How is it the end of April already? Is it just me or did this month pull a Sonic the Headhog and zoom by… Anyways, I wanted to do a little something different for today’s post and what better way to close out a month than to welcome the next month with some bullet journaling fun times.

I’ve been bullet journaling off and on for the past year and a half. Some months I am very attentive to it, create pretty themes, and stay consistent with filling it out… and then other months I barely do more than fill out my daily health and mood tracker just so I can keep a better mind of what my body is doing over the course of the year.

With May being Lupus and Fibromyalgia month, both of which have purple awareness ribbons, I’ve decided to share with you my May 2019 Bullet Journal spread, complete with some of my thought processes that go into making my minimalist BuJo. The overall theme for this month is purple and crystals… mainly inspired by amethysts. I am a geo-nerd at heart and have wanted to do some sort of geode/crystal theme for a while. It’s not elaborate, but it’ll do.

My entire bullet journal is fairly minimalistic without elaborate illustrations aside from my mood tracker, cover page, and maybe a few doodles here and there. Every month, I choose a color and will then color code the edges of the paper with washi tape and draw out my design with Copic Multiliners in corresponding colors. My bullet journal is a large, A4 dotted journal with a pocket for papers and memories at the back. I purchased a few of these on Amazon from the brand “Minimalism Art” but after a quick check, they might be sold out currently. The paper is of decent quality although things will bleed through if you’re using saturated alcohol markers, like Copic. I’ve had good luck with most of my Tombow markers but Copic multiliners are my weapon of choice.

At the beginning of each month, I have a cover page with a vertical calendar. Weekends are colored in with a highlighter as I don’t have the days listed, numbers only. It gives me the ability to have a quick reference for important events, appointments, birthdays, etc…

The first full spread of the month is always my trackers; spoonie and sleep trackers, mood tracker (coloring page vibes), important household quests, chore tracker, big purchases/bill tracker, and social media posting and number trackers.

In months past, I did simple shapes for my mood tracker but with the theme I wanted to make my mood tracker a little more elaborate, that way, in case I have days where there are good AND bad emotions, I can better list them… plus it will be fun to color it in. I have a bullet journal key (pictured later in this post) that help me keep track of mood colors, spoons, etc.

Beside the mood tracker is an area for my important to-do list, aka my important quest. I have a few areas for quests, but these are the most important ones that I need to get done and that take the highest priority. It’s so satisfying to draw a box, write a thing to accomplish, finish it, and then color in or tick off the box.

Pictured above is my sleep and spoonie chart tracker. I have the days listed out on the horizontal axis, followed by one through fourteen on the vertical axis. Hours of sleep are marked with a little star and the spoons (based on a number from my key) are marked with a little dot. I like to connect the stars and make weird sleep constellations throughout the month. It’s silly, but it’s fun and is a good motivator to remember to keep up with my journal.

Lastly on this page is my posting tracker. I am trying at being more consistent with my posting on all of my important platforms. Ah, the life of a content creator… always trying to stay ahead of the game and be consistent. Ha! Whenever I post, I just put a little X on the date that I post to each of my main platforms and viola’!

This next spread is dedicated to tasks, chores around the house, purchases, and social media numbers at the end of each week to keep track of how everything is doing.

Household quests can be anything from writing down things that need to be done, important contact information for services (tree trimmers, plumbers, etc) that we need throughout the month and special tasks that I want to undertake.

Since we are technically still in Spring, I want to have a little section to dole up specific tasks; like tidying our basement or garage, cleaning the windows, etc. I have a little chore tracker below that so that I stay motivated and stay on top of keeping our house clean. Mr. Chaos helps me out with the housework and if I don’t stay on top of it, our house begins to reflect my mood if I’m in a rut. It’s a pretty vague little chore tracker but each room gets tidied, trash taken out, vacuumed, dusted, etc before I can check it off. Hooray adulting!

The purchases section off to the side is for big purchases, bills paid, etc… anything that’s not minimal everyday purchases (groceries) which go on my weekly purchase trackers. With things being VERY tight right now, we have to be very conscious of how our coin is being spent.

The second full spread of the month is dedicated to my Patreon, jaeCHAOS admin stuff, favorites’n’ fails, a little wish list, and then memories and miscellaneous notes.

The left side of this spread is dedicated to keeping my jaeCHAOS world spinning. If I don’t keep track of projects, they don’t get finished because let’s face it – sometimes I have the attention span of a squirrel and or the memory capability of someone who’s tested gravity far too many times than I’d like to admit.

At the top left of the page is my Patreon To-Do box. Patreon quests take priority because my Patrons are awesome and their support helps me be able to produce content for you guys. This little box is where I can write down important dates and tasks exclusive for my patreon; like live stream date/time, exclusive tutorial of the month, and misc. things I need to remember, like ordering postcards and stickers.

Next to that box is a tiny little wish list box, mainly for things that have caught my eye or just shiny things that I need to contemplate on more before I decide whether or not I should own them. Examples of this are a dress form, upgrading my camera and/or computer because both are getting up there in age, a Cricut maker (for cosplaying and crafting ease), etc. I will also use this little space to jot down any makeup that catches my eye, but let’s face it brands come out with so many things nowadays it’s hard to stay on top of everything. I had an office chair on my wish list for months and with our tax refund, I was finally able to purchase one that way my back would stop screaming at me when I was working at my desk or filming tutorials. It’s nice, it’s an Ikea chair with wonderful lumbar support.

Below those areas is the general jaeCHAOS tasks and quests that I need to complete for the month. I will write out makeup looks that I want to do and check off boxes after I’ve filmed, edited, uploaded, written the accompanying blog post, and published them. I use this box to write in little reminders like to go through my email inbox and make sure that I’ve replied to everything, email people who I need to get in touch with, and cull/delete all of the misc. brand advertisement emails that flood my inbox on a DAILY basis, etc… This area is also for me to put down any important deadlines if they come up in the month.

Lastly, I have two boxes for my favorites and fails of the month. If you have watched any of my current favorites and fails videos, this is how I keep track of them. I do monthly favorites and fails roundup for my patreons for our End Of The Month wrap-up, so this helps me to not forget things. It’s pretty straight forward, but it keeps my brain from forgetting things. PS: A CURRENT FAVORITES AND FAILS VIDEO WILL BE UP (hopefully) BY THE END OF THE WEEK!

The last page before we dive into my weekly spreads is my memories and misc. notes areas. As someone who deals with depression, I try to make sure that I write out the good days and things that happen during the month. Bad days tend to stick in my head more so than good days, especially when I’m down… and this helps to remind me that YES, there are good days and they’re awesome. The super good days get listed over on my yearly memories page as well.

Misc. notes is just that, notes that I don’t know where to put exactly but have to write them down. This can be anything from reminders to call people, check in my with physicians during the month, write out any upcoming appointments that are after May, etc… or just random BS that I find funny.

And now to the star of the show, my weekly tracker pages. Since May begins on a Wednesday, I wanted to skip to the next full week to show you how I lay everything out.

My weeks start on Monday, because I’m not a heathen, and I have each day listed with the date, my four tracker squares for; hours of sleep, mood, spoonie stuff, and any other things that happen (flares, blackouts, migraines, etc). I give myself enough space for each day in case I need to journal a little bit, list out little errands that need to get done, or just doodle if I need to take my mind off of things.

On the opposite side of my daily page is my weekly quests broken up into household quests, jaeCHAOS quests, misc. notes, purchases, and a tiny monthly calendar with the week highlighted.

The three boxes on the left of the page give me enough room to list out everything and brainstorm a little if I need to. It’s always good when bullet journaling to give yourself plenty of room instead of not enough.

I don’t fill up the purchase portion but it’s there to keep track of every little tiny thing that we spend money on; like buying a movie on Prime, refilling the car with gasoline, groceries, random internet costs (like subscription services), etc…

If you look at the picture below, that is my BuJo key. It is how I keep track of everything and help to quantify my mood and spoons for better awareness of how my body is doing daily. Everything is color coded using specific Tombow markers and I made sure to list the shade number that way I wouldn’t forget it. For the weeks though, I just write down the corresponding numbers and then fill them in with color later.

At the top of my BuJo key is my key for writing out tasks and things to do. It’s not fancy but it helps me quickly distinguish between tasks, appointments, notes, etc.. at a glance. Feel free to borrow this key if it will help you out.

My May BuJo Supplies

My Bullet Journal – A4 size, Minimalism Art Dotted Journal (currently sold out, and I hope it comes back soon!). It’s 8.3″ by 11.4″ and gives me plenty of space to keep my brain together. It is a black, faux leather book, with an elastic to keep the book closed when I’m not using it. It looks a lot more expensive than it was, which helps. I don’t have the cover decorated or anything just because I don’t want to draw attention to it if I am out and about. It does contain my little world and there may or may not be some personal information in there.
(* if you use a lot of ink or a heavy hand, there is some ghosting and bleed-through with the paper… but I don’t mind.)

Pens:
– Pigma Micron Pens (in Purple and in the sizes 005 and 05). I would usually use Copic multiliners, but I don’t have any in purple and these Micron pens get the job done. I also use the black 005 Pigma Micron pen to do most of my writing during the week. I like writing with very fine nibbed pens, I don’t know why.
– Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen (Brush tip in the color #239 – lilac). This pen is more for doodling and making my font look pretty when I get bored. I used it for my monthly title page and will use it for other things as the month goes along.
– Sakura Gelly Roll 08 in White. This pen is mainly to clean up any whoopsie marks that are too small for my white-out to reach.
– Staedtler Textsurfer Classic Highlighter in Purple. These highlighters are BOMB and their chisel shaped tip is the perfect size for bullet journaling.
– Tombow Markers in various colors. These are only used when I fill in my little spoonie and mood boxes at the end of the month. I don’t keep them in my BuJo pen case because they would bulk it up quickly.

Pencils:
– Staedtler Colored Pencils – they are smooth, pigmented and hold their tip shape well without breaking every other time I go to color things in. These are what I used for my little crystal doodles.
– Not pictured: A good ole’ mechanical pencil. Sometimes I don’t want to write in ink, especially if I’m brainstorming.

Misc. Supplies:
– Glitzy Purple Solids Washi Tape By Recollections for the fore edge of the paper. That way everything is nicely color-coded according to the month (see picture below). I used glitter washi tape for the first time this month and while it looks pretty and goes with my theme it does not stick to the paper very well AND bulks up the page size when the book is closed. Each month has about eight pages, depending on how many weeks are in the month. I probably won’t use glitter washi tape for the edges of the paper again but it is a lesson well-learned.
– White Out. Mistakes happen. I use the white out tape version, just so I don’t have to wait on things to dry… and cut down on the fumes.
– Ruler. I clearly didn’t use it for May’s design, but if I’m feeling very particular when I chart out a month’s bujo spread, I will use a ruler to get things lined up and straight.

Whelp, you’ve made it to the end of my lengthy bullet journal post for May’s spread. HOORAY! Thank you for reading all this way! If you are a fellow bullet journaler, I would love to know what sorts of supplies and books that you use. I’m an art supply fiend, especially when it comes to pens. Also, if you are inspired to try out my crystal theme or minimalist layout this month, or in the months to come – please tag me on social media so I can see it and revel in all your awesome BuJo creativity!

If you are new to bullet journaling and want to give it a try, I highly encourage you to do so. You do not have to wait for January to come around again before you start. Head to your local craft or art store and pick up a dotted journal, maybe a pen or two and dive in. You don’t need the nicest supplies to start… especially if you’re new to it. Give it a few months to see if you want to stick with it and then decide if you want to go all out. There are plenty of premade journals out there, some are very fancy while others are minimalist.

Let me know if this kind of thing is something that you’d like to see more of – like when June comes around. As always, I love hearing from you guys so if you want, go ahead and leave a comment below. May is going to be fun and especially PURPLE!

Until the next one, don’t forget to stay positive and be awesome.

FTC Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored nor did I receive any products mentioned for in PR. All opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own. All questions or PR inquiries should be emailed to me at info@jaechaos.com or sent via the contacts page on this website.