My 2026 Bullet Journal Setup

Last year I posted a thorough set up guide for my 2025 Bujo! Those two posts not only talk through how you can set up your own and what to look for but also shares what I ended up doing in my own journal. (Linked here: https://sneakersnshakes.blogspot.com/2024/11/2025-journal-setup-guide-pt1.html  and here: https://sneakersnshakes.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025-journal-setup-guide-pt2.html)

So this time, I thought I’d focus this post on what not just showing you my spreads but also talking through how each spread worked for me and if I'm making changes. This includes some things that are staying the same and other things that didn’t really work out for me that are removed or altered. I made sure to keep track of all the things that I didn’t like or wished I had this year as I used the journal and have built that into my 2026 one.

Without further ado, let’s jump into it. 

My 2026 Bullet Journal is Sunlit Mystery by Notebook Therapy and the set of washi and stickers I’m using is the Secret Garden Set also from Notebook Therapy. I used Tombow markers and Crayola Super Tips to do the line work and Inkjoy pens for anything penned. 

Spread 0: Word of the year

I don’t have this one setup yet so I’ll include what I made for this year. (It’ll be similar for next year. I just haven’t decided what my word of the year is going to be.)

Spread 1: Coming Up

This spread I kept the same as last year. It worked well for me and I made sure I added in all the events I wanted to keep track of. This was one of my reference pages as I set up a new month to make sure I got the important events down. I have already filled this out so I’m blocking out the sections for privacy reasons.

Spread 2: 2026 Bingo and Focus Groups

Another spread that is staying the same for me. I loved my Bingo this year and I ended up finishing everything from that one! It felt so satisfying to color in the last square! I gave myself little stationary prizes every time I hit a bingo and bought a Grabie sub box for my full complete. 

The focus groups section is staying the same but I will be changing up the categories and how I want to structure what goes in there.

Spread 3: Monthly Notes and Quarter Plans

I’m keeping this one the same but I changed the layout of my monthly notes so it looks different visually. I’ve been doing good about finishing all my monthly notes this year too so it’s been a successful spread. The quarter plans section has helped me plan in advance for when I want to focus on certain goals.

Spread 4: Bingo Activities and Do More Of

A new spread this time! As I went through my Bingo last year I realized I had no place to document what I did for each activity (I ended up putting it on a separate sheet that I added to the back pocket). So this time I have a dedicated space to log those!

Do More Of is another addition I’m excited about. The way I set up my monthly section last time included a lot of the activities in my do more of list, but I didn’t like the functionality of that. So this time I’m setting it up as a separate section.

Some of the things that will go into this section are creative things I want to do more of like painting and coloring and others will be more activity related like playing badminton or going on hikes.

Spread 5: Year in Pixels

I’m keeping this one the same, seeing my cycle through my year in pixels this year has been very good and I also like keeping track of my movement this way.  I did add space for a color key with the spread which was missing last year.

Spread 6: Weekly Tracker and Expenditures

I’m keeping the weekly tracker from this year’s journal (though I will be changing the contents a bit) and I consolidated my expenditures in a smaller section since I simply track how much I spent and how much I donated each month and that’s it. (My more detailed category spend tracking happens on the month level.)

I have some space to the bottom right that I’m leaving open since I’m not sure what I want there. It might be a paired down version of my monthly and daily sections from this year. 

Spread 7: Sidequests and Docus

I made my sidequest section (future me problems) shorter since I didn’t use up a lot of it in this year's journal and added a section to track the documentaries I watch. (It’s the one media that will not be part of my media journal so I’m keeping it in this spread.)

Spread 8: this year i…

I consolidated this spread to only include my something new and something creative sections. The books and media ones aren’t going to be in this journal but instead I’ll be adding those to my 2026 media journal. (It was repeat data this year since I was also tracking those in my 2025 media journal.)

Spread 9: Year Collage

I have left the next page blank to do a collage of the whole year. This is something I did this year where I printed out pictures with my sprocket to represent each month of the year and then added decorations and other notes about notable things that happened.

It’s a great at a glance view of my year.

(Pic from my 2025 journal)

Spread 10-11: Season Collages

This is a new idea I am going to implement where I do a collage page for each season. I did one for summer and fall at the end of my current journal so I’m excited to have a more dedicated space in my new one! This, along with seasonal bucket lists, have helped me enjoy and appreciate all the seasons (even the colder months that I don't enjoy.)

Other things I’m adding to my 2026 journal is an extra blank spread during quarter reviews. This will give me the space to add more reflection or journaling. I have also accounted for some space in the back to do trip spreads (which I did start in this year’s journal as well).

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There you have it! A tour of my 2026 setup and what’s different this time round! I hope you guys liked this and got some inspo for your own journal!

I’ll see you in the new year!