on a less rigidly structured setup. I figured that I wanted to allow myself some flexibility so I could adapt and grow as needed. Allow me to share my setup from the very first page!
Immortalizing My Triumphs
Last year, I created my 2018 in Review page where I analyzed my opinions and feelings about the year. This time around, I decided to not try to get too analytical. Instead, I created a beautiful page with my 2019 highlights. I thought up the biggest, most exciting events of the year and immortalized them with watercolor and lettering on a single page. This spread gave me all the feels because it allowed me to enjoy the best parts of the year without putting too much pressure on myself for 2020. I can simply look at this page and smile knowing that it was an awesome year.
Saying Goodbye
After tipping my cap to all the fantastic achievements and growth of 2019, I waved my official goodbye to the passing year. I lettered out a warm farewell with watercolor and outlined it with a fine drawing pen. I wanted this page to be simple but lovely, and I feel like it found a perfect balance.
Saying Hello
On the next page, I created an exuberant hello to welcome in this new decade. I used my pastel watercolors to paint an abstract wreath around gold lettering to create a soft, wonderful beginning to this new chapter. Again, this page is quite simple but striking.
My 2020 Word of The Year
The next two pages are dedicated to my 2020 word of the year. Before I settled on my word, I brainstormed my overall goals and what I wanted to focus my attention on in the year to come. One thing that I realized was that I wanted to be distracted less and inspired more. I want my 2020 to have less time spent in my phone or on social media and more time wrapped up in art or passion projects. That’s how I landed on “flow” for my 2020 word of the year.
After some thinking, I realized just how perfect this word is for me. There is a term called “flow state” that is used in positive psychology to describe an intense, timeless focus that encompasses your entire being and leaves you feeling inspired and energized. Not only does this word touch on my psychology roots, but it calls back to my experiences as an artist. Some of the times I feel the most euphoric are times when I get into an art piece and time seems to fall away. In 2020, I am chasing this flow state by actively working against my distractions and deliberately making time for my passion projects.
In the Next Decade…
Before I moved on to big planning pages, I thought it would be fun to speculate a bit about the decade to come. So much can happen in ten years! I took some guesses as to what will happen in my marriage, family, and career over the next decade. This page wasn’t important for planning, but it was a fun opportunity to imagine my life as time goes on.
20 for 20
In lieu of resolutions in the new year, I thought it would be fun to try a 20 for 20 spread. This page is a way for me to think up 20 goals I’d like to accomplish in the next year, but with a twist! I don’t want to just do each goal once — I wanted to think up things I could do 20 times in the next year.
Thinking of goals this way helps change the perspective from big life-changing goals to more habitual goals. For example, I want to try 20 new recipes in 2020 and I want to watch 20 Skillshare courses. Try imagining your 2020 goals this way and see what interesting new ideas you come up with!
My 2020 Goals Mindmap and Master Plan
I wanted to find a way to focus on my goals for the new year, so I decided to do this mindmap. Not only does this help me brainstorm my goals and get to the root of my desires — it also allows me to get a snapshot of my wants at this point in my life. I’m certainly going to change my goals as time goes by, so it’s neat to be able to look back and see what was on my mind at the turn of this decade.
In years past, I have created all kinds of master plan spreads. For my 2020 bullet journal setup, I decided that I would pick only a few goals instead of many. That way I can really dig in and break down the goals into baby steps.
Professionally, I have plenty of big goals I can break down. But for my bullet journal master plan, I opted for more personal goals. I’ve spent the last year trying to find a good work-life balance, and I think that focusing on these two personal goals will help right the balance in 2020. And if I succeed with my two goals and want to break down more goals in future master plans, I can always flip to my goals mind map for inspiration!
Level 10 Life for the New Year
What 2020 bullet journal setup would be complete without a Level 10 Life? I love taking a moment to evaluate my satisfaction in all corners of my life with this spread. It’s a great way to see what areas of my life could use some attention and what is thriving.
My January 2020 Bullet Journal Setup
After my 2020 bullet journal setup, I thought I ought to get ahead of the curve by getting my January setup, too! I managed to keep my monthly setup very simple this time around by using my January bullet journal sticker set from my shop. I’m thrilled that I get to use stickers for my setup because January is an incredibly hectic time for me. This might be the first January monthly spread I’ve had in four years!
A Simple Calendar
I started off my January 2020 bullet journal setup with a monthly title page on the left. In fact, the entire left page is made up of stickers! I love creating ornate monthly title pages, but I spent all my time and energy on my 2020 bullet journal setup.
I’ve updated this sticker for 2021 and you can grab them here!
On the right, I created a tall, narrow calendar with watercolors. I used the same color palette that I used to create the sticker set from scratch so it would all match. I’m curious to see how well I like this tall calendar because it is brand new to me. This watercolor dot grid journal is forcing me to think about my spreads differently because of the spiral binding, which is a welcome challenge.
My Task Manager
On the next page, I decided to create a place to write all my tasks and notes for the month. I haven’t kept a monthly task list for a long time, but I’m hoping to start it back up again. This spot is going to help me focus on my personal goals like the ones in my 20 for 20 spread while also keeping my professional goals in sight.
I thought that the following page would be a perfect opportunity to add a fantastic quote for the new year and inject a little eye candy.
January Trackers and Logs
Finally, the last pages of my January 2020 bullet journal setup include my habit tracker, gratitude log, and memories log. I leaned on my sticker set to help form these pages, using the tall numbers columns and page headers. This helped me focus on getting the pages complete without too much fuss. Besides, this is the first time in months that I’m keeping any trackers or logs at all, so I don’t want to put a lot of effort into them in case I don’t use them. Hurray for stickers!
The New Year Spirit
Despite struggling with my planner in 2019, I’m actually very excited to start a fresh chapter in 2020. I feel like I have the opportunity to start something new and get back into all the good habits that I’ve developed over the last five years. I’m crossing my fingers that this thrilling new year spirit will carry me past my 2020 bullet journal setup and well into the months that follow!
Tell me your favorite page from my 2020 bullet journal setup in the comments below!
Does any color or water bleed through to the back of your page? I love the look, but my colored pens bleed through….ugh!!
They don’t bleed or ghost through at all! Nearly all of the pages you see in this setup has another full page of watercolor on the flip side. This journal is built for watercolor, so it’s got sturdy paper.
I still don’t understand what the ‘babysteps’ are? I’m only 11 and I want to organise my life to help my anxiety but I don’t understand that one thing?!
Hey Lea! When I talk about baby steps, I’m saying that I want to break down a big goal into the smallest crumbs possible so they are easier to take on. For example, if I were working on a presentation for class, I would walk backwards from the finished product. I would need a PowerPoint presentation filled with all the information. Then I think about all the elements that need to be done to get the final product. The baby steps for this project might be:
– come up with presentation topic
– outline the beginning, middle, and end
– find important facts to highlight in presentation
– research sources
– write middle of presentation
– write intro
– write conclusion
– create first draft of PowerPoint
– find pictures or graphics for PowerPoint
– polish presentation
This way, I can think about my goal not as one big task that I need to take on (which can be super scary), but as small tasks that I can work on for half an hour at a time. This makes everything more approachable and helps me pace it out so I don’t accidentally leave it all to the last second — or not do it at all!
I hope this helps explain what I meant a little bit better! Thanks for asking me to clarify, Lea ?
Looking at the way you organized your habit tracker will help me, thanks!
I’m so glad to hear that, Erika!!
Physical journals still make sense. 🙂
There’s really nothing like paper, huh?
I love the gratitude page and mind map. I need to set clear goals but with baby steps. I think putting them down on paper in an attractive way will help. I have depression and anxiety and often, well most of the time, lose my motivation, I have a feeling this would be a really positive way to help. Out of all the bujo pages I have looked at on Pinterest, yours are the ones I keep coming back too! I watch your videos on Instagram too. I think the main message you give is to find what works for you and be as creative and original as you can. I am into my third year of your emails etc and like you want this year to really succeed with it all! Thank you for your inspirational and REAL posts and emails.
Excited to try Master Plan each month!
Wooow! What a great way to start 2020. I like the task manager ?
Thank you so much, Elisa!
Your journal ideas are very inspiring. I’m planning to journal throughout 2020, and I am so excited. I am an artist and perfectionist who has trouble finishing the projects I start. I want to do this throughout the whole year. Will it turn out ok if I use a combination of bullet journaling, pictures, random drawings, and whatever I can think of? Just curious what you recommend for scatterbrained and super busy moms. Thanks!
Thank you so much, Emily! Yes, I would recommend that you go nuts adding whatever elements you want to your journal. Do whatever makes you excited to come back and use your journal day after day, whether that’s grocery lists, doodles, brainstorms, day-to-day planning, or whatever else you like. If you’re worried about it getting chaotic, just make sure to keep your index up to date and you should be golden! Here are a few index tips if you aren’t used to using one: https://littlecoffeefox.com/bullet-journal-index/
Good luck and have fun with your journaling in 2020!
Hi Shelby,
All the layouts are great – my favourite one is the 20 for 20!
Best Wishes
Thank you! I loved my 20 for 20, but I think my favorite was my 2019 in review page.
What a lovely spread! Thank you so much for sharing your journey. I am planning to start a bullet journal for the next year in earnest. I journal everyday but I was hesitant to start a true ‘bullet journal’ after seeing the lovely spreads some people have knowing that mine may never look that good. But I am ready to take the plunge and see what the new year brings. Happy Holidays and keep inspiring us with your creativity!
You definitely should! It can be scary starting a bullet journal, but the great thing about the bullet journal is super flexible. Don’t worry about how other people’s bullet journal look, just focus on making yours work for you!
I love your new out look for 2020. When I started threes ago using bullet journals to keep track of things always started and ended with the school year calendar. Since I have left teaching I started a new career of being a pet care professional. I will need to thing this trough how I want my new 2020 book to hold and things to grow from.
Thank you. Good luck in the new career, and I hope your bullet journal is able to change to fit your needs!
Thank you, and I love your use of water colors and stickers. I prefer to stencils or stampers since my skill with water colors is not as predominant. I do have wiski tape as well and want to explore being more creative.