My 2023-2024 Bullet Journal Setup
This is one more Plan With Me post, and this time, I’m having my 2023-2024 Bullet Journal setup.
Life can get out of hand and pretty hectic; the same changes usually occur in your Bullet Journal. This is precisely what happened to my 2023-2024 Bullet Journal.
In this post, I want to share with you some Bullet Journal ideas that I used to manage the crazy time of my life, as well as give you a little look behind the curtain because Bullet Journaling is not all about pretty pages and perfect layouts.
Your Bullet Journal is a reflection of your life, and this is absolutely true for this notebook – it started all organized but very quickly dove into complete chaos until it barely even looked like my kind of Bullet Journal.
Usually, you get to see my pages on Instagram, which are all pretty and colorful, but this is not what ends up happening with this journal. I wanted to give you a peek behind the curtain and show you the reality of planning.
Just like with everything, there are times when you don’t feel like being creative, don’t feel like using your Bullet Journal, or, like in my case, completely lose the habit of planning as well.
This is normal, and the important thing is to catch yourself when you do it and go back to the things that you love and that are helpful.
2023-2024 were the years when a lot of things happened. I moved to another continent and then to another city. All new culture and new places that i haven’t bneen before abnd knew nobody.
I had to say goodbye to my little French bulldog, which was not a part of the plan and absolutely broke my heart. But he is having his best life in a mansion by the beach in Brazil with two little girls who love him at least as much as I do.
And I had to say goodbye to almost all of my stationery collection since I had to move across the world with just one 25 kg suitcase.
So yeah, it’s been a crazy time. And unsurprisingly, my Bullet Journal for that time reflects all these changes and more!
It was only in 2025 that things finally calmed down. I came back to Bullet Journaling and loved every minute of it! Be sure to check the end of the post to get a look into my 2025 Bullet Journal setup.
So, let’s look into my BuJo, and let me walk you through how I set it up and what are the thoughts and functionality that I put in it to help me cope.
And be sure to scroll until the end to get your FREE Bullet Journal printables.
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Bullet Journal Supplies
First, let’s have a quick chat about my supplies. I did leave most of my pens and notebooks behind, but a few still made it with me, and these are the ones I love the most.
So, this is all I used for creating these pages:
- Archer and Olive B5 journal. I wanted something with more space, and this was perfect! Plus, it means I needed fewer pages to plan and could use this journal for longer. You can get it 10% OFF with my code MASHA10.
- Pencil & eraser. For me, these are non-negotiable when it comes to Bullet Journaling. I kept my favorite Pilot Dr. Grip pencil and Sakura Foam Eraser.
- Fineliners. These are the blood of all my Bullet Journal pages, or at least the ones that I did set up. The only fineliners I kept were Sakura Pigma Microns, and they are amazing!
- Markers. I didn’t keep a lot for adding color, but here are a few: Zebra Mildliners (I couldn’t live without them), Zebra Click Art pens, and Tombow Dual Brush pens, especially the light grey one.
- HP SProcket. I love this little printer, and I, of course, kept it with me. You’ll see I used it at the beginning, and now I’m actively using it on my memory keeping pages.
- Muji pen – of all the writing pens, this is my favorite; the ink is so smooth and black!
- Stickers. When I was trying to come back to more organized planning in May 2024, I ended up using stickers since they are such an easy way to add a bit of creativity to your layouts. Thank you, Rose K Paper Co, for the amazing and practical designs.
There you go, I really didn’t use that many supplies. Now that we have covered all this, let’s look inside the journal.
2024-2024 Bullet Journal Setup
I must say my 2023 started with a lot of hope for me. I had big plans and was excited to start a new, bigger journal on a positive and organized note.
You’ll see that my yearly pages absolutely reflect that!
Yearly Bullet Journal Pages
Since it was a new year, a new journal situation, I had plenty of yearly pages to create.
At the same time, I always try to keep the amount of pages to minimum, since I know how easy it is to create too many and then make it overwhelming.
Future Log
First and foremost, I made a big two-page future log, which is my favorite format because it allows you to easily see the entire year and gives you all the details you might need.
I love this layout; it looks so neat. I used all my favorite colors, and because it’s a B5 journal, it has so much space!
However, I just admit that I never used it. As the year was getting out of my hands, I had more current things to deal with without any idea of what would be happening in the future and where I would be.
Word Of The Year
Word of the year is something I try to do every year; it’s like setting your intentions for the year to come.
I like choosing the word and writing what exactly it means to me and what direction I want it to lead me.
Looking back at it, it’s pretty funny how, in the end, it was a successful year, but in a completely different way.
I also really like how I did the letters here, and for that, I actually used one of my favorite letter stencils, which definitely came with me after my move.
Yearly Review
I love starting a new journey with a good view of where I am and what has been happening with me.
Usually, I could create an about me page, but since this journal was started at the beginning of the year, I went for a review of 2022.
2022 was a hard year where a lot of big things didn’t work out. But in this overview, I wanted to concentrate more on the lessons I learned and the good things that I have in my life.
Journaling Routine Page
I was really intent on doing daily journaling in 2023. I didn’t end up doing it, but I love the idea, and it’s still something I try to come back to from time to time.
There are a lot of benefits to journaling, and once you make it a habit, it will be a golden mine of calm and reflections.
One of the things that always stamped me with journaling is knowing what to write. So, I thought I’d help myself and write several prompts to use every day.
I did end up adding some affirmations as well; it wouldn’t hurt but might help me recode my brain.
Yearly Tracker
This is a double tracker I’ve created for the entire year. I still had no idea how my life would turn out, so I was very excited to build habits and routines.
One line of the tracker for each month is my mood tracker, and another is the four habits I want to do daily.
And yes, this is the truth behind my Bullet Journal – I ended up leaving this tracker not even halfway through.
Truth be told, February was a hard month that changed a lot in my life, so even getting out of bed was a struggle.
Instead of pushing myself, I admitted that right now, building these habits and filling out this tracker was not my priority, and I had to concentrate on other things.
These were all of my yearly pages; it’s time to look into things month by month.
January Bullet Journal Setup
In January, I felt like I definitely wanted to continue with the same theme as my yearly pages, so I went for using the same colors and fonts.
And that was it; there was no separate interesting theme, just the colors and fonts.
Cover Page
For the cover page, I went with this fun, colorful pattern and a black letter to symbolize the month.
It was actually pretty easy to create it – you just need to use some thin washi tape to create the pattern. Once you’re done coloring, you can simply take off the washi tape, and you have these beautiful straight borders.
But also be careful because my washi tape was a bit too grippy, so I did take a bit of paper with it. Thankfully, it is pretty discreet and can only be seen up close.
There was also something different I tried in January: creating a cover page on the left side of the journal.
I think I still prefer the traditional way so that I have the monthly log together with my big monthly to-do list, but this was an interesting experiment.
Monthly Log
Another different thing I tried in January was creating a vertical monthly log. I added the month in the middle so I can actually have a special area for work-related things and for personal appointments.
As you can see, I still added a little calendar in the corner since, for me, this is still the best way to understand the month.
Another thing I tried to do here is set my intentions for the month. As you can see, they are discreetly written at the bottom.
At the beginning of 2023, I was all about building a better life; I had no idea about the chaos that awaited me ahead.
Brain Dump
Every month, I love having space for a big to-do list, a brain dump to offload all the tasks that I have to do and all the ideas.
This is my page for January. I divided them mostly by using different signifiers. As you can see, the usual thing to do came with a dot, and the work-related tasks came with a little square.
I love having an entire page for it because it becomes something I can add to and use later as the month goes on.
I don’t know about you, but for sure, I feel better when I write something down, and a brain dump is the perfect place to do that.
Weekly Spreads
Finally, I had several weekly spreads, and actually, they all looked the same, just with different dates.
That’s why I’ll just share one here.
And as you can clearly see, I didn’t really add all the days of the week to my planning, using a big to-do list.
Honestly, I think it was mostly becasue some days I just went straight into doing things without spending the time to create a separate list. All the tasks were on the to-do list anyway.
But that’s also a problem when you have to add sections as you go rather than creating a whole weekly spread in advance. For busy times, it didn’t really work for me.
And I also kept a little grip on top of each weekly spread so I could add there any time sensitive events or deadlines.
February 2023 Bullet Journal Setup
For February, I wanted to go with something calming, so mandala was an easy choice to make.
Drawing mandalas is super fun, but mostly it’s very calming. It’s kind of like meditation. Creating this setup was definitely a mindful time.
Cover Page
I wanted to do a black-and-white theme with just a tiny bit of color accents. So, I went for a bit of purple in the first letter of the month.
I started by just adding mandalas to the corners, but it really felt incomplete, so I added that little frame around it as well.
Another reason why I went for mandalas is because I got this cute mandala stencil that I really wanted to start using.
I think I still prefer creating mandalas without a stencil, but using it really helps to make them more even and straight.
Monthly Log
I actually really enjoyed how I saw my month in January, so in February, I went for the same format.
As you can see, I added some color to the lines. The weekends are in color, and the rest are grey. That way, it is easier to match the lines with the date and see the weeks divided.
Because February is a shorter month, I still had plenty of space at the bottom for maybe a to-do list, but I was planning on a whole page for my list, and I ended up not using this space.
I think my idea was that I could come back and fill out the empty space with some more mandalas, but life got in the way.
Monthly Notes Spread
This is a notes spread, but really, it’s the same as a brain dump. I added my to-do list for the month, as well as some work-related notes I’ve been taking during the month.
I really think this setup was when I fully realized the benefits of having a whole page to just dump all the tasks.
I still wanted to add some decoration to the layout, so I added a little mandala at the corner.
This is why I really like this theme; you can discreetly add mandalas to the corners, and that way, the page is decorated, but it doesn’t take up too much space.
Daily Planning Pages
For my day-to-day planning, I actually used the original Bullet Journal format. I added new days as I went.
At the beginning, I used color for headers, and by the end of the month, I wasn’t doing even that.
You have to know your limits; I knew I struggled with planning, so I wanted to make it as easy and accessible as possible.
March Bullet Journal Setup
By March, I was working on some things, so I wanted my journey to be cute and inspiring but with no rules or regulations.
Something that can push me to plan but also would make it very easy and without spending too much time on it.
Cover Page
Stationery and a cozy home office are something that always makes me happy, so I chose to do a peg board as my theme.
It seems like an easy idea to make it look fun but also as simple or elaborate as I want at the moment.
I also decided to include to the cover page a few motivational quotes to help me get into a correct mindset.
If you’re looking for more pages, you’ll be disappointed. After the cover page, I went straight to the weekly pages.
Weekly Spreads
As you can see, I started with the idea of creating a one-page weekly spread, but eventually, I went back to planning day by day.
I still wanted to make it look pretty, so I used a bit of color on the headers and my favorite white-on-black technique for the dates.
By the end of the month, I descended into simply having one big to-do list. And that’s okay; that happened, and I’ll just try to do better next month.
April Monthly Setup
After the chaos of March, I wanted to create a proper theme for April by properly setting up Bullet Journal pages.
I was thinking of something that would be fun and pretty easy to doodle, so I went with a goof theme.
Cover Page
For a cover page, I wanted to do something fun and colorful and use the rest of the space for doodles.
All the doodles are kind of junk food doodles, but aren’t they the most fun ones to draw? I don’t think a healthy baked chicken doodle will look as fun as pizza dripping with cheese.
I also used my favorite font for the name of the month. I think simply adding the shadow with a thinner fineliner adds so much fun to it.
Monthly Log
I’ll never stop saying that a calendar view is my favorite format for a monthly log. Since I was a kid, this was the most common way to see your month ahead, and I never outgrew this habit.
I really love how colorful this layout is! And as you can see, I used different colors for the weekend. Making things more visual is always a fun way to make planning easier.
This monthly log has two pages. I had plenty of space for my monthly to-do list as well. And my month was less busy than I expected – even after the month was done, I still had plenty of space here.
For now, I don’t really care about it; it’s a thing of the past. But if I wanted to, I could definitely fill out the space with more themed doodles.
Weekly Spreads
I say spreads, but there is just one spread, and it started the same as it did in March, where I wanted to do a proper weekly page.
But this was the only one. I’m not sure what exactly was happening that month, but apart from this weekly spread, I only have one big page with notes, and that’s it.
May Bullet Journal Setup
Learning from April, I realized by May that if I actually wanted to use my bullet journal, I needed to go simple and maybe get creative only with the colors.
That’s exactly what I went for, and I think, in the end, this was one of my most organized months.
Probably, because I really had to be – I was leaving Bolivia after 4 years in the middle of June, so everything had to be done and done on time.
Cover Page
Sometimes, brush lettering can be a decoration on its own, and this is what I tried to achieve here.
It’s easy and simple, but with the bright color, it still stands out and looks super fun.
I don’t think I’m that good of a calligrapher, so I decided to make my brush lettering stand out by adding some shadow to it.
Actually, for this setup, I think I used some of my Calliograph pens, which you can get from Archer and Olive (remember 10% OFF with my code MASHA10).
Monthly Log
I went back to the vertical format for my monthly log this month.
Why? Because honestly, this is the easiest way to set up your month. It still allowed me to have an overview of the month while not being to stuck on drawing the monthly grid.
For the blank space I have at the bottom, I simply added some washi tape. Washi tape is a great solution to a lot of Bullet Journal problems!
And on the other side of the monthly log, I added space for my notes and any other tasks that I needed to complete that month. It’s a bit of a brain dump.
To Do List
A bit of thing that I had to prepare for that month was my move to Portugal, through Brazil. Yes, it was a bit of a complicated adventure.
But I had certain things I had to ensure I do, so I ended up creating a separate list just for that.
That’s the beauty of Bullet Journaling: when you need help with something, you can easily just go and create a spread specifically for this purpose.
Weekly Spreads
In May, I actually had two weekly spreads, both pretty simple and easy to create but still powerful.
They definitely helped me to stay on track and within my timeline with all the things that had to be done.
This is the easiest format for a weekly spread; all you need to do is divide the page equally into four parts.
I also added grey to every other line to symbolize the daily boxes without actually needing to draw them.
For the second week, as you can see, I even changed the font from the brush lettering one. But I think it still looks good and colorful.
June Bullet Journal Setup
June is my birthday month, and even though it was one of the busiest months of the year, I wanted to do something special that would create that feeling of celebration.
Therefore, the theme of the month is.. birthday! Well, at least this is the theme for the cover page; for the rest of the month, I just kept with the same colors.
Cover Page
Again, I’m keeping it all simple with my take on a birthday theme. But I still wanted to doodle.
The doodles are, as you can see, pretty simple. And they are small, which I think makes any doodle cuter.
I really like the concept of adding color to just a part of the doodle rather than coloring the entire one, so I went with that concept here.
I think it created a fun effect and allows for colors now to overpower, especially when you use such bright colors like these.
Monthly Log
I needed to have a clear view of the month and understand the timeline and where I am in the month, so a calendar view was back.
And since this calendar is smaller, I also had plenty of space for my monthly to-do list.
Weekly Spreads
Actually, I had three weekly spreads in June, which perfectly shows how Bulelt Journla is a fantastic tool for staying organized even when you have chaos around you.
But all of them are exactly the same – same format, same colors. So I’ll just show you one here.
It’s simple, to the point, and gets the work done.
Other Bullet Journal Pages
And this is pretty much it; after June, there are no more monthly setups and cover pages; it’s all chaos and neverending to-do lists.
I think the lack of structure had a negative impact on my productivity, but I understood I needed a break, so I didn’t push to go back to journaling. It might just become another stressor, and I did not want that.
So this is how I kept on planning.
I literally just got a multi-color click pen and used it to add headers and use different colors for different information.
It didn’t allow me to plan well long term, but it allowed me to get things done during the week, and that was good enough.
There were just two pages that I created before the end of 2024 that had a bit of structure to them.
The first was an April brain dump. I had a lot of things going on and deadlines coming up, so I thought I could at least create a page to offload it all.
Another page I created was a weekly spread in May. I just received some new stickers, and I wanted to see if I feel the vibe of going back to proper planning.
Apparently, I didn’t because after that week, I came back to my noncolorful, chaotic to-do lists, but that’s ok. I had to do what I had to do.
And there it is, the honest look behind my 2023-2024 Bullet Journal.
Always remember that Bullet Journaling should be about fun and productivity; it should never feel like a choice or be overwhelming. So, if you find yourself in a situation where pushing yourself into planning is too much – it might be a sign to have a break.
I took a break, and when I came back to it in 2025, I was full of inspiration and motivation to plan and explore my creativity.
Free Printables
Thank you for sticking with me up until here, and as I promised here are some free printables for you.
Already in the Resources Vault, you can find plenty of printables that will help you create a beautiful and functional monthly setup.
If you don’t have access yet, you can always sign up in the form below.
Once you confirm your subscription, you’ll get the password to get 50+ free Bullet Journal printables, stickers, and worksheets to use right away.
If you’ve never used printables before, be sure to check my post How To Use Printables In Your Bullet Journal.
It’s pretty basic, and you can find all the supplies you need in my post Supplies For Using Bullet Journal Printables.
More Resources
Are you looking for more ideas and inspiration for your Bullet Journal? I’ve got you covered with plenty of posts from my Bullet Journal and others.
Check out these blog posts next:
- My Favorite Bullet Journal Themes: 2018-2020 BuJo Flip Through
- Plan With Me: 2025 Bullet Journal Setup
- 15 Inspiring Yearly Bullet Journal Pages
>>> How did you do with your Bullet Journal those years? Share with us in the comments!
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And remember: Keep Bullet Journaling, and Don’t Be A Blob!