Bullet Journal Weekly Spreads Evolution

     Two months ago, when I discovered Bullet Journaling, I figured that because I had a cute little notebook and inspiration all over the internet, that suddenly my new planner/journal/lifesaver would just BE cute. After all, one of the major draws I have to the Bullet Journal system is that it's easy to personalize and easy to make cute at the same time! I wanted my planner and calendar and journal to all be in one place. And of course, I wanted it to just instantly look as adorable as the journals I'd see on Instagram by Boho Berry, Pretty Prints and Paper, and Tiny Ray of Sunshine, among others. I spent HOURS the first day I got it, setting it up, making precise lines, cute handwriting, the works. I was so happy with it!

     And then...I started using my journal for actual daily life functioning and organizing. And my journal went from cute, clean and tidy, to this --->
Messy. Un-cute. Unorganized. Not the kind of thing you want to share. Part of the Bullet Journal system that appeals to me most is the ability to make your weekly layout however you want, but I wasn't taking time to lay out my week because I didn't know how much space I'd need. Which resulted in the chaos you see to the right. After two weeks of unsightly entropy I decided I needed a structured layout and began playing with how much space I'd need.

     One reason I struggled with choosing a daily layout is because I don't use my bullet journal during my weekday. Shocker!! I know. I know. A planner junkie who doesn't look at their planner during the day? What kind of crazy am I??

     Before you close this tab and ignore the rest of my blog posts forever, let me say that I do use a bullet journal during the day, just not my personal one! I have a spiral notebook (the green one, in the above picture, if you must know) that houses my daily work to do lists. It's a series of lists- no formats, no weekly or monthly anything. Just to do lists and information I need to remember. As a special education teacher I work with a lot of confidential documents and I don't want to-do's based on writing and planning those to be in my personal planner. I don't have time to make it pretty- honestly- and I need it to be functional more than anything, which it totally is. I use the bullets for tasks and cross them out when they're completed, I put an arrow on any migrated tasks, I rewrite lists when it gets too chaotic, and keep everything I need in one place. Plus the Maybooks planner there, which houses what would be considered my "future log" for work. Aka calendars.

     But on to the fun stuff...my pretty personal planner (alliteration much?) and how I've made it work for me. Here's the weekly layout I've settled on:

     Each week day gets 5 squares in my Leuchtturm 1917 and then Friday gets a little extra. It's a good space for a weekly recap, a doodle, a quote, etc. Saturday and Sunday each get half a page because I typically have time those mornings to USE my bullet journal and reflect, plan, and make to-do lists. Throughout the week I can list reminders there as well. On weekends, I layout the next week and take the time to make it LOOK cute, the way I want! Here are some ways I've customized the layout to look different each week, while the spacing and format stays the same.

Cute arrows! Colored in!
That appointment got moved...

Cute banners! Blue pen!

I added in a new language for some fun this week. You can see my "to-do" listing for weekdays versus the weekends here
although my Sunday meal planning is missing from this page. 

Added boxes instead of banners or arrows this time, and changed Saturday and Sunday to be a little different. I enjoy
making them different because I get to practice more borders that way! I played with color this week too. You can 
also see how Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't have a whole lot going on- extra space! I had the mindset of "FILL 
ALL THE SPACE!" at first but then everything just looked so cluttered. I think leaving it blank gives the option to 
doodle in it later on, or maybe I need to do more journaling in those spaces! Regardless, cleaner looks better than full. 

     I've been using Pilot G2 pens in a variety of colors, as well as Crayola Super Tips markers. I love, love, LOVE these markers! I even numbered them and then indexed the colors in my bullet journal as a collection, because sometimes the marker cap colors are misleading (dark cap light color, and vice versa). Smartest thing I've ever done, really. I'll post some of my other bullet journal hacks in another post, but for now enjoy the weekly layout! Feel free to try it out in yours, or find another format that works for you and share it in comments below! I love the bullet journal and planner community, and I'm grateful for the inspiration of others.