Bullet journaling has shifted.
The loud, hyper-productive layouts are making space for something more personal and relaxed. Journals now feel almost like a life companion, not a checklist.
This year’s most loved spreads focus on reflection, memory-keeping, and low-pressure creativity. These pages evolve slowly and mean more the longer you use them. If you haven’t finished setting up your bullet journal (or you haven’t started yet), and you’re craving a setup that feels intentional and genuinely enjoyable, this one’s for you.
Below are adaptable bullet journal page ideas designed to inspire rather than prescribe, and are relevant well beyond a single year.
Rebrand Your Year
If you’ve been anywhere near TikTok or Instagram lately, you’ve probably seen people talking about “rebranding” their year. Journaling has fully picked up on it.
Instead of setting a long list of goals you forget by February, this trend is about zooming out and asking: Who do I actually want to be this year? Creators are using their bullet journals to map out values, vibes, boundaries, and intentions, usually across a few pages. This feels more realistic and more personal. It’s less about pressure of productivity, and more about alignment – setting a tone you can keep coming back to as the year unfolds.
You might start with a word or phrase for the year, add a short personal manifesto (just a few sentences that feel true to you right now).
From there, you can note the values you want to come back to when things feel messy, and build a visual language around the year – colours you’re drawn to, symbols that feel grounding, textures or themes that match the energy you’re going for.
Think of it less as setting goals and more as choosing a direction and letting yourself grow into it over time.
One of the most fun pages to add here is an Ins & Outs spread, which is everywhere right now, and for good reason. Your Ins might be things like slower mornings, saying no without over-explaining, making time for creative play, or being offline more often. Your Outs could be overcommitting, people-pleasing, constantly comparing timelines, or chasing perfection.
These pages aren’t rules, but rather gentle reminders you can flip back to whenever you start drifting away from what actually matters to you.
Year in Pixels
This is one of those spreads that might not feel that special at first – and then becomes one of the most meaningful pages in your journal.
It's a page or two with a tiny box for every day of the year. Each day gets one colour, based on how the day felt overall. We've seen great day, good day, okay day, hard day, sad day, angry day – but it's really about whatever categories make sense for you. No overthinking, no journaling required. Just one small, honest check-in.
What makes this spread so powerful is the long view. By the end of the year, you’re seeing patterns through seasons, expressed with clusters of colour. It’s reflective without being heavy, and surprisingly comforting to look back on. It's also a looker!
A Doodle a Day
If you like the idea of being creative every day but hate the pressure that comes with it, this spread is perfect.
This spread can take up two pages and includes 365 tiny spaces – one for each day of the year.
The key is that the boxes are small. Intentionally small.
That way, even on your busiest or most uninspired days, you can still show up. Some days it might be a tiny flower, a smiley face, a cloud, or a wonky line. Other days it might actually reflect something that happened. There are no rules. Over time, it becomes this charming, imperfect visual diary – and a good proof that showing up just a little still counts and builds up the bigger picture.
Monthly Favourites
These pages are where your journal starts its journey as a memory keeper.
Again, you can dedicate a few pages to this section, or keep them jumbled together on a two-page spread.
Song/Album of the Month
A Song of the Month spread lets you capture the soundtrack of your life – the song you had on repeat, the one that instantly brings the month back when you hear it later. No Spotify Wrapped can replace a little handwritten note, a lyric that really resonated with you, a doodle, or a photo tucked beside the song – turning it into a fuller, more personal memory.
Photo of the Month
A Photo of the Month page is exactly what it sounds like, but it hits harder than you’d expect. Leave space to print and stick in one photo you took that month – the image that best represents it. It doesn’t have to be aesthetic. It just has to mean something to you.
You can finish off your section with a little Book of the Month or Movie of the Month – just one thing that really stood out, no need for a list.
A fun twist? Try using sticky notes, washi, or little tabs so you can jot down your faves and move them around. At the end of the year, you can play around with ranking them. The spread should leave a bit of breathing room for your movable notes.
A Letter of the Month
If you’re into calligraphy and hand lettering or, this page idea is fresh and satisfying. Each month, pick your favourite work – a letter, a word, a little monogram, a flourish, whatever you loved creating, and stick it here.
Beginner? Watching your lettering skills grow month by month is so satisfying. Pro? This page becomes a little gallery of your coolest experiments and fun ideas. Either way, it’s all about celebrating your creativity and progress in a way that actually looks cute in your journal.
Pages Read Tracker
This one is for serious readers. If reading more is one of your intentions this year, tracking pages read instead of books can feel more motivating, less pressuring, and you can actually keep score of those sneaky reading lulls.
There’s something satisfying about seeing your reading tracker fill up each day. You’re not stressing about finishing a book or racing to hit some goal, but just noticing how your day is spent, one little reading session at a time.
Visually, this can be anything you like – stacked books, filling bars, simple numbers – whatever feels fun to update. We’ve seen some really whimsical journal libraries.
And here’s the fun part.
The days you don’t read? They’re not “missed” or “failures.”
They’re a chance to get creative! Fill those blank spaces with colours, patterns, doodles – whatever makes you smile. Suddenly, your tracker is beautifully decorated.
A Year-Round Meal Planner
This spread is so simple, but it's a total game changer.
Instead of rewriting your meal plan every single week, make one weekly layout that you can use all year. Leave the meal sections empty and… just use sticky notes.
Your meals are now movable, reusable, and zero-stress. You can swap dinners around, save your favourite weekly combos, and actually roll with life when things inevitably change. It’s flexible, forgiving, and way closer to how we actually eat than those rigid planner pages that feel like homework.
Did we mention it's just one page?
Mood Tracker Art
Mood trackers don’t have to be boring. The ones people are really loving right now are fully personal and visual.
Instead of a chart, pick a scene or object you actually like – a garden, a bookshelf, a sky full of stars, a city skyline, an aquarium… whatever makes you smile. Each day (or week), colour in a bit based on your mood, and over time, your illustration slowly comes to life.
Because it’s something you enjoy looking at, it stops feeling like a chore and becomes a little creative ritual instead.
Flip Back and Smile
Yes, you’re planning.
But you’re also noticing little patterns, collecting memories, and giving your creativity a chance to breathe without needing to be perfect or always productive.
If you've been looking for inspiration beyond the usual practical spreads, we hope we’ve sparked some ideas. And if you’re just joining the journaling party in the middle of January, that's totally fine – let's say you're fashionably late.
If you want to share your spreads, send them our way!
The journals and journaling supplies you pick up here at Bookbinders Design are just the starting point; how you use them, personalise them, and let your creativity transform them is what makes them truly yours. There’s nothing we love more than seeing all your beautiful and interesting creations.
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