OMG pals!!! Here it is - the 2020 bullet journal update!!! Be excited because I sure as hell am.

So, I made some changes this year. Firstly, I've got an entire new journal. There wasn't enough space in my last one to make it a satisfying end so I thought hey, let's start a new one. Plus, the yellow cover was getting very grubby, and I was really ready to move onto something else this year. I was going to get a new Leuchtturm but I'll be honest with you, I've been slightly disappointed with them recently. The paper of them is rather thin and I was noticing my pens were just bleeding through the paper way too easily, so I went on the hunt for a new brand with thicker, better quality paper but not too expensive.

Lo and behold, I landed on this beautiful lilac one from Stationery Island. It's still A5, still dotted, but the paper is 120gsm so feels more like card than paper, and feels very smooth and lovely to use. I also got my hands on some black paper too which I've been wanting to play with for so. long. and I really think I've surpassed myself with this spread. I've also really dialled things back this year and taken it right back to basics - I haven't put anything in there I won't use, for example my goals, memories and ideas pages just went to waste last year and while they're nice to have there's no point having them without using them so I've ditched them and literally just put in a year at a glance and a future log and I'm really, really happy with how it's turned out and I hope it'll be much more productive to me this year. I kept it really simple with a black, white and grey theme and didn't overcomplicate anything too much. The idea is that all those other bits, the more emotional, personal stuff is going in my new journal, and this is purely to keep me organised this year.

For my January spread, I've gone for some kind of star/flower theme, I really don't know what it is, I just started doodling and didn't stop but I do love how it's come out. Again, super simple and just the pages I'll actually end up using so just my calendar and expense tracker. I did add my habit tracker in again, which I haven't used in ages but I think I'm going to try again with it and see what I can do. Then just heading straight on into my weekly spreads and that's pretty much it.

I sort of fell out of love with bullet journalling at the end of last year but I'm really hoping I can stick with it this year and make it something I love doing again - organisation and time management is high on my list of priorities this year so hopefully my bullet journal will keep that going and be a healthy and wholesome way of keeping myself in check!!

~ products used ~

✨ Stationery Island lilac a5 dotted journal

✨ Tombow dual brush pens

✨ Tombow fudenosuke soft tip brush pen

✨ Pigma Micron fineliners (0.3mm, 0.5mm and graphic pen)

✨ Crayola supertips

✨ Uniball white gel pen 0.3mm

What do your 2020 bullet journals look like?

Approaching New Year Slightly Differently

So here's the thing - I've never really been one for goal setting. I don't know if you guys who've stuck around a while can tell. A list of things to try and achieve has always put me off trying to achieve anything really, and to be honest, I think that's where I've been going wrong for the past twenty years. You see, I put way too much pressure on myself to meet goals if they're very specific, for example number goals, or career goals, or money goals. There will come a time in my life where I think I'll need to have goals like that but friends, that time is 100% not now.

So let me tell you how I'm approaching the New Year slightly differently this time round. I was off to a good start last year when I said I was going to try and stick to a 'life motto' of trying harder but I also think that was a little too broad. This year, I'm trying to find a happy medium between the two and that all starts with an outlook change. In my eyes, anyway. Maybe I'm spurred on this time round not just because it's a new year, but an entire new decade - and let's be real, if you can't change yourself for a new decade, when can you?

So Emilia, what is this new outlook you're talking about? Well friends, that is simply not giving a fuck. You may have read the genius book by Sarah Knight named "The Life-Changing Art Of Not Giving A Fuck" and I am currently reading it, and decided that it's basically the best thing I've ever read and I definitely need to start employing these techniques into my life. It also comes along with the realisation that there are a lot of things in my life that I worry about, care about or stress over way more than I should, and things that do deserve that stress but don't get enough of it because I'm too busy worrying about other things. Does that make sense? So along with giving less of a fuck, I'm going to start being more mindful (zen is the word I've been using a lot recently) and apply worry, stress and fucks where they are needed, and take them away from where they're wasted.

This comes hand in hand with a newfound interest in the law of attraction, manifestation and general interest in mindfulness and meditation and I think I'd really like to learn more about these techniques and methods and start using them in my day-to-day life. I'm also going to try the Full Potential Challenge, where essentially you just look after yourself and see what you can achieve when you're at full potential - I really let myself go in December and as a result have some health problems I need to try and tackle before they spiral any further and I have to go to the GP (no thanks) and I think it was definitely a wake-up call I needed to just get a bit healthier really so that's also on the list.

The full potential also comes along with trying a bit more to be fully myself - and this for sure means my outward aesthetic. I've been wanting to explore my personal style for so long now, lusting after dreamy clothes and fashion on Instagram and I've decided 2020 is going to be my year to finally grow the balls to wear the clothes I actually want to wear rather than hiding away. It also means going out with gold stars and glitter on my eyes if I really want to. I'll be trying to share this more on my Instagram (which has been so inactive recently and as a result I lost like a hundred followers).

2019 brought a lot of growth and change for me - I went through heartbreak, lost a once close friend (for the right reasons though) and had some very down days indeed, but I also found the healthiest relationship I've had with another human for a long time, moved in with my best friends (best decision I have ever made) and learned to be much more open and honest about my feelings and who I am rather than hiding my bad bits because I'd convinced myself people wouldn't love me as much for them. On the contrary, sharing my bad bits has brought me closer to the most important people in my life and opening up is something I will continue to do in 2020.

Bring it on.

Em xx