After a month of alluding to, and talking about, moving into a B5 Archer & Olive Journal, I am finally sharing my new Bullet Journal Migration and Setup. I kept most of the same layouts as my 2021 Bullet Journal Setup. There are some changes and adjustments I’ve made that I will share with you below, and I share over on my YouTube Channel (if you prefer to watch the setup).
This post contains some affiliate links. This means I may earn a referral fee if you make a purchase through my link, without any additional cost to you. By doing so allows me to keep creating content for your enjoyment. Thank you SO much for your support!
Supplies
- Archer and Olive B5 Dot Grid Notebook (NML10 for 10% off)
- Archer & Olive Acrylograph Paint Pens in Indigo, Plum, Allium, Coral, Olive and White (NML10 for 10% off)
- Amy Tangerine Alphabet Stamp set (discontinued)
- Studio L2E Tall + Skinny Alphabet Stamp set (discountinued)
- Natasha Miller Letters Mini Calendar Stamp Sets
- VersaFine Pigment Ink
- Tombow Dual Brush Pens in 098, 569, 679, 817, and 873 (just for borders)
- Feed Your Craft Pieced Together stamp set (discontinued)
- Tombow Mono Drawing Pens in 01 and 05
- Sakura Gelly Roll in White size 08
Bullet Journal Layout Migration and Setup
When setting up a new bullet journal, I always like to go back and look at older setups to see which layouts worked, which didn’t, and if there are any layouts I want to bring back. Normally with migrations, I end up using a lot of the same layouts, but with some minor tweaks.
Since I was switching into a bigger notebook, I included a Grid Spacing Guide (which I am sharing as a free download for you below). This will be my first time using a grid spacing guide so we’ll see how it goes. In order to get the most use and accessibility out of the guide, I taped it to the inside on my notebook’s cover with Washi tape. This allows me to access my grid when working on layouts throughout the notebook (thank you to Plant Based Bride for sharing).
Other than that, I reworked almost all of my layouts, making them less squished, particularly my budget layouts, and my more general courses and books layouts, since I had the space. The biggest changes made were to my content layouts and my general Kanban Board layout.
Content Layouts
Instead of having a brain dump style page for content ideas, I went back to a layout I created in my 2020 Bullet Journal Setup and Migration. This is a condensed content schedule for my Blog and YouTube videos.
I split the months into 4 week months, and 5 week months (based on Friday content release days). I assign a content theme to each week and then just rotate through. When I first used this layout, it was so much easier for me to get on a filming and editing schedule and I have let that fall by the wayside. So I decided to return to this layout. On the second page, I have included boxes with the theme headings and will be writing my ideas down under each heading.
Workflow Layouts
The next biggest layout change is to my generic Kanban Board. For the first time, I will be using the Eisenhower Method (inspired by My Inner Creative and her super informative blog post), combined with a Kanban Board.
The Eisenhower Matrix helps you not only focus on productivity, but also on effectiveness. What’s the point in being productive when that productivity isn’t effective, right?!
So the Matrix divides tasks into:
- Urgent AND Important – you do these tasks first and right away
- Important but NOT Urgent – you can schedule these tasks to be done at some point
- Urgent but NOT Important – delegate these tasks, or get them done when the first 2 sets of tasks have been done
- Not Urgent AND Not Important – don’t do these at all
It’s important to note that the Matrix only works with limited to-do lists per quadrant. My plan is to set work tasks for the month using sticky notes. As I work through the sticky notes, they will filter into the Kanban Board to help keep track of where things are at (if they can’t be completed right away).
At least this is how I imagine it’ll work. I plan on using these methods together for a few months and then report back to you.
Bullet Journal Migration and Setup – Going Forward
I wanted to mention one last change I made and this one comes courtesy of Jashii Corrin. For my Future Log, instead of setting up just the 6 months from July to December, I included the first 6 months of 2022. I will see how it goes but I am most likely to set up my 2022 journal with January – December again. We’ll see though.
And that’s the most important thing to remember. There will always be layouts you don’t use, layouts you wish you included, or layouts you wish you did differently. Just remember, you can always exclude layouts next time, or create a section within your journal (or at the back), with the new layouts you want to use. Bullet Journaling is meant to work for you and allow you the maximum flexibility to fit your life. It needs to fit your life and not the other way around!
As always, thank you so much for your time today! I appreciate it so much! If you decide to recreate any of these layouts, tag me on social media @natashamillerletters as I would love to see how you put it together and how you use it!
Talk soon!
