Hi, all! Ambassador Sarah here, from SHEdesignsKC! At the beginning of a new year, many of us are starting new bullet journals. Whether you’re brand new to journaling, or if you’ve been doing it for years, you’re probably so excited about that fresh new journal! And if you’ve been spending some time looking around for inspiration on what spreads to include, you’ve come to the right place! Today we’re going to talk about a “Yearly Habit Tracker” spread. This is one of the spreads I use most frequently throughout the year in my bullet journal, and a great tool for organization! I know you’ll love it too!

Why You Need A Yearly Habit Tracker

A yearly habit tracker spread is place to track monthly or semi-annual tasks, like an oil change in the car, changing out contact lenses, etc. This allows you an “at-a-glance” place for all those infrequent habits that could easily fall by the wayside for a couple of months. Sometimes, I will note these tasks on my regular weekly spread, like an oil change, for example. But if I wonder three months later, “When did I do my last oil change?”, it’s so much easier to switch back to my yearly tracker spread to find out, than to flip through all the pages of my journal trying to find that one entry. Having all these tasks in one place can be a real game changer for your productivity. I’ve been using this spread in my journals for the past 4 years, and each year I get more out of it. I think of more I want to track and how to improve it to better meet my needs. Here is one of my early years using this spread. You can tell compared to what I am tracking this year, that I have found a lot more potential for this tracker!

So, anyone else guilty of wearing the same pair of contact lenses for like 4 months? Or maybe you’ve forgotten to wash the bedsheets for a couple of months? There’s no judgment here - but this is the spread for you! 

What Do You Want To Track?

To create a yearly habit tracker, the first thing you’ll want to do is spend a little time brainstorming the things you want to track. I’m sure you’ve thought to yourself, “When did I last…?” Those things are perfect for this spread! As you think, you may find it helpful to divide your tasks into categories like, hygiene, vehicle, housework, etc. This is also a great place to include any new year goals or resolutions. For example, one of my goals this year is to send a card/note to a friend or family member each month. I can keep track of that here! If you’re drawing a blank on ideas for this spread, check out the free printable included in this blog post. So many ideas here for you! 

Supplies You Need

• Archer and Olive Notebook - You can use any size/variety, but I’m using an A5 dot grid notebook here.
• Archer and Olive Calliograph pen - I love the Calliograph pens because they have a small brush tip on one side and a larger brush tip on the other. I used one pen for my set up, but the different sized brush tips allowed me to get a good variation, which adds a lot of visual interest. I also used a fine liner and a black brush pen to compete my page.
• Pencil and eraser - A sketch before going in with pen is always a great idea!

When you’re shopping with Archer and Olive, please be sure to use code ‘SHEDESIGNSKC10’ at checkout to save 10%. This is an affiliate code, meaning you will be supporting me with your purchases!  

Set Up Your Spread!

Let’s set it up! I’ve decided this year to write all the months of the year in a row and all the tasks/events I’m tracking in a column to the side, which will give me plenty of space for all the things I want to track this year. I will fill every other row under the monthly header with color using a Calliograph pen to give this spread a bit more interest. Next, I list all the habits I want to track in a row to the left of my months. I skipped every other row to match up with the rows of color, but if you’re tracking more habits than me, you may want to use all the space and not skip any! Finally, I decorated the spread! I used a black brush pen to title my spread, and then a black fine liner to fill the blank space with floral doodles.

Using Your Yearly Habit Tracker

Wasn’t that an easy set up?! And now you’re ready to use this resourceful spread! Each time you complete a task/habit, you’ll go to the monthly column, then down your task list to the corresponding task and find the intersecting dot grid space. Fill it in and you’re tracking! The last thing you need to decide is how you want to indicate a completed task. You could simply fill the space - a circle, fill in the square, check mark, etc. Or, if you’re being more precise about what you’re tracking, you can write the date in the space. I do this for things like changing my contacts, my period, etc. This helps if you want to know exactly when something happened, instead of just knowing it was “last month”. If you’re a fan of consistency, you may want to use dates the whole time, or check marks the whole time, instead of changing it up depending on the habit. I’ll be using dates exclusively for my spread this year because I want more detailed information and a consistent look!

Share Your Spread!

I hope you’re feeling motivated to create your own yearly tracker spread! You can watch me create my own spread here. 

Make sure you stop by to say hi over on my Instagram @SHEdesignsKC! I’d love to chat with you there! When you share your own yearly habit trackers, tag @archerandolive and/or use hashtags #aoshare, #archerandolive so we can see your unique creations! 

For more ideas on yearly set up spreads, check out this blog post.

Talk to y’all soon!

Sarah