Transforming My Life in 2020, Using a Bullet Journal

I’m always most inspired to write on my blog at the cusp of a new year. I have mentioned before that New Year is my favorite holiday – I love the energy that comes with setting goals, new beginnings, and reinventing myself. I also love that NYE is designed for gold, glitter, and partying.

However, working in the service industry has really taken its toll on me this past holiday season. I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve / New Year’s Day  serving tables so a ton of other people could enjoy their holiday. As a result, I spent most of December burnt out, irritable, and a little disappointed. But with that work hurdle over and the new year in full force, I am refreshed and ready for 2020.

I started consistently bullet journaling in the summer of 2019, and it has become a staple in my life for organization, productivity, and self-care. Honestly, I think the last quarter, or even half of 2019 has been very transformative. I moved out of my hometown for grad school, and living completely on my own in a brand new environment made me reevaluate where I find value and joy in my life. It started as a combination of budgeting to understand my finances and looking at all the cheap and barely worn items in my closet, then this mental and spiritual change completely took on a life of its own.

Of all the planner trends, bullet journaling works best for me – because I design it that way. Creating different spreads allows me to test out what works, and what doesn’t. Essentially, I want my bullet journal to encourage me to be the most productive, and organized, but also invite a little creativity, while learning more about myself.

My monthly title spreads are the most artistic (which is still very little), and through trial and error I’ve figured out what kind of weekly spread work for me, but I am still learning which mood/habit trackers work for me.

I am very proud of my 2020 yearly spread, as well as my January 2020 spread. I have been embracing more spirituality in the form of yoga, meditation, tarot, crystal healing etc. I decided to use that as my inspiration for my bullet journal thus far. I am very happy with my 2020 Goals page. It includes mindsets and attitudes of how I want to live my life, and the goals have been broken down into categories. I really do believe everything I’ve written is realistic and attainable, but also not worth losing sleep over if I don’t complete them fully (i.e. going to yoga regularly, but not necessarily 3x a week).  

*Posting on my blog once a month has been my goal for the past 2+ years, and has yet to be reached… but I’m working on it! 

I take pride in being a very true Aquarius, so for my January title page I drew a few simple related symbols. Additionally, I am trying new ways to track my mood and habits, as well as my finances.

I like what I’ve come up with so far, and I am excited to see how/if everything works!