How to Create a Minimalist Bullet Journal Set Up

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Here we are at the beginning of another year. But even if you’re reading this way after it’s been posted, this article has EVERYTHING you need to inspire your first minimalist bullet journal set up.

Every year I do a bullet journal set up, I really try to take the opportunity to implement what I’ve learned. One of my main beliefs about bullet journaling is that it’s a process. It takes time to learn what works and what doesn’t.

And as long as you reflect, you’ll hone in on how the method works best for you.

But First!

What is Bullet journaling?

If you’re looking to start your very first bullet journal (congrats!!) here is a very brief explanation of what it really is.

Bullet journaling is a method of productivity that is very fluid and flexible. It’s meant to “track the past, order the present and design the future”.

What this means is that it allows you the freedom to organize in a way that makes sense to YOU. The method lets you track progress on projects. It can keep an eye on the habits you want to build. You can make space to write yourself notes and reminders or a full-blown schedule.

But my favourite part has to be the ability to plan for the future. I love having it all right there in the same place that I plan every day.

Having my longer-term plans and goals right there when I’m planning my weeks and days really helps me make progress towards my important goals. And it has been a huge contributor to my overall success.

Handy Posts to Complement This One

Before we get into the spreads I wanted to point out a few great resources for you.

Here is last year’s (2019) set up

You can check out posts on all the bullet journal basics here.

or you can sign up for our FREE 5-day email course⬇

There are individual posts explaining all the main components of a bullet journal so that you’ll know exactly how to make and customize them. This way they’ll be perfect for you.

So take a peek at the Future Log, Habit Trackers, and all your Collection needs.

Why do you need an annual set up in your minimalist bullet journal set up?

Well, strictly speaking, you don’t.

What you DO need is a journal setup.

You don’t have to start a new journal every year and you might have to start a new journal sooner than next year. The important bit is that each journal has a setup. A system to follow.

The setup is a collection of spreads that will help you organize your journal so that you can be the most productive. It’s the backbone if you will.

And you don’t have to do it every year per se but, again, you should at the start of every journal.

A bullet journal set up typically includes:

• A Key
• An Index
• A Future Log
• Annual or long term collections

In this post, I’ll give you brief overviews of each of these elements and provide links to more in-depth posts for each.

Supplies

A quick note on supplies, while you don’t need much to start a bullet journal there are a few things that really change the game.

You’ll definitely need a notebook of some sort. If you haven’t chosen one yet take a look at this post to help you find the one that’s best for you.

You’ll also need a writing utensil of some sort. I prefer a super pigmented black pen.

You can find a list of all my bujo supplies recommendations here.

This year’s notebook

For this setup, I went back to a Leuchtrrum 1917 A5 notebook.

I’ve bought this journal more than I have any other. And it’s a nice one. I love that it has SO MANY pages. I never have to worry about if I’ll run out. I’m 99% sure that I can fit a whole year into one of these journals.

It’s also so beautiful in its simplicity.

A plain cover gives you room to customize. I love that it comes with an elastic closure and 2 bookmarks to make flipping between my weekly and monthly setups easy.

Last year I loved my Peter Pauper notebook, don’t get me wrong, and I might have gotten it again if it had been in stock, but here we are. I wrote a comparison of these 2 brands that you can read to help with your decision on which is right for you.

Just like the last time I had a Leuchtrrum, I customized the cover of my journal with some wonderful floral fabric washi tape.

This tape is awesome. It’s lasted so long and has added so much colour to many spreads over the last few years.

Instead of going horizontally over the cover, this time I draped it diagonally to give it some personality.

My Minimalist Bullet Journal Set Up Spreads

Ok, now that all the context is out of the way here are my bullet journal setup spreads!

Cover Page

For my cover page this year I wanted to do a play on the expression “Hindsight is 2020”.

I don’t like to have regrets.

I like to have peace of mind by knowing that I did my best in the circumstances I’m in at any given point. So I changed this expression to be a motivational pun of sorts and, you know me, I love a good pun.

Bullet Journal Index

The Leuchtrrum1917 comes with an index already. Previously it has been 3 pages but this journal had only 2. That’s ok with me though as I haven’t gotten a lot out of my index in other years.

Bullet Journal Key

I highly recommend creating a custom key as part of your minimalist bullet journal setup. A key is such a useful tool and will allow you to know what’s going on at a glance and group notes from rapid logging.

Tips to Creating a great KEY

A comprehensive key includes icons for common categories of things you write in your journal. They should be easy to draw and even easier to identify.

Ex. 1

A * for important.

If you see a star next to something it immediately draws your attention so it’s a good icon to draw your attention to important things.

Ex. 2

Drawing a different colour flower for tasks depending on what time of the day you need to do it.

This is (in my opinion) way too elaborate. If I need to write something down in a hurry the last thing I want to do is draw something that takes more than a second. And if I need to find a specific pen to write it down with, forget it.

Read about creating a custom key here

Year at a Glance

I really like to have a year at a glance.

When planning things out, especially further into the year, it’s nice to have one place to look in order to see what months are busy and which aren’t.

Colour coding this page is also super helpful since you’ll be able to tell if you’re busy with trips, work, or events.

This is probably the most annoying spread to create, but in the end, it’s worth it. Just make sure you map it out before you ink it. There is nothing worse than getting to May and realizing that you’re a day off.

tips for creating a Year at a Glance

In order to avoid this mistake (which I have done) figure out which month has the most weeks in it then make sure you have space for each month to have that number plus 3. One blank line above, one below, and one for the name of the month. This is at a minimum.

I also find it very helpful to write in the dates of every Wednesday in pencil before I start to write in all the dates. This way I can make sure that I never get off track.

Bullet Journal Future Log

One of the most important parts of your minimalist bullet journal setup is going to be the future log.

Since you make a bullet journal as you go, you can’t just write in your vacation that’s 2 months away. But you do still need somewhere to put those things.

The answer is the future log.

A future log is typically a mini-calendar for each month and space to write in any events, deadlines, or reminders that are applicable. This will also serve as a more in-depth overview of the year.

The year at a glance shows when you’re busy and when you’re not. The future log shows what you’re busy with.

This year I made my future log bigger than I did previously. I only have 2 months per page instead of 3 to give myself more space to plan. Specifically, I found that I didn’t have enough space last year for my business plan so I wanted to make sure I could do that this year.

I put all holidays and annual events right under the calendar in each monthly box. This leaves me the rest of the space for any events that pop up but mostly for writing in my business milestone goals and plans.

Tips for an awesome Future log

The biggest thing to keep in mind when it comes to your future log is how much space you need. Depending on how much detail you like to include you might want 2, 3, or even 4 months to a page.

This is also a great space to practice using your key.

Remember to make sure that your dates match your year at a glance so that you have the right setup!

Minimalist Bullet Journal Set Up – Goals Pages

I love goooooals!

It’s no secret.

If you’ve been on Planning with Maggie Rae before you might have come across at least one of the myriad of posts that mention my passion for goal setting.

So of course, the next pages in my minimalist bullet journal set up are an Annual Goals Page and a Milestones page.

I have a whole New Year’s Planning Challenge that goes through exactly how to come up with your goals and the milestones you need to hit in order to be on track to have an amazing year. Make sure to sign up for it, it’s free!

I kept these pages nice and simple so that my goals will always have my attention.

On the milestone page, those swirly symbols are Qs. A Q for each quarter of the year. 3-month goals are (in my opinion) one of the best ways to stay motivated.

3 months is long enough so that you can do something substantial but short enough so that you can see your progress quickly. Once you hit one 3 month goal it’s easy to set another one and keep the momentum going!

Take a look at this post on 30.60.90s which is all about how to set 3-month goals and start making your dreams your reality.

Tips for Creating your Goal Pages

If I could give you one piece of advice for goal setting that I think is the MOST important it would be this:

Set goals that are YOURS. They need to be things that you really want and are truly invested in if they’re going to happen.

So make sure to spend some quality time with yourself and think about what you want to accomplish this year. Then use these pages to make it come to life.

Some people might also find it easier to really get motivated by their goals if they’re more visual. If you’re one of those people try drawing your goals or your life a year from now.

Minimalist Bullet Journal Set up -Annual Trackers

The next 2 spreads are the trackers I’ve chosen for my bullet journal setup.

There are a ton of different annual collections you can do. From books to read to projects you want to get done and everything in between. Check out this post on collections and how to pick the best ones for you.

The annual trackers that I included had to do with my businesses.

I created an Income Tracker that has one page for my blog and one page for my recruiting consultancy. I kept both pretty simple but quite different.

My blog tracker has months in the rows and different income streams across the top. I’ll be able to write in the total for each stream every month and total it up in the last column.

For my recruiting, I’m doing a line graph so that I can see if there are fluctuations month to month. This way, as I continue to run that business, I can better plan according to which months are typically busiest.

I also included a set of columns for revenue, actual income and then a savings goal I have for the year. I’ll fill these columns up through the year as I make progress.

For a bunch of ideas on financial trackers read this post.

Another tracker that I made was for my Blog Stats.

These are all the relevant numbers that I should be keeping an eye on throughout the year. It’s really important to know what’s going on in your business or any projects you really care about. In my experience this saying holds true:

Where your attention goes, energy flows and results show

Tony Robins

The more time I spend on my businesses, and the more helpful data I have, the better things get.

The next page is a tracker and a planning page. It’s all about projects and promotions that I’ll be involved with throughout the year. Exciting!

Tips for choosing trackers

Trackers can be amazing tools or they can turn into empty pages.

Make sure that you’re choosing collections and trackers that you’re really excited about and try not to overdo it. If you have too many things to keep up with, it won’t get done. My first bujo was plagued with quite a few collections and trackers that never got any love and that’s ok. I just learned from that.

I recommend choosing 3-5 trackers to start and you can always add more later in the year if you want or need to.

Collections are a little different. But pick the ones that you really want to do. Like the one I have up next.

A Personal Project

My next spread is all about a project that I’m going to try and do over the next couple of years.

I want to update my wardrobe and hone in on more of my personal style.

I have a bunch of stuff that I don’t wear because it’s not quite right or doesn’t go with anything else I have. So I’m going to be slowly Marie Kondo-ing my closet as well as looking to add in a few key pieces. I’m hoping that will give some of my clothes more versatility.

To that end, I have a colour palette that I decided on. I’m only going to be buying things that are neutral, navy or peach/coral/light pink.

I have it in here to make sure that I remember that those colours look great together and they look great on me.

On the other side, I’m going to write the things that I want to get so that I can keep an eye out and get it when I find a good price. I’ve added columns for the item description, what I’m willing to spend on it and what I actually spend once I get the piece.

I’m hoping that this will really help me feel more put together and “my age”.

Goodbye, t-shirts I’ve had since high school!

Ready to sign up for the Free Bujo Basics course to help you get started? ⬇

Moving into January

Only one spread left in this bullet journal set up!

I added a quote page to start off the year.

I love these metallic gel pens. They are amazing to add a little bit of oomph without a lot of effort.

On the other side, I have the first 30.60.90 for the year. This outlines my plan for January through March. And is based on what I have in my annual goals and what milestones need to be hit by the end of Q1.

If you haven’t already, I would definitely say to read this post on how to make your own 30.60.90 Action Plan. Or you can even take it a step further and sign up for the FREE New Year’s Planning Challenge.

You don’t even need to be reading this in January to benefit. You can start working towards your goals ANY time of year.

All you have to do is start!

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