Bullet journaling at its most basic level is a self-made agenda. You create the pages you need and remove the pages you don’t. It can be as detailed or as minimal as you want. It is the perfect tool to help organize your life, especially in college.
Basic Spreads
“Spreads” are the pages that you decide to utilize in your bullet journal. There are several staples that are used in most journals:
INDEX: This is your “Table of Contents.” You can put the title of the spread and the page it is located on for easy reference. I do not typically use these because I do not usually flip back through my journal. But this is a very useful spread if you would like to use collections, which I will discuss later.
KEY: This will help you to remember what symbols you use for what. You can use a checkbox for tasks, a bullet for notes, a circle for events, and so on. It’s all up to you.
FUTURE LOG: This spread shows the upcoming months and some key events that will happen in those months. You can easily flip back to it when setting up other spreads to see when certain events will be happening. I use this spread in each of my bullet journals. It’s extremely convenient when setting up my monthly spreads.
MONTHLY LOG: This would be a calendar view of the current month. You can set it up as a literal calendar view. I use these every month so I can have a quick overview of what I should watch out for each month.
DAILY LOG: Just as the monthly log is a view of the current month, this is a view of the current day. You can set up a to-do list for each day or any notes you would like to write down. I do not typically use these, and I will explain why in the next section.
Other Useful Spreads
WEEKLY LOG: This is basically a weekly layout showing what will be happening within the week and what needs to get done that week as well. I use this over a daily log because I prefer to see the entire week on one page rather than a few days on a page.
COLLECTIONS: These are lists of anything you want to track. Some collections I use are reading lists, shows and movies to watch, and favorite foods.
HABIT TRACKER: This spread would help you to build habits or even just track how you are spending your time.
FINANCE TRACKER: I feel like this spread is a staple for college students. It will help you to see how you are spending your money
All these spreads can be set up in several different ways. I encourage you to look on Pinterest for inspiration. There are even YouTube video tutorials if you prefer to watch videos! Happy journaling!