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2023 Year At A Glance Layout Template | Free Bullet Journal Layout Printable

Tired of viewing your exam schedule and appointments on your mobile phone? Why not switch to an analog calendar that you can check every now and then? For today’s blog, you’ll learn how to efficiently plot important dates and holidays using the Year At A Glance layout for bullet journaling.

In this article, you’ll find:

When I was in college, I depended heavily on my mobile calendar to remind me of exam dates and meet-ups with friends. It does the job, alright. However, unless I enable the notification feature, it won’t remind me of what I had planned on those dates. Thankfully, I learned to use the Year At A Glance layout which made it easier for me to keep tabs on my schedule across all months. If you want one for your bullet journal, keep reading to find out how you can make it.

Year at a glance layout Pinterest banner.

What Is The Year At A Glance Layout

The Year At A Glance layout is a bullet journal staple designed as a compact calendar. As the name suggests, it gives you a bird’s eye view of the days and months on a single page or spread. It is usually added to the first few pages of the bullet journal in tandem with future logs.

This layout only features the days and months of a particular year; hence, it can only be used once for every single notebook. The dates are patterned from the standard Gregorian calendar and might include a leap day, depending on which year you started your bullet journaling.

How the Year At A Glance Layout Helps in Plotting Important Dates

The Year At A Glance layout helps you visualize your events and activities throughout the year more effectively. Instead of rummaging through your journal pages to review previous months’ schedules or check future availability, you’ll only need to view a single spread with telltale marks indicating the important dates. Easier viewing = Time-saving!

From exam week and meetups to appointment-setting and event planning, a Year At A Glance spread can help you schedule your activities more efficiently. It also gives you a visual idea of whether the routines and events will overlap or if you’ll have enough rest days between those dates. You can even use this layout along with future logs to ensure productivity and goal attainment within the year.

Retroactively, having a Year At A Glance layout is a good way to reflect on the year that has passed. When you’ve finished journaling the last days of December, you can flip back to this bujo calendar and see how busy, colorful, or inactive you’ve been for that particular year. It will reveal your priorities and might even motivate you to do better in the next 12 months.

Download This Free Printable Year At A Glance Layout

Making the Year At A Glance layout can be time-consuming, especially since you’ll need to create 12 monthly calendars from scratch. If you want to add this to your bujo, you may simply download this printable PDF layout and start scheduling right away!

Download My Printable Year At A Glance Layout

A year at a glance bullet journal spread for 2023

How to Make a Year At A Glance Layout in Your Journal

A year at a glance bullet journal spread for 2023

How to Make a Year At A Glance Layout in Your Journal

Total Time: 15 minutes

Draw 12 squares that are evenly spaced from each other

Boxes drawn with pencil for the months in the year at a glance bullet journal layout.

Using a pencil, draw the outline of the squares that will serve as individual monthly calendars on a single page. Make sure there’s enough room to accommodate up to 31 days inside each box. Use a ruler as a guide if you’re having difficulty creating uniform boxes.

Vertically divide each square into seven parts

Highlighting the months and days with a pen in the year at a glance bullet journal layout.

After you have drawn the squares, draw vertical lines of about two millimeters wide. Each column represents a day in a week, so you should have seven columns altogether for every square.

Draw five horizontal lines across the squares

Writing the days of the month with a pen in the year at a glance bullet journal layout.

The first row will be used for indicating the days of the week. Below this horizontal bar, add four more rows to align the dates.

Trace the boxes 

Traced pencil lines with a ballpoint pen in the year at a glance bullet journal layout.

Once you’re satisfied with the pattern, trace the lines with a ballpoint pen and erase the pencil marks. But you don’t have to limit yourself to black ink. Let your personality show by using different colors for different months if you prefer a color-coordinated spread.

Label the boxes with months, days of the week, and dates

Highlighting the days of the week with different colors in the year at a glance bullet journal layout.

Finally, label the names of the months on each box consecutively. Do the same for the days of the week and fill out the calendar days starting from left to right. 

Decorate the monthly calendars

A beautifully decorated year at a glance bullet journal layout.

For my Year At A Glance layout, I decided to keep it simple with a splash of colors. I used Stabilo highlighter pens to mark the number of the months consecutively without overshadowing the dates. I also used Crayola felt-tip pens to colorize the horizontal bars dedicated to days of the week.
If you want a more creative take, you can add personalized stickers next to the calendar boxes. You can also draw doodles in black ink if you prefer to do away with colors. For those who are into kawaii designs, using a light ombre shade from a pastel-hued palette can help achieve the desired aesthetics. 

Supply:

  • Notebook
  • Pen
  • Ruler
  • Marker
  • Pencil

Variations for Year At A Glance Layout

I’ve seen some journalers use the Year At A Glance layout along with future logs for scheduling important events, holidays, and family occasions ahead of time. This design will require you to allot an adjacent page so you can simply skim the calendar to confirm the dates indicated on your future logs.

Other variations may include having a dedicated space on the side, above, or below the actual calendar layout where you can add important reminders. Most journalers who prefer to include details next to specific dates opt for a two-page layout where at least six consecutive months are fitted into a single page but with ample writing space.

Who Can Use Year At A Glance Layout

Anyone who keeps a bullet journal can use the Year At A Glance layout. Whether you’re a student, a project manager, a homemaker, or someone with a busy lifestyle, you can benefit from using such an efficient appointment-setting and event planning tool.

How Often to Use Year At A Glance Layout in a Journal

Every time the pages of your journal have been fully exhausted, you’ll need to migrate your Year At A Glance layout into your new notebook. How often you can use this yearly calendar will depend on your scheduling needs. For instance, if you’re checking for ideal dates to book an appointment with your doctor, you may flip to this spread anytime to confirm your availability and assign the most convenient date to meet with them.

Final Thoughts on Using Year At A Glance Layout in 2022

The Year At A Glance layout still works great for bullet journals in 2022, especially since everyone is starting to get busy again with school and work stuff. In this article, you have learned how to use the layout for scheduling activities within a specific year, as well as the benefits of having an annual calendar in your bujo and the variations you can use to suit your preferences.

Image Description for Screen Readers

The image shows a bullet journal notebook opened on the page entitled “Year At A Glance.” The upper right corner of the image shows vertically-arranged colored pens in alternating order of Stabilo Boss highlighters and Crayola pens.

The “Year At A Glance” spread features mini monthly calendars. Each row consists of three consecutive months. The months are given numbers in different colors according to the sequence. The January calendar is indicated as “01”; February is number “02”; March is number “03”; April is number “04”; May is number “05”; June is number “06”; July is number “07”; August is number “08”; September is number “09”; October is number “10”; November is number “11”, and December is number “12”.