July Spreads: Getting Back Into Bullet Journalling

Shock horror – I’ve taken two months off from the blogger’s essential hobby that is bullet journalling. But don’t worry, this isn’t as disastrous as it sounds. This time away from rigorous planning was, ironically, planned in. I was travelling for (nearly) the entirety of June and half of July and so it felt ridiculously redundant to set up bullet journal spreads I wasn’t going to use – trackers, to-do lists, goals… I wouldn’t find a use for any of these pages!

I could have set them up anyway, as they’re fun to design and relaxing to draw (not to mention writing posts about them pull in more views than many of my other posts) but that wouldn’t feel authentic. If I knew I wasn’t going to use them I’d feel fraudulent creating them. So if there’s one thing you learn from this post is that I’m keepin’ it real, 24/7. But if you’re a regular reader I guess you already know that from the eclectic mix of happy/motivated/life-completely-sorted posts, sad/anxious/where-is-my-life-heading material, and down-right-angsty content that appears each month. Don’t mind me, riding the rollercoaster of every single human emotion possible in the space of thirty days.

The point of all of this is that I am home for August and trying to keep on top of several things, so – and you can see where this is going (if not, I’m a little worried) – it is time for another bullet journal setup post. In the bujo community, it seems like there’s an unwritten rule that spreads can only really be created at the start of each month and if one day from a month is going to be included in your journal, then every day from that month has to be included.

Well today ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to be breaking that rule. I know, how rebellious of me. I have set up a couple of pages dedicated to the last ten or so days of July, even though the rest of the month is nowhere to be seen in my journal, and these are what I’ll be sharing today. As I’m setting up pages for just a third of a month, this is the smallest setup post I’ve ever written, so if you’re looking for a few more pages of inspo for your August spreads, maybe head on over to one of my other bujo posts – May was a good one I think.

Title page

What July’s spread lacks in quantity, it makes up for with an attempt to be arty. For the first time in my bullet journal, I’m using watercolour paints – really living on the edge, I know. I decided to go for a lavender theme, and painted these really simple, minimal sprigs on each page. I wrote ‘July’ in the middle of the page using my black Tombow Dual Brush Pen Art Marker. I love brush pens, they’re great for learning how to do lettering and really pull a page together.

Overview page

I don’t have a calendar or goals spread in this mini July setup as I felt like that wasn’t necessary for the length of time I’ll be using the pages for. Although I do have a general to-do list section, a mini habit tracker at the bottom and a blank sprig of lavender on the right which I can colour in each day depending on how I feel my wellbeing has been.

The left side of the sprig is for mental health, and the right side is for physical health. Hopefully most of them will be purple and it will resemble lavender by the end of July!

Daily Spreads

Space for my daily to do lists follows on straight after the overview page and carries onto the next double page too. In the bottom right hand corner is space to write tasks for August, which I can then copy over into my August spreads next month! I decided to keep everything very simple and minimal to give my head a bit of space.

Why have I started bullet journalling in the middle of July?

When I felt the urge to create these pages, the first thought that came into my head told me not to – it told me to wait for August and do a proper month setup. But why? Why should I wait for the days to allign nicely with my feelings? I wanted to get on top of things on 21st July, so why shouldn’t I be able to do that?

When you have a bullet journal it can be easy to get caught up in everyone else’s spreads: the perfection of their layouts, their ability to create August’s pages back in June, the seemingly impossible nature of their organisation… I commend all of those creators for what they manage to do but I want to show a different side to all of that. I want to show people that life doesn’t always follow the calendar neatly and that it’s okay to do things differently.

Most importantly, and more generally, don’t be put off from creating something, anything, by looking at the heights other people have reached. Feel inspired by them and use this energy to fuel your own creations.

How’s everyone’s July going? I’d love to know in the comments ❤

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