October Bullet Journal Setup

We’re into October; this year is absolutely vanishing! After a relatively random theme last month, I’ve been looking forward to sharing my October bullet journal setup, which (so far) is far more uniform than what I achieved with Harry Potter! While I don’t mind a bit of random colour in my bullet journal, I’ve definitely decided my preference is for themes that stick to one or two colours every spread! These simple themes let me put more thought into using my bullet journal, not just the setup.

October Bullet Journal Cover Page

If you’ve seen my non-Halloween offering for my free October calendar, you may have guessed what my theme was going to be this month. Ladybirds!

As it’s Spring here in Australia, and Halloween isn’t celebrated at all in my family, I decided to go the opposite direction to all the spooky, autumnal ideas I’ve been seeing and go bright and cheerful. When I did a bee theme back in May, I discovered that insects are amazingly easy to draw, so I thought ladybirds would be a great idea as they’re so bright and cheerful.

What I didn’t expect was to find a sticker book of ladybirds in the local supermarket! This has allowed my October set up to be very lazy, as they worked perfectly with my latest washi tape haul.

For October, I’ve also shifted my three monthly goals to my cover page. I did this so I have more reason to look at my cover page and, as you’ll see further down, my monthly log didn’t include enough room to fit them in! I haven’t yet decided what my goals are going to be, as I’m trying to make them measurable, but I’ll be doing a brainstorm over the next few days. For the first time, I’ve also included a quote on the cover page, I thought something uplifting was appropriate given the state of the world!

“Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer.”

Anita Krizzan

October Monthly Log Setup

October Bullet Journal Monthly Log

As per my preference, my monthly log is again in a calendar layout. I find this much easier to read than the traditional vertical bullet journal log. The difference this month is that I’ve completely centred the calendar setup. Normally, I’d avoid writing across the centre margin and keep three days on one page and four on the other.

This October though, I’ve decided to experiment. I’ve done so partly because my favourite weekly setup includes something similar, uniting both pages of the spread, but mainly because I love these washi tapes and wanted margins on both sides!

I’m very pleased with how the log has turned out. I think the horizontal and vertical lines being different colours works really well and I really like the symmetry. Having a bright theme is also so uplifting. I want to open my bullet journal every day and have it left my mood, despite everything else that’s happening!

October Habit & Mood Tracking

October Bullet Journal Mood and Habit Trackers

And now for something completely different! I haven’t linearly tracked my habits for months. When I first started bullet journaling, my habit tracker was opposite my vertical monthly log and required turning the whole spread sideways to complete.

As with the vertical monthly log, I fell into a habit of using a calendar layout for my habit trackers a while ago. I work better when I can visualise which day of the week I’m up to! This month though, I really liked the idea of making the spreads I could fit an A4 rather than an A5 space. I also found the mood tracker I came up with in September worked well, so I could incorporate it with the habit tracker.

This layout also allowed me to continue with the washi tape border I’ve been using throughout the October bullet journal setup pages, which I think is great for a unifying feel. Having my trackers horizontally also gave me a bit of spare room, which I’ve decided to use for a monthly to-do list. How much it gets used may be another matter!

As I’m still not working, I’ve kept my habits simple, but added in a no spend habit. This is a habit I’ve been able to skip for several years as I’ve had a steady income, but with no cash coming in, I need to be a bit more mindful of where I’m spending my pennies!

My Blog Goals for October

October Blog Goals

If you’ve been keeping up with my weekly updates, you’ll be aware that September was a disappointing month for my blog. I set myself a goal of 500 views, which given I’d had around 400 in my first two months, I thought was achievable. In the end, I fell laughably short of my goals.

It’s really disheartening when you think you’re doing all the right things, but it doesn’t make much difference. A heap of my missing traffic was from Facebook, so I know that’s an area that needs work this month. Also, I’ve now launched a couple of freebies, but they’ve had no impact- so either I’ve provided completely the wrong products or a lot of the advice I’ve been looking at is wrong!

As I had such a bad September, I’ve decided to be a lot more cautious with my goals this month. I’m looking for a 10% increase across all of my measurables, so hopefully, I can hit some targets in October and feel a bit more positive!

AugustSeptember October Goals
Blog Views391203225
Blog Visitors216105120
Comments27810
Email Subscribers91012
Pin Impressions514351985500
Pin Audience155521112200
Pin Clicks221415
Twitter Followers313840
Facebook Page Likes8810

It’s something I’ll have to remember; stretch goals have their place, but if you’re struggling, be kind to yourself and set achievable goals to get some motivation back!

My October Bullet Journal

That’s it from me this week! I hope you’ve enjoyed checking out my ladybird-friendly bullet journal theme and seeing what I have planned for October. For those of you who celebrate Halloween, I hope you have a suitably spooky month, I wish you all the best, and I’ll be back next Thursday with the next instalment of my Job Hunting series, which I’m absolutely loving sharing with all my fellow job seekers!

October Setup

12 thoughts on “October Bullet Journal Setup”

  1. I love the look of your journal and how specific it is with your goals and habit. I also like the section for your blog goals. Well done. 🤗

    1. Thanks ☺️ I’m really proud of how far it’s come from my early days and it’s so satisfying to have a perfect streak for habits that it keeps my motivated! Thanks for commenting ☺️

  2. Hey Helen, I love how passionate you are about your bullet journal! I tried starting one five years ago, but I gave up after the first week. I’ve purchased planners over the years and I ended up abandoning them within the first month tops. I am just not someone who keeps up with a physical diary oops!

    I do not keep track of my month-to-month social media stats and page views, and I don’t think I will keep track of mine to that level of detail just yet. Nevertheless, I wish you all the best for October!

    1. Thanks for commenting ☺️ My first bullet journal I gave up on after nine months, but given what’s been happening this year I’ve found it such a valuable tool! I think having a record of 2020 will be really interesting in several years’ time- here’s me hoping it’s not eclipsed as an extraordinary year anytime soon!
      I’m always curious about the stats and numbers so for me tracking them is almost unavoidable- although I’ve scaled down from recording daily numbers! I hope you have a great October too ☺️

  3. Hey Helen, it’s wonderful to see how passionately you maintain your journal. No doubt you have been extremely focussed on what you have achieved and what you want to.
    I am still working on the journal part. May be in near future, I will be keeping one( inspired by you😊).
    All the very best for your blogging goals.

    1. Aw thank you ☺️ I really work better when I have things down on paper and habit trackers work so well for me!
      I think everyone has a different method that works best for them, hopefully you find journaling useful if you give it a go- feel free to get in touch with any questions ☺️ Thanks for commenting and all the best with your blog too xx

  4. I have been thinking about starting a bullet journal for ages now I think I really need to give it a go!

    Amber | The Unpredicted page

    1. Haha glad to be an inspiration! My top advice would be to start simple. Try not to go too fancy before using it is a habit- otherwise it’s about being pretty rather than useful 😂 good luck!

  5. Your blog makes me want to start a bullet journal. Yours looks so perfect and pretty. I am one for lists and notebooks but mine are so boring compared to yours!

    Rosie

    1. Aw thanks; mine used to be very boring!! I’ve got a lot more ambitious with my themes over the past year- you certainly don’t have to start fancy!!

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