‘How to Set Up a new Bullet Journal notebook’? This must be the most asked question, whether you’re a complete beginner wondering how to start your Bullet Journal journey, or you’re a seasonal BuJo practitioner looking for a refresher, an inspiration (or simply being asked the question & looking for some help). To set up the new Bullet Journal properly is a straightforward process and if you ask me, it is a simple 5-step I take every time I open a fresh notebook:
- 📖 Properly break in a new notebook
- 🗝 Set up a reference page for Bullet Journal keys
- 🎯 Write an Intentions page using the Level 10 Life method
- 🗂 Create your Master Goal List
- 📆 Set up your Future Log (more on what is it later)
This kickstart setup to a new Bullet Journal is also the beginning of a Bullet Journal Setup series in order to help you build a system to plan with intentions, track your goals effectively, and journal your days with joy, as Step 4 described in How to Set Goals (and Actually Follow Through) When You Want to Do Everything: A 5-step framework 👉🏻 TIP: Read this prerequisite post first if you have not, as it links to many upcoming sections of this post and the full Bullet Journal Setup series.
Read tiếng Việt 🇻🇳 version 👉🏻 Set Up sổ Bullet Journal (1/3): trang Future Log + Must-Have (minimal + functional)
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Properly Break in a New Notebook
The joy of holding a brand new notebook? I get it!!! The smell of paper, the touch of the cover. BUUUT:
Before anything else, take a moment to break in your notebook properly. It may sound unnecessary, but it’s a small step that prevents warping and ensures the notebook lies flat over time.
👉🏻 Here is a quick watch to learn how how I do it:
It only takes you a few minutes but helps preserve the lifespan of your notebook — especially if you’re using a hardcover like Leuchtturm1917, in particular the Bullet Journal ed.2 notebook.
Plus, it feels super nice to run your fingers through the smooth surface of each page and hear the crispy sound of each page turn.
Set Up Your Bullet Journal Key Page
Your Bullet Journal Key is your shorthand system — a quick-symbol legend that helps you capture tasks, events, notes, thoughts, ideas, you name it, freely and efficiently. In other words, this is how you journal throughout the Bullet Journal notebook: the Bullet Journal record is so much more informative than a to-do checklist and more condensed than a long-form journal.
The original and standard Bullet Journal keys are pre-printed in Bullet Journal ed2 notebook. I find this feature extremely convenient, not only because it is given in advance but also that it is purposefully printed on the left-side page of the notebook. This feature makes the future reference so easy to return to from wherever you are in the notebook.
If you do not use Bullet Journal notebook, you can replicate the key page.
💡 PRO TIPS:
- Draw your key on the left-hand page for easy reference.
- Start with the standard symbols, and tweak them if necessary and after your journaling evolves.
Here is a crisp explanation of the key system with my slight adaptation to fit personal preferences:
⚫️ A bullet for a task
➖ A dash for a note
⭕️A circle for an event
⚫️✅A task completed with a check
⚫️❎A task canceled with a cross
❗️Add ! or * for a proritized task
⭐️Add star in front for an important take-away, paired with a dash
💛Add heart in front for a memorable event, paired with a circle or warm hearted, positive feeling, paired with a dash
👉🏻 I also explained in-depth the key usage in Bullet Journal’s Daily Log in this article Rapid and Daily Logging: A Guide to Daily Bullet Journal for Focus and Mindfulness.
Write Your Intentions Page
This is your North Star page. It is the very first blank page of the Bullet Journal notebook, where you declare why you’re using this Bullet Journal and what you hope to create with it.
As Ryder Carroll (BuJo creator) puts it:
“The purpose of the Bullet Journal method is to live intentionally, aligning actions with beliefs.”
To identify your life focus areas, beliefs and priorities, so that you can align your monthly-weekly-daily actions in the Bullet Journal with, I highly recommend you give Level 10 Life evaluation exercises a go.
These exercises will help you get clearer about your Level 10 Life visions, and your WHY to use a Bullet Journal notebook to move closer towards your idea of Level 10 Life.
I love to think of this Intentions page of the Bullet Journal notebook as the Goal Setting steps in my 5-step Goal Setting and Goal Planning framework.
👀 In fact, use the Level 10 Life Visions (a template in my free e-book) to fill this Intentions page with (just as I am doing as well).
Create Your Master Goal List
This page is where you translate visions into actions.
From your Intentions page, list your most important goals for the upcoming 12-week period. Wait, why 12-week?
The idea was sparked from this book 12 Week Year approach by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington and summarized in the prerequisite read: How to Set Goals (and Actually Follow Through) When You Want to Do Everything: A 5-step framework
In the Master Goal List page, break down your big visions or intentions into:
- Lag Goals → The outcomes (e.g. “Read 12 books”)
- Lead Goals → The habits that lead to results (e.g. “Read 10 pages/day”)
This structure blends outcome-based thinking with behavior-focused action to make sure your goals are most likely to be accomplished.
🧠 Psych tip: Studies show that writing down your goals increases follow-through by 42%.
Matthews, Gail, “The Impact of Commitment, Accountability, and Written Goals on Goal Achievement” (2007). Psychology | Faculty Presentations. 3.
So do not skip this Master Goal List page. Give yourself some time to reflect and write this page well.
Need help to draw up your Master Goal List? Grab the free e-book, print out this template and after filling it out, you can paste it into your new Bullet Journal. (the Level 10 Life exercise mentioned above is also included in this e-book!)
Voila, now you have a clear map for the next periods with the Bullet Journal to guide you towards your destination of Level 10 Life described on the Intentions page.
How clear, how motivating, and how exciting that is!
Set Up Your Future Log
Now that your “why” intentions and your “what” goal list are crystal-clear, it’s time to fill your Bullet Journal setup with action plans, starting with the Future Log.
By Bullet Journal’s definition, the Future Log is a Collection where you can store Tasks and Events that fall outside of the current month.
Think: weddings, vacations, tax dates, project launches, and so on.
✍🏻If you set up manually:
Then follow these 3 steps:
- Set up a yearly layout (I have some horizontal and vertical layout suggestions below)
- Write down all the month calendars, mean: month name, days and dates each month
- Fill in all the already known holidays, deadlines, events, to-dos, etc.
We will be migrating these information into the Monthly Log when the month comes due.
I took great inspirations for the “vertical” layout from @lines.and.lettering and had a short instruction reel on IG @MyA5Corner dated back to 2023 (so nostalgic aaa).
🖨 If you prefer, use MyA5 Templates
Do not want to hand-draw everything AND every year, month, week? My ready-to-print templates can save you time and effort. Just print, paste and go. Here is how I used my own templates to set up Future Log pages:
Plus, you will also actually save time on migrating any data from Future Log to coming Monthly Log(s), because you can paste this Monthly Calendar template directly onto your Monthly Log setup (more on this next week!).
Neat and sweat, isn’t it? 😉
📘 All templates are included in my upcoming Bullet Journal e-book, which compiles:
- 12 Monthly Calendar Grid templates to set up Future Log and Monthly Log with super convenience
- Monthly Goal Plan & Weekly Log templates to kickstart your Month and Week without delays
- The full Personal Development ft. Bullet Journal Setup series, all in one place for convenient reading and referencing!
GRAB PART 1 (FOR FREE!) OF THE E-BOOK AND JOIN THE WAITLIST FOR THE LAUNCH SOOOOON
✌🏻 A Little Summary:
1️⃣ You can start a new Bullet Journal notebook at any time and with any notebook (I highly recommend the A5-sized, dot-grid, hardcover Leutchturm1917 notebooks, especially the Bullet Journal edition 2)
2️⃣ Kickstart your brand new Bullet Journal properly with these 5 simple steps:
- 📖 Properly break in a new notebook
- 🗝 Set up a reference page for Bullet Journal keys
- 🎯 Write an Intentions page using the Level 10 Life method
- 🗂 Create your Master Goal List
- 📆 Set up your Future Log
3️⃣ Recreate these spreads in your own journal using the steps above — or sign up for MyA5Letter waitlist for my upcoming e-book with all pre-designed templates (and for your eyes only: an early bird discount). You’d also become a beloved memeber of MyA5Corner and will receive weekly latest updates directly from me.
Thank you for reading till the end and supporting MyA5Blog.
See you soon in the next blog post about Monthly Log setup.
Happy Journaling,
Suani
