"I'm making space for the unknown future to fill up my life with yet-to-come surprises"
Your future log can be crucial for planning ahead. You can keep track of appointments, holidays and how busy you might be in any particular week - it's important to make sure you don't overcommit.
Everyone's needs are different. Think about how many one-off appointments you make, is it likely you could have more than one a day? How far in advance do you need to be able to book your events? Do you have projects with deadlines? Or do you simply just need to know upcoming birthdays and weddings?
Here is a future log to suit everyone and most of the team here at Journal Junkies use a mixture. Simpler ones for more than six months out, and more detailed ones for the upcoming four-six months.
Tip: Monthly spreads for trackers or milestones are different spreads - these are just for keeping a calendar.
The Simple Future Log
This spread is a favourite among Bullet Journalists. It is quick to create and can show six months in a single spread. You can see busy weeks by the amount of days coloured in and there are many decorative options.
This spread is great if you want to have a good overview of your future and are unlikely to have more than one one-off appointment or event a day.
Most of the Journal Junkies team use this as a base spread. We create this spread six months in advance which allows us to keep track of birthdays, weddings and events. So between January and July, we're using this spread for August - December.
The list-maker yearly-log
If you need just a little more detail than the Simple Future Log above, this spread is for you! If you like lists and don't get overloaded with one-off appointments, this is probably a great option.
Use symbols for recurring events, highlight important birthdays and book in appointments months ahead of time. Give yourself a bit more room if you want to track things in there, too, such as your mood or a daily habit you want to enforce all year!
Take away the calendar view at the top to make room for a small task box for each month, if you wish.
We recommend keeping this layout simple, as there will be a lot of information going in here over the year.
The list-maker monthly
If you love lists and don't tend to have many one-off appointments, this monthly log might be for you. It's super easy to make - just write the month at the top and list the days down the side - so it's not too hard to make several in advance to double as your future log.
Tip: Create a fold-out monthly list log to reference at any time. Use Washi tape to stick it in!
This layout is super clear as you log appointments, deadlines and events on one line - you can see everything at once.
The master-tracker monthly
Does your job rely on appointments you make weeks or even months ahead of time? Sometimes life can be so variable it becomes hectic trying to figure out if you can book that meeting a month ahead of time.
This is the super-organiser. The spread the Journal Junkies team can't live without.
It has space for all day events, morning, afternoon and evening appointments and tasks that have deadlines. This spread doesn't allow for double booking or overloading. It's easy to see how much you have going on any particular day of any particular week.
The team have these created four months ahead of time. So in February, they can plan until May. Although it takes some work to start, they only need to create one a month to keep ahead of themselves. Easy!
Tip: Mark the edges of your monthlies in washi tape to make them easy to find.
Know someone who could use some inspiration? Share this post and help a friend out!
PIN IT FOR LATER
[share title="Share this" style="outline" align="center" scale="150"]
[gap]
[blog_posts style="normal" columns="3" columns__md="1" image_height="56.25%"]
[section label="Desktop" visibility="hide-for-medium"]
[ux_instagram_feed username="journal_junkies" photos="5"]
[/section]
[section label="Mobile/Tablet" visibility="show-for-medium"]
[ux_instagram_feed username="journal_junkies" photos="6"]
[/section]