My January 2020 BuJo Spread + GIVEAWAY| @ohjaechaos

Another year has come and gone… and with that, another bullet journal adventure begins. Sappy? Maybe… but maybe you like sappy. 

I’ve been bullet journaling off and on for the last few years. Last year was my first fully-consistent year of journaling, tracking, and rocking that BuJo life. 

Bullet Journaling may seem daunting at first, and it may take a bit to get used to “keeping up with it,” but in the long run – at least for me – it’s quite handy. 

I use my A4-sized journal for everything. I track my sleep, how I’m feeling, my schedule, etc… within it’s dotted pages. I try to keep my style reasonably minimalistic. There are no extravagant designs, fancy additions, or anything along that nature. I tend to stick with a monthly color and possibly spice things up with a fun washi-tape border to the pages, but that’s about it. 

My journal is a Minimalism Art A4 dotted journal, which is more significant than your standard “bujo,” but I’ve found that it gives me enough space to have my week listed out on one page with plenty of room. There’s an accordion pocket at the back, a built-in ribbon/bookmark, and an elastic closure. It has 192 pages, aka 96 sheets of paper. That’s enough to do weekly spreads per page for the entire year, with several to spare for monthly spreads or other miscellaneous pages. 

For the bulk of my journaling, I stick with the PIGMA Micron pens with maybe a splash of colorful Sakura Gelly Roll pens or Uniball metallic pens for accent. 

The paper on the Minimalism Art A4 dotted journal is around 100gsm, which is excellent for pencils and some ink pens (like Micron). Just keep in mind that you will get some ghosting if you use heavier products (i.e., alcohol markers, Tombow markers, some highlighters, India ink, watercolor, etc.). I don’t mind a little bit of ghosting, but if you use too much, it will bleed through – and nobody likes that. Heh. It’s always a good rule-of-thumb to have a test page at the back of your notebook to try out new markers/mediums.

For my January 2020’s layout:

January is always special to me, not just because it’s the start of the new year; it’s a month that comes with snow (hopefully), and it’s also my birthday month! Who doesn’t love a touch of narcissism, eh? 

I wanted to kick off my 2020 right with something clean yet elegant. Black and gold with some star elements stood out for some reason, and here we are. 

This year, to better track my physical and mental health, I made sure to have extra space for a more in-depth spoonie symptom tracker. I also added areas for weekly mental health check-ins along with some other space to help identify things that aggravate or set off panic attacks and my depression. It may seem extra, but I’ve found it to be quite useful. My bullet journal doubles as a health journal, which I can then take to my doctor’s and be all like, “See, this is what’s going on…” 

Every daily box has three squares to keep track of my hours of sleep, spoons, and mood (according to my key). At the beginning of this month’s spread, I also have a linear tracker to chart out those numbers as well. Numbers are great and all BUT it’s helpful to see how they correlate to one another – hence the chart. 

In hopes of not wholly overloading myself with tasks, I’ve decided to go with a weekly TOP THREE list. Three tasks or quests that I want to get done each week. They could be minimal things, like remembering to email someone or more important things (i.e., bills or doctor appointments). I’ll still have a weekly jaeCHAOS quest list as well because that’s mah job, I want to separate things. Gotta keep that healthy work/life balance in check. 

Supplies:

• Bullet Journal: https://amzn.to/39uFjFp 
• Micron Pens: https://amzn.to/39xNa5a 
• Uniball Gold Metallic Pen: https://amzn.to/2ubzDzZ 
• Constellation Washi Tape: https://www.joann.com/park-lane-washi-tape-3%2Fpkg-stars-space/16594723.html

Rounding out the end of my month, I made a space to write down ALL of my favorite things (and even a spot for the not-so-favorite stuff). That way, when it comes time for my Patreon EOTM (end-of-the-month) wrap-up post, I can quickly check that page and remember… because let’s face it, sometimes my memory isn’t that great. 

And now for something AWESOME:

To kick off the new year on the right foot, I am going to be hosting a little giveaway for you, my fantastically amazing dah’lings! How about it?

Specifically, I will be giving away a brand new A4 Minimalism Art Dotted Journal, a set of Pigma Micron pens, and a few bits and bobs to help you start your very own bullet journal. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules & Disclaimers:

• Giveaway runs from January 1st, 2020, at 11:59 pm through until January 15th, 2020, at 11:59 pm ET. 
• ONE WINNER will be picked at RANDOM through the giveaway widget above. All other entries, unless validated, will be void.
• All entries must be completed through the widget on this blog post. Shares through social media won’t be valid unless shared via the widget.  
• Entries from giveaway, spam, or spoof accounts will be VOID and banned from all future giveaways. 
• Please for the love of everything good and shiny DO NOT FOLLOW AND UNFOLLOW once the giveaway is over. I would love to have you stick around for future CHAOS including more giveaways and goodies. If you do unfollow once the giveaway is over, you are unable to win any future giveaways.
• Must be 18 years or have parental permission to enter. 
• US RESIDENCE ONLY. 
• I will contact the winner via EMAIL 48 hours after the giveaway entry period has ended. Winners have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be selected.

Tell me down in the comments if you are a fan of bullet journaling and what some of your favorite bullet journaling techniques, layouts, or designs are.

If you are new to bullet journaling or are interested and haven’t taken the leap yet – DON’T FRET! The best part about bullet journaling is that you can literally start ANYTIME!

For more bullet journaling inspo or random CHAOS, feel free to subscribe to my blog by entering your email in the little box below. I would love to have you join along in my little CHAOTIC adventure.

FTC Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored. All thoughts, images, and elements in this post have been created by me, jaeCHAOS. All items being given away for the giveaway have been purchased by myself. For more information, please visit my DISCLAIMER PAGE.