It’s back to school season! With a slight change of plans, instead of experiencing this new school year in person. We have to do it at home.
Is it ideal? Not exactly.
But either way, you can’t succeed in school without one thing.
Drumroll, please…
Planning!
That’s right, planning is vital for acing school. Or anything for that matter. I use both an online planner and a physical planner.
Tedious? I suppose. It’s easier to just type it in, and set reminders. But you retain more information physically. And what better way to do it than a bullet journal? Not only can you tailor it to your needs, but you can also use it for almost anything!
I’m not kidding. A few examples are;
- Future Logs
- Goal Planners
- Brain Dumps
- Places you’ve visited
- Weight Loss Tracker
- A home for all your favorite quotes.
- Affirmations and Gratitude Log
- Monthly Tracker/Spread
- Habit Trackers
- Mood Trackers
- Meal Logs
The list goes on and on. These are just a few pages I did in mine. You may be thinking “But I’m not that artistic.” or “ I don’t have any fancy pens or markers. How can I start one?”
But you can! I was horrible at brush lettering when I first started, and I could barely draw anything without a tutorial. A
All I had were a 10-pack dual Crayola brush pens I got for my birthday.
And they were only $10, so bullet journaling can be done at a low cost!
However, all you really need is a notebook and a pen (a ruler would be nice). And you don’t have to use those expensive bullet journals either. Nobody wants to spend money on something they might toss away in a few weeks.
Walmart, Dollar Tree, 99 cents, etc are all places that carry cheaper bullet journal options.
If you don't want to leave your house there are plenty of options on Amazon. I’m using this Lemome Bullet Journal at the moment. Most of these were inspired(or copied) from youtube channels. I will link and credit all of them.
So, welcome to the world of bullet journaling.
And if you already bullet journal, I don’t want to waste any more of your precious time, let’s jump right in.
Supplies
- Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens
- Crayola Dual Brush Pens
- Lemome Bullet Journal
- Highlighters
- A pen
- Ruler/Protracter
Back to School Cover
A cover page is a must.
For my cover, I knew I wanted an aesthetic title with doodles all around it.
I used my Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens (hard tip) and my Brush Pens for this spread(A spread is a page or layout).
Step by step doodles are always helpful. So, to save time use the Ultimate List of Bullet Journal Doodles from ‘Diary of A Journal Planner’.
Nothing much to say about this page, other than that all these doodles can be customized.
I didn’t use a color scheme and went all out. I simply like having a colorful page greet me when I need to use my back to school spreads.
Important Dates
It isn’t school if you aren’t stressing over deadlines. So make your life easier with this spread.
Again, the color scheme is all your choice. All I used for this spread were highlighters, a pen, and a ruler.
It only takes a couple of minutes of sketching and scanning your syllabus to fill this spread out.
It’s not only for school but for work and appointments as well. I wanted to keep it right after the cover page, so I know exactly where it is. This way I can flip, glance, and remember when my next deadline is.
This idea was inspired by sundaymornings’s video “bullet journal ideas for students (BACK TO SCHOOL planner)” on Youtube.
Class Schedule
Until you want to get lost in the first week, a class schedule is vital.
Or until you wanna be late to your Zoom meetings, a class schedule is vital.
I didn’t fill mine out, for privacy reasons, but you get the picture(quite literally). At the bottom is the key, which you can also use for color-coding your classes.
So a win-win. (Trust me, color coding your classes will make organization so much easier.)
This layout is also quite flexible. For example, if your classes don’t start till 10, and end at 7, you can always change the times.
Or add extra boxes if needed, or make them bigger(my boxes were 4x4). If you need to specify anything, branch arrows out. Plus it doesn’t have to be only for school, you can add study times, work times, personal time, etc.
One page for your whole semester. Now that’s what I call efficient.
This spread was inspired by AmandaRachLee’s video “Bullet Journal Ideas for Students! BACK TO SCHOOL Planning!” from Youtube.
Contact List & Goals
With pretty much everything online, knowing you’re teachers, professors, and/or bosses contact is extremely helpful.
I for one, get too lazy to track it down, so I end up not emailing them at all.
A lot of courses are online, and you may end up having multiple passwords to keep track of. I understand that a bullet journal isn’t the safest place, but you can always star it out with asterisks.
Again, I left it blank, for privacy reasons.
The layout also includes goals and ways to achieve them. Sometimes you just write a ton of goals down, without a way to accomplish them. Eliminate that problem!
It incorporates a ‘How Will You Serve…’ as well, which is a good reminder, to focus on yourself. All of you; the mind, body, and soul.
This layout was inspired by Caitlin’s Corner’s video “Bullet Journaling FOR STUDENTS | back-to-school planner for online work” on Youtube.
Master Syllabus + Yearly Overview
Planning can’t be done until you have the big picture.
And what better way than a master syllabus? A yearly overview can be used for those that don’t use a syllabus.
I added a key so I knew just by glancing at it. You can always change the key to your needs. In the inner part is a place to add any reminders or specifics.
This layout was inspired by Caitlin’s Corner’s video “Bullet Journaling FOR STUDENTS | back-to-school planner for online work” on Youtube.
Meal Ideas
School is hectic, and we tend to forget the most important thing. Our health.
Missing meals don’t help us at all, but I get it. When you’re too stressed and busy to go to the store and cook it by yourself.
Much less have the money for it. So, you stick to Cup Noodles and cheap ramen. Thinking you’re helping yourself, but in reality, your just harming your body further.
This spread can make future hungry, burnt-out you feel relieved.
Add any go-to breakfast ideas or overnight breakfast ideas.
Research one-pan recipes, 30-minute meals, 5 ingredient recipes, etc. And add those
Add some healthy snacks, that you can make in a few minutes. And a few comfort snacks. Customize it to help your future-self.
This layout was inspired by Caitlin’s Corner’s video “Bullet Journaling FOR STUDENTS | back-to-school planner for online work” on Youtube.
Survival Guide
This spread is more of a reminder on those hard days.
Dead inside, crying, and/or failing?
Just flip to this page and pick an activity.
Want to eat a tub of ice cream while watching The Office, and then take a nap?
Sounds like paradise. You can personalize this, and modify any way you want. More of a fan of yoga, then working out? Switch them out!
Instagram brings you down? Search up cute pets on Pinterest instead. It’s your survival guide.
I was inspired by several posts on Pinterest for this layout. I just added my own twist to it.
Conclude
7 more Back-to-School spreads to add to your Bullet Journal! I can’t wait to see all the spreads you all make. Tag me @exile_nb on Twitter(or share it with twitter icon at the bottom).
Check out the original author’s videos, and be on the lookout for more school-related posts!
Follow me, and share this article if you enjoyed it. Thank you!
