(light upbeat music)
(bell rings)
♪ Oh oh yeah ♪
- Hey, everyone. It's Amanda.
Welcome back to my channel.
Today is the video (light jazzy music)
you've all been waiting for,
the 2021 bullet journal setup.
Yay! (laughs)
I know I say this pretty much every year
that I do a brand new bullet journal setup
for the upcoming year,
but I really need a fresh start.
I think we can all agree on that,
that 2020 was not so great.
So hopefully a new bullet journal setup
will manifest that fresh start energy.
This is actually goin to be
my fifth year bullet journaling,
which is kinda crazy.
I've been doing it since 2017 and never stopped.
So if you've been there since the older videos,
then shout-out to you,
but since it is my fifth year bullet journaling
I want to call back a little bit
to my first year setup.
I really wanna get inspired for my older work
because I know that my style and everything
has evolved so much since then.
But sometimes I look back on my older work
and I'm like, wow, this is just like so different
and I was in such a different mindset.
So hopefully I can take elements
from my older setups and implement them throughout the year.
It's gonna be kind of interesting.
Maybe we'll do a few videos
where I recreate older setups and stuff,
but that's not what we're talking about now.
I'm going to be setting up
the beginning pages of my fresh new bullet journal.
So grab a notebook if you're planning with me.
If not, just sit back, relax, and enjoy,
and let's get planning.
All right, so a 2021 bullet journal setup.
We're just getting right into it.
The notebook that I'm using this year is
my Shop AmandaRachLee dot a notebook of course.
I was deciding between colors.
I was initially gonna go for a camel or gray
but I decided on a nice basic black one.
I'll leave a link to these notebooks down below
since everyone always asks me what notebooks I use
throughout the year.
And there'll also be a little coupon code
for you guys as well.
Now, normally I would start out with a key
which basically just shows you which symbols mean what
so that you can reference it,
or maybe by planning out which pages I want to include.
But at this point, this is my fifth year bullet journaling
so I pretty much know which symbols I like to use
and it's kinda second nature to me.
And I also have a pretty good idea
of what spreads I like to include
in these beginning setups.
So if you do wanna see an example of a key
or maybe what I've done in the past,
I would recommend checking out
my previous year bullet journal setups.
Maybe especially if you're a beginner to bullet journaling,
I have four other ones, 2017 all the way through 2020.
So there's a lot of inspo and information in there.
Speaking of my previous year bullet journal setups,
I feel like every year my bullet journals
have a particular style or vibe.
And when I was trying to think of what I wanted to do
for this year, I thought it would be nice
to do kind of like a little throwback
to the very first year that I started bullet journaling,
which was 2017.
As I mentioned, it's my fifth year
which feels a little bit like a landmark,
especially since bullet journaling
is something that is special and has changed my life
and connected me to so many people.
So before I filmed this
I actually flipped through my 2017 bullet journal,
the very first one.
It kind of felt like a archive or something.
And I was honestly kind of inspired by myself
which I know is funny to say
but I had forgotten what my old bullet journals
had looked like since it was so long ago.
And since then, my bullet journal has evolved
and so have I as a human
so, you know, naturally what I need
in a planning system has changed.
But what I did appreciate
from my 2017 bullet journals
was how simple they were.
As sort of an homage to that year,
I tried to make my spreads in a similar style
but maybe just a little bit more updated
to what I currently like in a bullet journal.
So I was really into pastel and muted colors back then.
If you watch all of my old videos,
you'll notice that there isn't
a bright color in sight. (chuckles)
So I used about four pastel colors
throughout this entire setup.
They're all pastel toned.
And two of the colors that I chose
were actually gray and yellow,
which are the Pantone colors of the year.
So it kind of worked out.
Anyway, as you can see for the first cover page,
I did sort of a quote page.
I wrote out 2021 in a simple bubble letter style
with my fine liner and added a slight drop shadow
with those pastel colors.
I kept the quote pretty simple.
It says, "Dear 2021, please be good."
Usually I would put like a motivational quote
or a quote about being excited for the new year
but I think we all saw
how that turned out last year. (chuckles)
I rewatched my 2020 setup video
and it was so funny to see how excited I was
for a fresh start.
Oh, I was so naive back then.
But at this point, you know, I have high hopes
for the new year but I also don't wanna be disappointed
so I'm going into it with a simpler mindset.
As long as we're all happy and healthy
and hopefully the world heals a bit,
I think that'll be good.
On the page next to it,
I made my grid spacing cheat sheet guide
which you guys know I've made a lot
in my previous bullet journals.
It really helps you make spreads quicker.
And the reason why I do it
on this page in particular on the left side
is because it's easy for me to flip to
and reference throughout the year
while I'm making spreads.
You know, having it on that left side,
you can kinda just peek at it and then go back
to whatever spread you're making.
I actually do have a whole video where I show you guys
how I use this grid spacing guide
so I'll be sure to link it in case you're confused
because I always get questions about it.
But basically you just number
the dot spaces vertically and horizontally,
and you make marks on the page.
And it shows divisions that I use frequently
whenever I'm making a spread.
So I have like halves, thirds, et cetera.
It honestly, really just depends on what you use
when you're making spreads.
So don't feel the need to copy mine exactly.
It's just there for your own reference
and to help you out.
Oh, and throughout the setup,
you'll see me adding a few strips
of washi tape here and there.
I wanted to keep it pretty minimal
so I used the diagonal stripes
from the Shop AmandaRachLee.
I think this is from the light monochrome set
as well as the dark neutral set.
And it kinda goes with the diagonal hatching
that I did in the lettering style.
Next step, we have my future log or my yearly overview.
So for this, I thought of the idea
of doing it kind of like Dutch door style.
And I chose to do this
mostly because I didn't wanna have to keep redoing the title
but also because I thought it would just be kinda fun
to make a mini notebook that I can flip through
inside my bullet journal.
So basically what I'm doing is I'm cutting off the edges
of two pages.
I made sure to measure beforehand
so that I knew I had the right width and everything.
And I also made sure to cut around some tabs
on the side of each flap.
As you can see, I'm splitting up each flap
into two columns with just a vertical line.
I think the grid spacing width for these columns
was 11 wide in case any of you were curious.
Basically each column will be for one month.
Now, this is what I meant by me not having to do
the header or the title over and over again.
Because there's 12 months,
obviously I typically don't fit all 12 months onto one page.
So if I were to have done a flip future log
on two separate pages, I would have had to redo the title
or maybe just not include the title on the second spread.
But because of this handy dandy little Dutch door flap
I can see the title no matter which calendar flap
that I am on.
So now I'm creating each monthly overview.
I just did a simple highlighted rectangle
to label each month.
And I also colored the tabs on the side
and wrote out which months are shown on each tab.
And basically the monthly calendar goes at the top.
And any events that I'm planning for the future
will go in a list underneath it.
I wrote out my mini calendars.
This is always a pretty tedious part.
But nowadays they have so many,
I don't know why I said nowadays.
I sounded really old there.
But there are a lot of like stickers and stamps and things
if you don't wanna write out these mini calendars
that you can get instead.
But I kinda find it therapeutic
to do repetitive tasks like this.
So yeah, you know, just turn on some music,
write out the calendar,
make sure you don't mess up the numbers
because I've definitely done that in the past.
And I had to go back in later and fix a lot of the months.
So it was a little bit traumatizing.
So ever since then I've always made sure
to look at my calendar
and make sure I'm doing it right the first time. (chuckles)
But anyway, I really like how this future log turned out.
Honestly, it was just kind of fun to make too,
but I also like the way it looks.
It's kinda like a mini-folder inside of my bullet journal.
So maybe I'll try experimenting with this more later on.
(light jazzy music continues) (birds chirping)
All right, moving on to the next spread
which is my 2021 goals page.
I also wanted to keep this pretty simple.
So I just have a simple header
at the top that matches the style that I've been doing
for all of the pages.
You'll see this a lot throughout my setup.
But in terms of the actual spread,
I split it up into several categories.
I have one for my work goals,
my personal goals, affirmations,
my focus of the year,
which is kinda like a word or an energy
that I wanna emulate for that particular year.
I always kinda choose that at the beginning of any year.
And then finally I have a space for my manifestations
or my big dreams as I would like to call them.
So yeah, just a simple highlight division
through all of them, really easy to make.
And yeah, hope you guys all achieve
whatever goals you set out for yourself
for this year.
Next to it is a spread you guys
have probably seen me make a lot if you've seen
any of my previous bullet journal setup videos.
It's my recommendations dashboard
or things to check out spread.
And it's a spread where I can write
down any content recommendations
from people that I want to check out in the future.
I've split it up into quarters
with the same simple highlighted style
from the previous spread.
And I have a section for movies, TV shows,
podcasts, and books.
And by the way, if you guys
do have any recommendations for me,
leave them down below so I can start filling in the spread.
I trust your guys's recommendations.
The next spread that I made was my content planner spread.
So in the past I've had spreads
like YouTube video idea spreads
where I just list out any ideas for videos
that I wanna make.
But this year I decided to be a bit more specific
and organized with it.
So I actually made a table where I can write out
any video idea that I have.
If I have a rough date of when I wanna post it,
I can list that out too, in the column.
And then there's also a column
for me to check off whether I filmed it or not,
when I edit it, and when I have posted it.
So I know this might not apply
to everyone 'cause not everyone is making YouTube videos,
but I think this type of format
is pretty applicable to a lot of other things.
Maybe like assignment trackers,
if you're, you know, in school, project trackers.
But on the other side of the page, I actually
wanted to have a section for other social media platforms
since I've been trying to focus there as well.
So I made one for TikToK and Instagram.
Since these require a lot less production,
I didn't need as intense of a chart for it
so this is mostly an idea list
but I do have a column for whether or not I've posted it.
We'll see how this goes.
Maybe I will need a more detailed chart for it
but if that's the case,
then I'll just make a new spread and adapt later on.
I did forget to make a spread for Twitch as well
which is something that I have been loving doing.
If you guys didn't know,
I stream my weekly spreads live every single week.
So I'll probably end up making
a separate full-page spread for this later
so I can write down any stream ideas
and all of that over there.
Moving on to my shipment/package tracker.
Recently, due to the virus,
I have been ordering a couple things online a bit more.
And since there have been a lot of shipping delays
with the couriers due to the virus,
I wanted to keep track of what I'm expecting
and what I have received.
So I created this chart.
It's pretty similar to the previous charts.
I just love charts in this setup, I guess.
But I can basically just write down the item
or shipment that I've been expecting,
whether it's been shipped out,
whether I received it, and the date that I ordered it.
This is also a new spread for me
so we'll see how it fits into my actual daily life.
But on the other side of the spread,
it kind of goes with the purchasing theme, I guess.
So I created a section where I can write down
any wishlist items or things that I need to buy.
And I also have a section for a gift idea list
or maybe things I need to buy for other people.
A lot of times throughout the year,
I'll think of a gift idea for a friend or family member
but then by the time it's their birthday or Christmas
I'll forget any gift ideas that I have.
The reason why I thought of doing this
is because I'm currently struggling for Christmas shopping.
So hopefully this will help me out
and maybe I'll, you know, at least have some ideas
of gifts for my friends and family that I can remember
throughout the year instead of scrambling last minute.
We're almost at the end of this whole setup
but this next spread is a space for me to jot down
any art ideas or things that I want to draw.
I recently got a new drawing tablet
and I've been wanting to do more drawing
just for myself because I actually used to do it a lot
as a kid.
I drew a lot of anime and characters
and that's what got me into art in the first place.
I, of course, never expected that art would become my job
which I'm very lucky that, you know,
something that I love has become my job.
But of course, whenever you do anything as a job,
your relationship with that thing changes.
So it's a really big goal of mine
in 2021 to do more art for myself and as a hobby
whether or not I end up sharing it on YouTube.
So the next spread I have is called series I'm watching.
And I probably should've put this
next to the TV and movie recommendation spread,
but I was really just making these spreads as I was going
so it's totally fine.
But I watch a lot of online series,
not just TV shows, but like web series, video series
that come out weekly.
And sometimes it's hard for me to keep track
of what I need to watch for the week
so I made this simple tracker.
There's basically a column for the series name,
the date that it comes out,
like whether it comes out every Monday, et cetera.
And then the last column I labeled it episodes/seasons
because I wanted it to be a bit flexible.
So if I want to track something by the season,
I'll just write S
but if I wanna track it by the episode, I'll write E
and I'll just draw out however many circles
the respective series has.
And if it's a series that comes out continuously,
I can keep drawing empty circles when there is something
that I still need to watch.
Finally, the last spread that I made was my 2021 in photos
or 2021 memories spread.
I do this every year
and it's been a really nice thing to look back on.
It's almost like a time capsule or a scrapbook.
And I think it'll be even more cool to look back
on like 10 years down the line
because I'll basically have a photo
for every single month for whatever time period.
And, I don't know, it's kinda cool to me.
So this year I actually called it
my 2021 highlight reel.
As usual, I outlined spaces for the picture for each month.
And then at the end of each month, I'll print out a picture
of my favorite moment from that particular month.
I do have a photo printer.
So I just, you know, go through my phone
and pick out my favorite moments and print them out.
So it's not like I carry around a camera with me
every single day.
I did it six for this instead of 12
because normally I split up my bullet journals
six months for one notebook
and then I end up needing to do a new notebook
midway through the year anyway
so I'll do the other six
in the next notebook whenever I switch over.
So I highlighted each month
and then at the bottom, there is some space
so I thought of the idea of doing a song of the month.
And I basically have a highlight that corresponds
to each month's color.
And then at the end of every month
I will put a song that was on repeat for me
for that month.
If you watch my monthly "Plan with Me" spreads
you'll know I do playlists a lot
so I think this'll be cool to look back on
at the end of the year
because I'll have 12 songs,
one for every month that represent 2021 to me.
All right, so here's the final flip through
of my 2021 bullet journal setup.
I actually really love how this year's setup turned out.
I feel like every year my bullet journal has a vibe,
as I mentioned, and this year's is kinda simple
but a bit bright as well.
I just get happy looking at it
because of all the light colors
so that'll be a nice energy to bring into 2021.
And it was also kind of nice to reminisce a little
and bring in elements from my first bullet journal in 2017
'cause you gotta remember where you came from, you know.
So yeah, that was my 2021 bullet journal setup.
Of course, since this was my fifth year bullet journaling,
if this setup doesn't suit your taste,
I have four other videos like this.
So I will be sure to leave my whole bullet journal playlist
linked down below if you're in need of any more inspiration
for your new year bullet journals.
And as usual, if you do want to tag me in any recreations
or see more bullet journal inspiration,
be sure to follow me on Instagram.
It's just @amandarachlee.
I also do live streams of bullet journals on Twitch as well
so make sure you check me out there.
All of the things I'll link.
Just go to the description box, guys. It's all there.
On one final nice note, with the holidays coming up
and the end of the year, of course,
I just wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year.
Hopefully 2021 treats you all well.
Please be kind to yourself, stay happy and healthy,
and thank you so much for supporting
and watching my videos.
Love you, guys. Keep doodling.
Bye everyone.
(light jazzy music)