I’m trying a new series on my blog reflecting on my different spread ideas and layouts! I’ve been feeling uninspired on the Instagram platform, so I hope experimenting by posting my spreads here on my blog instead might reinvigorate me creatively, go into more depth about my spreads and thought process, and most importantly, chat with you all more easily! I’ve really missed being able to talk with you all about bullet journaling, so hopefully this will be a way to make that happen more easily.

First, let’s check out the before and after the pen! Slide to compare:

Components

I wanted to try to create a monthly dashboard spread inspired by some of my favorite bullet journallers: @lindseyscribbles, @palestblue, and @flyingpaperwords. I love the idea of a dashboard (it’s my recovering perfectionist heart) so I wanted to give this a shot!

I started with a sentence-a-day page, accomplishments and challenges sections for reflection, things I wanted to remember about the graphic design of my spreads that month (such as the font I used), a space for things to remember for next month, and a reading log.

What worked?

I absolutely loved just having the dashboard at all! I used a Cloth & Paper monthly sticky note tab (from a subscription box—doesn’t yet seem to be out on the website) and it was a great ritual to flip to the page.

I also wound up enjoying the sentence-a-day side more than I thought. I journal every day and was worried it would feel pretty redundant but encapsulating the day before into one sentence every morning was a really fun endeavor.

I also loved the reading log! I’d always wanted one of these and even made a few spreads in my bullet journal before, but never stuck with them. Having this on a spread I was training myself to flip to each morning was a great way to remember that I actually finished a book the night before.

What didn’t?

I didn’t really use the accomplishments/challenges section. I tried, and it was definitely helpful to think about, but it wasn’t something that really felt like a daily thing to me, and I didn’t really find myself wanting to do a big reflection in my bullet journal at the end of the month. I’m still craving a way to do a monthly reflection (clearly I need to work in some of my own monthly prompts!!), but this wasn’t it.

I already applied a lot of my learnings from this spread into my February dashboard and I love how it turned out. Stay tuned to see it!

Supplies Used

^NOTEBOOK
Archer & Olive A5 Dot Grid notebook (gifted, use code LINEUNFOLDING10 for 10% off)

^MARKERS
Tombow Dual Brush Pens (Grayscale Set)

^PENS
Pilot Juice Up 03 (black)
Uni Pin Pen 01 (black, dark grey, light grey)

^ACCESSORIES
Cloth & Paper index tab and spotlight page flags, both from subscription box

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