My 2026 Kawaii Bullet Journal Setup

A New Year means it’s time to crack open a new journal! If you’ve been following my journaling journey in the past few years you know that I’ve been splitting my journals into two notebooks per year. The first journal runs from January to June, the second journal is for the second half of the year. This works best for me because the journal only contains 128 pages and by the time we reach June I’m close to finishing my journal anyway so it works out for me. I also find it satisfying because I like to use up every page in my journals, it feels like I got my moneys worth.

If you’re nervous or uncertain about keeping up with a new journal, my best advice is to remember that you’re journaling for yourself! You don’t have to share it online! In fact, back when I posted my journal posts online I found that it added too much pressure to be perfect, which is why I stopped. Realistically, my journals spreads don’t always look aesthetic. Sometimes I don’t even add anything to my pages and it’s just colored ink writing, and that’s okay! Even though, I do have a decently big stationery collection sometimes I don’t want to use stickers or washi tape to decorate my pages. Sometimes, I just want a functional spread to keep track of my daily tasks. The great part is that I don’t have to share these pages because it’s MY JOURNAL! Nobody else has permission to see it unless I decided to share it and I’ve made peace with that decision.

With that said, before I get all messy in my notebook for the year, I decided to share a few of the spreads that I plan to use this year. These are to give you all some ideas in case you need some or want some inspiration.

My favorite part of starting a new bujo is decorating the cover with a bunch of cute stickers that I’ve saved up for a special use. There are just some stickers that deserve an important place, like my bullet journal! I refer to my bujo multiple times a day, and so I want an aesthetically pleasing and colorful cover that brings me happiness every time I view it. Watch me decorate the front cover of my new journal in my this YouTube video.

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The Journal
This year, I chose a delightful lush green journal to kick off the New Year. Though I tend to gravitate towards pinks, purples, and blue shades, I thought a green-colored journal would be a nice change for me this year. I’ve been using the same journal brand since 2024 and don’t plan on switching to a new brand anytime soon, as I like the quality of this journal, and it’s affordable. The size is a A5-sized journal with dotted pages on 120 gsm paper. Since I manually draw in my lines every week for my weekly posts, I find dotted pages the best. The paper is also quite thick and I’ve never experienced any pen or marker bleeding with this type of journal.

Inside Cover
In every journal I always adhere a clear pocket pouch. They’re label pockets that teachers use to organize their students’ belongings. I bought them in the dollar section at a store during school season so I was able to get a good deal for a 20-count pack. I like to use these as a way to hold stickers, die-cuts, white sticker paper (I use these as white-out), and other cute stuff that I would like to use in my bujo throughout the year. When I place stationery or other stuff in the back pocket I always forget about the items so I like to have this pouch that is visible at the front of my journal.

2026 Calendar
On the first sheet of my bullet journal, I attach a calendar of the year ahead. I find these calendars on Pinterest by searching ‘2026 calendar’ and print out two calendars on one sheet of matte sticker paper. I save the other calendar for my second journal of the year. I do this so that I can refer to this page later when I draw in my monthly calendar in my monthly calendar spreads as it helps me keep track of the dates without referencing my phone.

My 2026 Goals
Because I like to challenge myself, I keep a yearly goals spread in my bujo. Plus, it’s important to have goals. I separate my goals into four categories: health/fitness/wellness, online content, personal stuff, and other. There are quite a lot of check boxes because I like to include micro and major goals in one place. I try my best to refer to this page a couple of times a month to remind myself of my goals for the year.

Vision Board
Another spread that I include in every journal is my vision board. For the sake of my privacy, I didn’t include my vision board, but I’ll give you some tips in case you would like to add a vision board in your notebook.

Before I start, I set the mood by putting on good music or a podcast and burn some incense in the background. Most of the photos on my vision board are from Pinterest or photos that I’ve saved on my phone. I print these photos on matte sticker paper. I play around with placement in my journal and take a picture with my phone to remember how I plan to arrange the stickers in my journal before adhering them to my notebook. Before I stick the photos, I write down on the pages my hopes and dreams for the year ahead, in present form, as if I’ve already manifested these goals. Next, I stick down the photos and decorate with extra stickers. Finally, I look down and absorb my finished vision board and meditate for a few minutes. While meditating, I try to imagine myself living the dreams that I’ve written down, as if they’re already mine, because they are!

Tip: Take a picture of your vision board and use it as your background on your phone to desktop. This is a wonderful way to remind yourself of your visions for the year and keep the magic happening!

Monthly and Weekly Setup
The most important pages to me are my monthly and weekly setups. I refer to these spreads daily. The monthly setup is how I track my content, like blog posts, Substack posts, and YouTube videos. I write potential posts on small note tabs and move the posts around and finally write them down once I’ve scheduled my posts.

My weekly setup hasn’t changed. I still use the same format I mentioned in this post. This weekly setup works best for me. Sometimes, I go all out and decorate with washi nd stickers, but sometimes I just write my weekly schedule and doodle with a pen. It depends on the week and my mood.

Tarot Pages
Every day, I draw a tarot and oracle card as part of my spiritual practice. I track my daily and monthly cards on a page in my journal so that I can look back to see if there is a pattern or whatever. It’s fascinating to see how the cards message align to life depending on the day or month.

Letter to Myself
I’ve been writing a letter to myself every year for a couple of years now. I first got this idea from Megan. This is such a sweet way to have a conversation with your future/past self. A time machine if you will. Plus, it never fails to make me cry at the end of the year! When I write my heartfelt letter, I always try my best to not write any specific goal that I want to manifest or make happen in the year. Instead, I take a sympathetic approach by writing loving words of encouragement and try to make my self laugh, because that’s who I am. After I seal my letter, I place it in the back pocket of my journal until it’s time to switch out journals.

Love Notes
One of the ways I practice self-love is by writing love notes to myself. I write down a few quotes or phrases that motivate me on cute Post-it notes and flip to a random page in my journal and hide the notes, kind of like the opposite of bibliomancy. When I’m ready, that note’s message will reach me.

What journal are you using this year?