Must-Try Monthly Bullet Journal Dashboards

The monthly dashboard can be the main hub for bullet journaling. Checking it everyday means checking off your to-do list, making progress on goals, and creating a time capsule to look back on.

But what goes into a monthly dashboard? How do you even determine what’s important enough for you to include in your monthly bullet journal spreads?

In this post, let’s take a journey through time to see how my monthly dashboard has evolved over the years. It’ll give you some inspiration for things to include (or not include) in your own monthly spreads! Don’t forget to stick around to the end for a concise list of sections I’ve included in my dashboards and for a list of sections including everything I can think of!

The First Building Blocks

The very first monthly spread I did was in January 2019! I wasn’t sure what was important for me yet, so I started off with the basics: a calendar (which I had to turn to write in), a habit tracker, and a mood log.

The calendar also doubled as a weather tracker, but I later dropped this since weather tracking wasn’t very important to me. Living in Southern California meant that weather wasn’t wildly different from day to day!

The habit tracker was set up as a table and the mood tracker was set up to align with the habit tracker days. This was my dashboard for all of 2019. It’s a pretty simple set up, but this set up is the foundation for everything that’s to come!

The next era of monthly spreads takes us straight to 2020 and these examples are from February and September. The dashboard got an updated layout, but the core sections remained the same.

I still included a calendar (now in a standard horizontal orientation!), a tabular habit tracker, and a mood log. The mood log was shifted over to the edge which gave me a brand new space for notes and events!

Everyone knows 2020 was a difficult year. This meant that both the habit and mood trackers disappeared by September, leaving space for decoration and a larger notes space which I renamed Notable Anythings. This section captured anything I wanted to remember, from dates, family gatherings, and other events (all of which I was safely masked at with my bubble!).

Beginning to Expand

By 2021, my monthly dashboard got another small redesign. The calendar remained the same, but the notes section moved below the calendar so I could repurpose the old notes space into a new section I used to track movies and shows I watched. Spotify was a daily presence at the time and so a space to record the Song of the Month was borne.

July 2021 saw the return of the habit tracker, this time as mini calendars below my media log section. When I started listening more to podcasts instead of music during my commute, I ended up not having a song of the month. So that section got axed!

The First Double Spread

At first glance October 2021 doesn’t look very different, but this was the first month that saw my dashboard expand from one 2-page spread to two 2-page spreads!

This month also features a habit tracker that I straight up hated using. For every habit I completed in a day, I would put a corresponding dot in a predetermined color (peep those in the notes section!) to show it was completed. While this was a fun idea, I couldn’t find any patterns and it made it difficult to check how well I was doing for the actual tracking.

The second spread sees some astrology. I don’t remember how I determined which astrological houses were in focus at the time, but I added sections to note down activities I was doing that fit within the focused houses. Below that is a mood tracker in the form of a mini calendar, followed by two goals sections, one for planning and one to write down progress.

Finally, the last page in this monthly dashboard features a section to record my favorite memories from the month and a section to reflect over the whole month. This reflection helped when assigning a monthly rating to three areas in my life: physical, mental, and spiritual.

Like the vibes for this spooky October spread? Check out our Spooky Ghosties stickers, Autumn Gourds stickers, or Poisonous Potions stickers!

Shrinking It Down

The expanded monthly dashboard didn’t last long, because in the very next month in November, the dashboard shrank back down to a single spread. While no section was lost, every section got downsized, including the calendar. Each daily space for the calendar shrank down from 5x5 squares to 4x4 squares.

This dashboard is still one of my favorites, only coming in second to my current dashboard!

Like the books vibe for this November spread? Check out our book themed Page Turners stickers!

In 2022, the mood log migrated from the monthly dashboard to the beginning of the journal as a year in pixels style spread, so none of my 2022 spreads have a mood log in them. February 2022 saw a slight redesign which lost the goals section and the favorite memories section. The astrology sections got much smaller to leave more room for both the media log and the end of the month reflection.

Side note: the theme I used for February 2022 remains one of my favorites! The mountain ranges in acrylic paint was such fun to do for the month and this was the first time I set up an entire month in one sitting. Prior to this, I was setting up spreads week by week. 

The August 2022 monthly dashboard got another redesign taking it closer to my current setup. For this spread though, the calendar got moved to the middle-ish of the spread which left room on either side for my logs and trackers.

The habit tracker got another redesign, this time using one small calendar and coloring one corner of each daily square according to the habit completed. I really liked using this tracker, but this could really only work if there are only a few habits to track.

New to this monthly dashboard is a small section to write down the food highlight of the month, or my favorite meal of the month.

Return of the King Double Spread

In 2023, I moved my mood log away from the beginning of the journal and back into the monthly dashboard. I missed having my mood tracker with the rest of my monthly trackers! This year was also the return of the new and improved double spread.

For the first 2-page spread, I included my standard calendar in the center along with my media log, favorite food, and astrology focuses. Along the left side is a new section for my monthly bill due dates. I was struggling at the time to remember when they were due and if I had paid them already. Paying late fees sucks!

The second 2-page spread has three sections: a mood log, a habit tracker, and a gratitude log. The doodled mood logs were a new addition for me in 2023 and one that has stuck through to today.

This habit tracker is also a little different than before since they are now one mini calendar per habit. The gratitude log is something that I really enjoy but it has evolved a little over time. Sometimes I call it Gratitude, Highlight, or One Line a Day depending on what I want to record.

Like this koi theme? Check out our Dappled Koi stickers!

The next iteration of monthly dashboard for June 2023 does away with the large decorative area below the calendar and adds a new section for In Season Produce. I ended up not using this too much since my partner does the grocery shopping. So even though I love the idea of it, I wasn't utilizing it.

The mood log also got a bit of an update since I started using my DIY Color Sticker Sheets which saved me time since I didn’t have to draw out all the doodles. The last addition is a reduction of the habit tracker in exchange for some tracking statistics for my small sticker shop.

Like these crystals stickers? Check out our Curious Gems stickers!

Another section that didn’t last long was the Astro Happenings section which was the In Season Produce replacement. This was a space to record natal and mundane astrological transits, but I found myself not wanting to write them down in the first place. And even when I did, I wasn’t applying the transits anyway!

Like these lemons, limes, and grapefruits? Check out our Citrus Grove stickers!

For all of 2024, I used the same monthly dashboard. I tried to do a different health-related challenge every month in 2024, but halfway through the year I lost steam. Regardless, I kept my Monthly Challenge section in hopes I would get back to it.

In the first half of the year, I had a Decluttering section since I was preparing for a mid-year move from Southern California to the Bay Area of California.

The other new sections include a section to record monthly priorities (kind of like a goals replacement), a section to note down any creative projects I finished, and a space for my monthly chores.

In the beginning of my journal is a cleaning schedule, but since I found myself not looking at it much, I added it to my monthly dashboard to make sure I was at least aware of my monthly chores, even if they all didn’t get checked off every month.

Like this Valentine’s themed spread? Check out our Love Notes stickers! Or if you like the gingerbread theme, check out our Gingerbread Delights stickers!

One Dashboard to Rule Them All

We’ve gone through a lot together, but we’re nearly there since we’ve arrived to present day! So far I’ve kept the core layout the same, but have changed some sections yet again. The whole point of my monthly dashboard is to grow and change with me!

My old priorities section got changed to Goal Check In, where I check in with the specific goals I set in the beginning of the year. The I Made section got a name change to Creativity. There’s now a headlines section to record the big news events that occurred during the month.

I also added an astrology section back in and decided to add a small section for a Tarot card of the month. Since I’m trying to pull a card daily, I’ve started recording those on the calendar.

The last addition is for an Adventure where I record something that’s out of the ordinary for me. I’m an introverted person who loves to be at home, so this year I’m trying to find ways go get out there and do something to get me out of the same routine. I was inspired greatly to add an adventure section by Olly Staniland’s YouTube video on Dopamine Journals, so give it a watch if you’ve got the time!

Like the coffee vibe? Check out our Morning Coffee stickers!

What a Journey!

How different is my monthly dashboard from January 2019 to January 2025?? It was such a trip to go back and see what sections I used to include and what was important for me to log. Some stuff never left and some did.

Curious about how to get started bullet journaling and want to know my journal recommendations? I've got you covered here!

Want a TL;DR version? These are the sections I've included at one point or another in my monthly dashboards:

I hope this journey through monthly dashboards has given you some ideas on what you could include in your monthly dashboard! If you’re looking for even more ideas, check out my freebie below for all of the sections I could think of that could potentially be part of your monthly dashboard!