June 2020 Bullet Journal Set Up

It's somehow July already, which naturally means that my procrastinating self is just now getting around to posting about last month's bullet journal theme. I thought that spending so much time at home would mean that I would be super inspired to do elaborate and time-consuming themes, especially since I don't have to worry about school for the next few months. But I think that the high expectations I was putting on myself had the opposite effect of my desired productivity and instead kind of scared me out of starting last month until June was halfway over. I felt like it needed to be the perfect start to summer, but once I abandoned that abstract idea of "perfection" and just went with the first thing that felt right, I felt so much better. And anyways, I realized that I shouldn't be creating my spreads for anyone else, even though I am now posting online; bullet journaling is a very personal, individual thing, and at the end of the day, it's all about what you want and what makes you happy.

I thought it would be cute to do a honeycomb/bee theme for June! The bright yellows and oranges I used were a wonderful way to lift my spirits and make it truly feel like summer.

I use this same monthly layout nearly every month: it's clean and simple, especially since for now it's more for an aesthetic purpose than a practical one. I had a grand total of zero big events for the month aside from work, so there wasn't really much for me to fill in. Summerfest dates would have been such a nice addition to this monthly calendar, but alas...

The left side of this page is a spread that I've made sure to include every single month since I first started bullet journaling three years ago. I refer to it as my Monthly Media page, and it's basically just a way of tracking all the media I consume over the course of the month: everything I watched, read, or listened to. This is the spread I use most often in my bullet journal, and there's nothing more satisfying than finishing a book or movie and being able to document it immediately afterwards!

The right side of the page is another one of my favorite spreads: A Line a Day. I usually jot down two or three of my favorite or most defining moments of each day. It can be something simple, like "Baked bread" or "Watched StarStruck with the fam" (both true entries from May), or it may be something big like, "Finished my freshman year of college (and got Culver's to celebrate)." Now more than ever, I've realized how important it is to find joy in every day, even if it's just something small. When you're stuck at home all day, it can be easy for days to blend together and seem to pass unchangingly in the blink of an eye. Writing down a couple things you did every day is a great reminder that you're still doing things, even if it's just from the comfort of your bedroom. These are also so much fun to look back on and reminisce!

This might just be my favorite weekly spread for 2020 so far! I very rarely combine weeks for my weekly spreads, but considering that it's summer and I'm still staying home most of the time, I figured I didn't need much space for my daily to-dos.

I was inspired by a weekly spread I found by @marthasjournal on Instagram, who had a similar set-up with sunflowers in the center strip. I thought it would be fun to change it up and incorporate a honeycomb pattern instead! Honestly, I think the main reason I didn't do the sunflowers was because I was too lazy to even think of drawing so many of them. But little did I know that this simple-looking honeycomb pattern would take me approximately three hours to complete. Not to worry, though! I put on Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé (which, may I just say, was absolutely incredible) and just let myself relax!

I used Crayola SuperTips to color in the honeycomb pattern, because SuperTips are your best friends when you're looking for subtly different shades of the same color.

Overall, I'm super happy with how June turned out! I can't say how much I'll end up writing in my weekly spreads this summer (probably just short little to-do lists reminding me to walk my dog and read a book, which seem to be the majority of what I do these days), but regardless, it feels so comforting to have such a calming theme for the month. It also took off a lot of pressure knowing I only had to do the three-hour honeycomb pattern twice last month!

I hope you enjoyed the little tour of my June bullet journal, and I hope that you're all doing well!

–Abby