Dot Calendar Method in the Bullet Journal

Back in 2016, I found this layout by @louise.dahle on Instagram (formerly creative.pine.apple). She called it the “dot calendar”. Actually, she had a blog post about this previously but her website has not been active for a while. I think that this has been one of my favorite monthly layouts and I’ve used it for quite some time (from October 2016 to June 2017).

Since information about this might not be available anymore, I wanted to share this to the newer generation of bullet journalists. So keep reading if you’re interested to learn a little bit more about the system, how I used it, the pros and cons, and some layout examples.

How Does the Dot Calendar Method Work?

It works like our digital calendars. If a date has been marked with a dot, it simply means that you have an event or appointment scheduled that day.

The Dot Calendar with color codes works the same except that you would use different colored dots for each category (e.g. green for work, orange for personal, black for event).

To use the dot calendar, all you need is to mark the date with a dot and then list down the date of occurrence and the description of the event. For example, October 15th is my phone bill’s due date. All I need to do is mark the 15th with a green dot (which represents “bills”) and then list down the description of the deadline/event in the space below your monthly calendar.

What I did with my dot calendar is that I incorporated my bullet journal keys/signifiers to easily identify which was a task/deadline or an event. In this case, I used a circle for any deadline and a triangle for appointments or events.

Benefits

It’s great for visual people. One thing about the system that I enjoyed was the ability to see things at a glance.

Dots are better than highlighting the date. Some use the color coding system by highlighting the date. While that method is easy and straightforward, you are limited to using one color key.

Finally, dots are also a better alternative to using different color pens for writing down each type of event. Using different colors to write/list down an appointment can be counterproductive. For example, if you only have one pen color on hand, would you allow that to impede your planning? Using dots come in handy because you can add the colored dots after-the-fact – all you need to do is write down the event/appointment and then once you have access to your color coding materials, you can just add the dot on the date.

Drawbacks

One main drawback is that color coding is tedious. When I started using the dot grid system in October 2016, I color-coded like crazy. bills, work, personal, and even birthdays. Needless to say, I was tracking way too many things. When I talked about habit tracking previously, I advised those who want to try habit tracking to track only 3 things. Tracking more than that would eventually feel like a chore. By April 2017, I noticed that I was tracking less appointments and events because I was also dependent on the colored dots. If I didn’t have those color pens with me, I wouldn’t list down an event or appointment.