Academia 8: My Bullet Journal

Hello my beautiful friends!

Today's post is going to feature my April bullet journal spreads. I began my bullet journal this March, so April is my second month. I completely recommend making a bullet journal! I am not the most creative person, but I have found expressing my creative flare relaxing. Tracking your life daily enables you to live in the moment and be appreciative of each day, which leads to greater happiness.

Of course, each month begins with a title page, which establishes the theme of the month. This month I decided to use a cactus theme because I'd been inspired by a similar theme on Tumblr. I recommend making a Pinterest board full of theme ideas to act as inspiration.

My first spread is a finance tracker. A finance tracker is always the first spread because I believe budgeting is very important. Obviously, it is easy to track spending through online banking; however, I find physically writing down how much you spend on what more eyeopening. I use three columns in the spread: in, come from/spent on and out. (Also, I realise how wonky the highlighter is!) 

My second spread is a study tracker. I simply set this up as a graph with hours on the y-axis and the day on the x-axis. This page also features my first cacti photo! I enjoy finding photos online, printing them and sticking them into my journal to enhance the theme and make my journal more aesthetic.

After this is my phone time tracker, which I use to track hours spent on my phone. I did not use this spread in March; however, one of my New Years resolutions was to reduce the number of hours I spend on my phone. This spread will encourage me to do so!

On my habit tracker, I have a list of habits I would like to complete daily, which are mostly related to my New Years resolutions. Each day I simply tick the habits I have completed. I recommend using a grid on this page, as I have used, because it is easier to interpret.

I think it is important for everyone to track their mood daily, especially if you are suffering from mental health problems. This enables you to appreciate days when you are feeling happy as well as spot long periods of low mood, which may be a sign to seek help.

I use my journal to organise my academic life alongside my personal life, hence this homework and test spread. I think that it is useful to have an overview of all uncompleted homework and upcoming tests to aid your time management. 

From other bullet journals I have seen, I believe 'A Line a Day' spreads are very popular. Last month, I used this spread to write down one positive thing about everyday; however, this month I have decided to write a different affirmation each day to encourage my self-improvement.

My final spread is a calendar overview of the month. I find having an overview on paper aids my organisation and ensures I do not forget any important upcoming events. As you can see, I have written in any upcoming events I know of so far.

I hope this post has provided you with some theme and spread ideas. Please share your theme and spread ideas in the comments! Follow my Instagram for further bullet journal inspiration!