Since you’re here reading this post at the beginning of the year, I wish you a very Happy New Year! 🙂
I was so excited to get straight into setting up my 2025 journal. But there was a lingering feeling of nervousness—and not just the kind that always comes with starting a new journal.
All through my 2024 journal, there were pages that I disliked looking at in between and wished I could do differently.
What made this different from thinking like a perfectionist was that the same things seemed to be going wrong in entries across different pages and months. I was clear that I didn’t want to repeat these mistakes in my new journal. But I didn’t know exactly what was going wrong.
So, I took some time to figure it out by doing a formal review of my 2024 journal.
I understood where I was consistently making mistakes and how some quick fixes could go a long way in making my journal better. I also noted all the good things that I needed to more of in my 2025 journal.
In this article, I’m going to share everything I learned so you can use it to make your own journal better. I’m also excited to share how I’m using all these takeaways to set up my 2025 journal.
I highly recommend doing a review of your old journal. Below, you can find the exact steps I followed when I did my journal review. By following this, you can easily do a review of your 2024 journal and use it to make your 2025 journal better.
How I Reviewed My 2024 Journal
What Kind of Journal I Have: While I do write and make many different spreads in my dot grid journal, I don’t believe it’s like a traditional bullet journal so I refrained from calling it one. My journal usually has longer daily reflections and a greater focus on goals than everyday tasks. Crossing off daily tasks often gets messy for me, and I tend to use a more dynamic system for that (which I’ll save for another post).
I went through 2023 without a reflection, carrying many of the same journaling practices into 2024. So, after two years full of different kinds of pages and experiments, I decided it’s finally time to stop and review what is working and what isn’t.
I initially started by writing down some of the lessons I learned through journaling over the past year. But I quickly realized that I was skipping too far ahead.
I had to first take some time to simply glance over my journal as an observer and note down everything that I thought looked good—and more importantly, what didn’t look good.
Steps for Reviewing Your Own Journal
- Step 1: Flip to the end of your journal or get out a separate page.
- Step 2: Divide your sheet into two sections: “Things That Worked” & “Things That Didn’t Work”, or “What I Liked” & “What I Disliked,” etc.
- The key here is to be honest and simply write in terms of your observations so don’t jump into any improvements or lessons just yet.
- Step 3: Flip through your journal from the beginning to the end. Observe both the content and style, either on a high level or in more detail. Write down any things that worked or didn’t work in either column on your review sheet.
- Again, be honest and write what comes to your mind. If you have an extra thought or think of an easy way to change something you didn’t like, note it down too.
- Step 4: After you’ve flipped through the entire journal, read all the information you jotted down in the two columns. If you’re like me, you will likely notice a few things that come up again and again.
- Preventing these repetitive mistakes is why this exercise is so important.
- Step 5: Summarize your list into a couple of main points that you have gathered for each column.
- For the things that worked, you have now affirmed what you will continue doing in your new journal.
- For the things that didn’t work, list down alternatives or fixes. These are important lessons to follow in your new journal.
Taking the good stuff forward and leaving the mistakes behind is essential for growth. Whether your takeaways are big changes or tiny adjustments, it will all go a long way in making your journaling experience more fulfilling in 2025.
What Worked Well in My 2024 Journal
Headings and Text
As you may notice in this post, separating content through consistent headings and subheadings makes a big difference. I’ve noticed that journals work the same way.
I identified three key elements that made my journal more organized and visually appealing:
- A clear, pretty heading on top
- Subheadings in a consistent font and color to separate out text when relevant
- This isn’t always needed and depends on what you’re writing. It is beneficial if you have multiple smaller sections on the same page.
- Consistent text in the same color and format
I decided that I was going to organize my 2025 journal in a similar way: starting with a nice, big heading on top, breaking text up into subsections and keeping things consistent.
Colors and Themes
I found pages that followed a fixed color combo—or even better, a broader theme—looked far better than others.
While maintaining a uniform theme on a page may seem obvious, I noticed that it became more impactful as it was carried over to adjacent pages, too. So, I decided to make three adjustments to my new journal:
- Keeping colors consistent on adjacent pages.
- Sticking to themes, including colors, patterns and the overall feel, for weekly and monthly pages and spreads.
- Refraining from using overly bold or bright colors that don’t match the rest of the journal.
I carried this over to my 2025 journal and I’m quite happy with how it’s been turning out! I love having a variety of colors, but using them more intentionally has helped me appreciate and utilize them more effectively.
Journaling Micro-Memories
I travelled alone internationally for the first time a few months back. A couple of days after getting back, I wanted to jot down a quick recap of my experience.
But a few lines into the entry, I was going into the details; not just describing the most noteworthy things that happened but the smallest of things that I would forget about a week later. The little jokes with people I met on the way, fleeting beauty I saw on my route, names of the streets that I could only hold onto for so long.
Looking back, these small, seemingly insignificant memories—or “micro-memories”—carry so much weight. Rereading them brings the trip back to life in a way that transcends how I spent my days; it’s the tiny details that make it feel vivid and real again.
There have been a couple of other instances where I record these smaller moments in my journal. This review helped me affirm how meaningful they are and I decided to carry it over to my new journal.
What Didn’t Work in My 2024 Journal
Half-Blank Pages
There are far too many instances of half-blank pages in my 2024 journal. Pages that were started with the best intentions in mind, that I unfortunately never came back to. These pages make the journal look incomplete and unfinished.
These half-blank pages feel like missed opportunities, like spaces that could have been filled with thoughts, memories or creative ideas. For me, they were a reminder that consistency matters just as much as the initial spark of inspiration when it comes to journaling, which is something I sometimes struggle to remember.
What I’m Doing Instead:
- Committing to completing journal entries that should be finished in one go.
- Doing weekly checks of my journal to update information that needs to be filled in regularly.
- Repurposing unused space creatively, such as adding reflections, quotes, or doodles that fit the theme, to give the pages new life and make the journal feel cohesive.
Inconsistent Trackers
If you try searching for bullet journal trackers or even trackers in general, there’s a plethora of options to choose from. This makes it difficult to pick the right one for the purpose, which is exactly what happened to me.
While my tracker looks fine on the surface, I made a few mistakes:
- I tried tracking too many habits at once.
- I wasn’t revisiting the tracker at the end of each day to log my habits.
- Some habits needed differently structured or more detailed trackers.
What I’m Doing Instead:
As of now, I’m starting small with trackers for only a couple of habits. I took some time to figure out a system that would work best for each individual habit. I’ll be testing the trackers out in the coming weeks, then adapting and scaling based on the results.
For instance, I realized that I wanted a far more elaborate fitness tracker than one where I was just checking off whether I worked out or not. The one I created in my 2025 journal has different categories for me to check off so I can record the kinds of workouts I did over the weeks.
Messy Writing
Well, there isn’t too much to say here. I came across a few pages that were simply messy. I wrote far past the lines (or dots, in this case), and the layout felt chaotic.
It wasn’t just about the appearance—the cluttered pages also made it harder to find information or revisit certain entries.
What I’m Doing Instead:
To keep things neat, I’ve adopted a more intentional approach. I’m slowing down when writing, even for quick notes, and paying closer attention to spacing and alignment. For brainstorming or quick, unstructured writing, I use a separate notebook that doesn’t require revisiting, making it easy to transfer key ideas later.
Investing a few extra minutes in planning layouts and making small adjustments has already made my journal feel more organized and enjoyable to revisit.
My Final 2025 Journal Setup
After taking all these learnings into account, I put together my 2025 journal in a way that feels intentional, functional, and visually appealing! Here’s how I’ve organized it:
Cover and Cover Page
I wanted my 2025 journal to start with something inspiring, so I created a clean and visually pleasing cover page. It includes the year in bold, creative typography, surrounded by a subtle theme that sets the tone for the entire journal. I chose a color palette that aligns with my journal’s themes for the year, making it feel cohesive right from the start.
I also wanted to personalize my journal on the outside so I added some pretty paper, ribbons and a button to the outside of a basic pink journal.
Index and Key
I’m planning to include an index and a key this year. I’m keeping them minimal—just enough to make navigation easy without being overwhelming. The index will primarily track key pages like goals, trackers, and collections, while the key will feature a few simple symbols I plan to use consistently. I’ve left some pages open for this because I’m still figuring out the best way to organize my entries. After learning from my experience with trackers, I know I need a system that works for me, so I haven’t finalized the setup just yet.
Goal Pages
For my yearly goals, I created a section that feels both motivational and practical. Each goal is broken into smaller milestones, with space for reflections and adjustments throughout the year. I have also left room for quarterly reviews to ensure I stay on track.
Monthly Layouts
Every month has a dedicated theme that carries through the pages. I’ve kept the design consistent but flexible, with:
- A monthly overview for big-picture planning.
- A habit tracker tailored to just a couple of habits I want to focus on.
- A section for reflections and highlights to capture the essence of each month.
Daily Pages
I’ve simplified my daily pages this year, focusing on what I really need:
- Space for longer reflections and creative journaling.
- A smaller, dynamic section for quick notes or ideas I can transfer elsewhere.
- Consistent formatting to keep things neat while allowing room for creativity.
Creative and Memory Pages
I’ve included spreads for creativity and memory-keeping, inspired by how much I loved revisiting micro-memories in my 2024 journal. These pages include:
- Dedicated space for capturing small, meaningful moments.
- A section for experimenting with doodles, quotes, and collages.
- Flexible layouts to make these pages fun and stress-free.
Themes and Colors
To keep my journal cohesive, I stuck to embracing themes that span weekly and monthly spreads. I’ve stuck to complementary colors and patterns that make the pages visually appealing while avoiding clashing tones.
Flexibility and Review
Finally, I’ve left some blank space for flexibility. Whether I need extra pages for brainstorming, tracking, or reflection, I want my journal to adapt as the year goes on. I also plan to continue doing monthly reviews to catch any gaps early and adjust my system as needed.
Closing Thoughts
With all these adjustments, I’m excited about how my 2025 journal is shaping up. I’ll have more updates and ideas as I keep working on it!
What lessons did you learn from your 2024 journal? Share in the comments—I’d love to hear!
