Cozying Into October With Simple Bullet Journal Spreads

One of the things I love about designing my spreads each month, is capturing a bit of my state of mind on the pages of my bullet journal. The visual elements—colors, drawings, fonts, etc.—help to express where I am in this moment. And the exercise of taking this snapshot helps me make better decisions about what’s important to me this month.

This is not a science. I start out with a vague feeling. It could be frustration with my lack of productivity, or an inclination for a certain palette of colors, or a need to simplify. Whatever I’m feeling, I search for visual elements that resonate with this feeling. Then I play around. I often don’t know what I’m getting at until after the spreads are done.

That’s what happened to me this month. I wanted to create my layouts fairly quickly. I wanted to use the Notebook Therapy washi tapes I splurged on last Christmas. The washi tapes’ autumn vibes seemed perfect for October, and they would make it easy to avoid a lot of drawing. It wasn’t until I finished the layouts that I understood what I needed from my month—cozy autumn hugs.

Cover

I used a sticky note to letter October 2022, then surrounded it with strips of washi tape and scattered a few leaf stickers¹ across the page. I liked the basic layout, but wasn’t really happy with it until I decided to color the entire background in toasted orange.

Projects

This is my usual Projects layout, with an area for Writing projects on the right, and a Habit Tracker on the bottom. I colored the Habits area with sienna brown and bordered it with a cute fox washi tape. Scattered leaves tied the spread in with the cover. Nothing revolutionary, but it captures more of that cozy feel.

Calendar

Using vertical weeks, I laid out a simple calendar, then decorated with more washi tape and leaf stickers. I added a splash of red in the background, notes and goals in the empty rectangles, and voila! A cozy calendar that focuses on what’s important to me this month.

Weekly

One of my weekly spreads. Simple. My usual layout decorated with this month’s colors.

Cozy

It’s officially fall, and October is the perfect month to indulge in everything orange and cozy. Sending cozy autumn hugs your way!

¹Most washi tapes and stickers are from Notebook Therapy’s Maple Dreams collection. The day-of-the-week washi tape for the calendar was a clearance item at Michaels.