Bullet journals are excellent tools for keeping you organized and improving your productivity. The great thing about bullet journals is that they can be whatever you want to be – but that can also be a limitation. How do you even get started? We’ve got you covered with some of the best ideas for a bullet journal weekly spread. These spreads are sure to give you the inspiration you need to create your perfect bullet journal.
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What is a Bullet Journal?
A bullet journal is a specific type of journal with laser-printed dots, or bullets, arranged in a grid on each page. This dot grid is designed to help you draw charts, lists, planners, and anything else that you need in your bullet journal.
Bullet journals are great tools for productivity, to help you stay organized, and for all of your general-purpose journaling needs.
What is a Weekly Spread in a Bullet Journal?
A great way to keep yourself organized in a bullet journal is with a weekly spread. Bullet journal weekly spreads are templates that you can use to keep track of your week. These spreads generally span two full spread-out pages so that when you have your journal open, you get a glance at everything you need to do for the week right on the pages in front of you.
There are multiple ways to lay out your bullet journal weekly spread, and here we’ve gathered the best ideas from around the web to help you get started.
Bullet Journal Weekly Spread Ideas
Below are some weekly spread ideas. These will give you inspiration on layouts and things that you can include in your weekly spread. Everyone is different, so the items tracked in these specific spreads might not be what you want to follow. Take what you like from each example to make your perfect bullet journal spread that is uniquely you!
Minimalists Spreads
There are tons of examples of minimalist bullet journal spreads. These spreads are generally easy to draw for those of us without a lot of artistic abilities. They are simple and to the point, only including the essential information, like a calendar or a task list. Usually, these spreads are in black and white, so you don’t need any fancy pens to recreate them and get the basic job of weekly planning done.
This second example is even simpler. It doesn’t include any fancy drawing, just a section for jotting down important things for each day of the week and a section for your to-so list on the bottom. This is a perfect spread for those who don’t want to draw anything overly complicated.
Planner Spreads
This simple spread lays out the days of the week like you would find in a planner. You have space to fill in your important tasks and goals for each day of the week and space to decorate your journal in whatever way you see fit. This example has leaf doodles on the margins, which brightens the calendar up, and a space for planning the coming week at the bottom.
This planner spread gives you tons of room to write down everything you need to do for the week. This will help you set daily priorities, remember due dates, or even write down notes about important things that happened that day.
The Meal Plan
This spread is all about meal planning for the week. It lists the meals for each day of the week on one side, has categorized grocery lists, and even includes a budget.
The Planner + Meal Prep
This bullet journal weekly spread is almost as simple as the planner, but it includes space to plan your weekly meals. Keep yourself and your meal prep organized with this simple spread!
This second example also includes an area for note-taking! I love that the “note” in the sample is “no eating out,” which really ties into the meal planning theme.
The Schedule Spread
If you’re a student, you can use a bullet journal weekly spread to keep track of your schedule. You can choose to spread your schedule out over the two pages of the journal, or you can have it on one side, as in this example, and use the other side to keep track of homework assignments.
This second example is far more specific. If you need to manage your time better and schedule your readings, homework assignments, and work hours in detail, this spread idea is excellent for you! This design can also help you keep track of due dates.
The Calendar Spread
This spread has the days of the week laid out like a calendar. It allows you to write down your most important tasks for each day and makes it easy to look to the week ahead.
This simple spread is also laid out similar to a calendar. It has all of the days of the week laid out, and you can add the dates as you need. This minimalist spread is easy to draw, and you can replace it with doodles of your choosing.
Planning and Habits Spread
This spread helps you keep track of your schedule, your meals, and your daily habits. This is a great spread if you have a goal to work out or meditate every day. It helps keep you accountable for following through with those goals and helps turn them into habits.
This example has a full schedule and space for tracking various habits in the margins. Another bonus of this spread is that it has room at the end of the week for you to jot down important notes for the week ahead.
The Tracking Spread
Do you have a ton of stuff that you want to keep track of? This example tracks how much water you drink, your fruit and vegetable intake, and your sleep schedule. This type of spread will help you keep track of anything that you deem important.
This example only tracks the number of hours you worked each week. You can use this template as inspiration to track anything – hours of exercise versus hours of tv time, hours of writing or working on your side project, or even your sleep schedule.
The To-Do list Spread
This bullet journal weekly spread has the planner like most of the others but also includes space for you to write down your top priorities and tasks for the week. This spread will help you stay on track and get the most important things done.
This example is fun because not only does it has an area for goals and tasks, but it also includes a shopping list. You could use this space for more tasks and label the top as “goals” and “priorities” instead.
Weekly Review Spread
This spread uses one page for your schedule and planner, leaving a considerable amount of space for you to write out your thoughts for the week. This is an excellent spread for you if you want to keep your weekly journal entries organized with your weekly schedule.
This spread has a section on page two for you to review your accomplishments for the week. Did you progress towards your goals? Accomplish everything that you needed to accomplish? Write it all out in your weekly review.
The Everything Spread
This spread tries to shove everything into a two-page weekly spread. It has a weekly planner with task lists for each day of the week, notes for the week ahead, a weather and goal tracker, and even has a section for goals.
Another example of a spread that tries to get everything into two pages. One page is dedicated to the planner, while the other includes chores, meal planning, and top priorities, and a habit tracker.
This third spread has a space for the calendar which lists important tasks but also includes a gratitude list, important scheduling information for the children, and a to-do list. I love how the creator used a small bit of empty space to create a habit tracker as well.
Vacation Spread
Plan your perfect vacation with a vacation spread! Plan out what you are going to do each day while away, keep track of the weather, and make sure you schedule in time for self-care.
This spread vacation spread shows important times and dates for the vacation but doesn’t plan everything out. Instead, you can write down the things you want to do, see, and eat while on vacation, but you can be more flexible with your plan.
Themed Bullet Journal Weekly Spread Ideas
Sometimes we’d rather use our bullet journals as a creative outlet rather than a productivity tool. These spreads are the best of both worlds, they offer some of the same planning and scheduling as the spreads above, but showcase how creative you can get with your journal. Use these examples as inspiration for making your own themed weekly spread!
Space Theme
Get fun and creative with your bullet journal by decorating it with stars and planets! I love the simplicity of this theme. The quote on the side relates to space and a positive mindset, while the drawings and doodles are easy for almost anyone to recreate. The layout is simple and straightforward.
Fall Theme
This first fall theme is perfect for those who just want a basic layout, but want that layout to be festive. The only thing that makes this style a “theme” is the fall colors used, and the cute drawings at the top.
This fall-themed bullet journal spread is a bit more complex. It also uses fall colors but includes space for the weather, a habit tracker, and notes along with the daily schedule. The doodles on the margins are related to the author’s favorite things about fall.
Plant Themes
These spreads are both fun ways to decorate your bullet journal with plant motifs. You can find tons of other ways to decorate your spread with other plants as well!
Moon Theme
I love the mystical feeling of this theme and the fact that there is space for memories in the margins!
Holiday Theme
If you’re feeling festive, decorate your bullet journal with a holiday theme! This Christmas theme is great for weeks in December!
This Halloween spread has haunted houses and bat doodles – perfect decorations for the approaching holiday! The spread is simple, only allowing space for a schedule.
Although not technically a weekly spread because there is no weekly schedule, this is a perfect example of how you can change your spreads based on what is going on each week. This spread is clearly for Thanksgiving, and the creator opted to swap out the schedule in favor of a Thanksgiving recipe and her main goals for the week.
Pretty Spreads
I’m calling these few bullet journal weekly spread ideas “pretty” spreads because although they could easily fall into one of the categories above, the layouts and colors are oddly satisfying, and I wanted to showcase them in this post.
Let’s face it, sometimes we just want something pretty to look at! These “pretty” bullet journal spreads have classic layouts, but use pretty colors for highlighting important things and are generally relaxing to look at. I would never be able to draw such straight lines for boxes, and I marvel at those who can. This spread is oddly satisfying to me.
This spread isn’t as even, but the colors and the layout are still oddly satisfying. There’s something about the separating lines that draws me in and makes me want to use this spread.
Creative Spreads
I love the way this journaler used stickers to give the spread a little extra something. The water droplet stickers to signify daily water intake and the cloud sticker to signify the weather are perfect examples of thinking outside of the box to create a journal that is perfect for you.
This creator used watercolor to spice up her bullet journal spread. It brings the pages to life in a way that pens just can’t replicate. If you’re going to use mixed media for your bullet journal, be sure to get one with the right paper. Watercolor paper is designed to be able to hold the water better than regular paper.
Is Bullet Journaling a Waste of Time?
Nothing that you enjoy doing or that helps you be more productive is a waste of time. Starting a bullet journal may not be for everyone. But for many, drawing the spreads is relaxing, and having everything in one place provides peace of mind. Everyone is different, and it’s okay if it doesn’t work for you.
Bullet Journal Supplies
In order to start bullet journaling, you only need a few supplies. Obviously first is the bullet journal. If you want to color-code your journal, you may want to get colored pens. You can also get sticky notes that act like tabs in your bullet journal, so you can easily separate your weekly spreads from your section on note-taking.
Alternatives to Bullet Journaling
Journaling is great for those who love pen and paper. However, in this day and age, many people want to automate their to-do lists. Todoist is one of the best apps there is for list-making, while Trello is awesome for managing tasks.
You could also head to Etsy to get some scheduling and planning printables if you don’t feel like designing your own.
Start Bullet Journaling Now!
If you’ve been inspired to start your own bullet journal, what are you waiting for? Head to Barnes & Noble to grab your perfect journal, and start organizing your life with these amazing bullet journal weekly spread ideas now!