2020 has been a year of cancelled events and trips. With all these cancellations, you might have neglected your future log since the pandemic started. Just like me. Even if there were events scheduled for future dates in 2020, I didn’t bother to list them down anymore. Because of most events being cancelled, I was demotivated to maintain my Future Log.

Read: Bujo Basics: Designing the Future with a Future Log

In these times of uncertainty, the future seems to be shorter-sighted than what we had envisioned at the start of the year. However, If you still want to use the future log – maybe repurpose it to suit your pandemic lifestyle, here are a few ideas for you.

💡 The Future Log isn’t just for events

Don’t forget Remember to write down anything that may be relevant in the future in the future log.

I feel that one thing to note about the Future Log is that it isn’t just for future events. You should treat this as your logging system outside the current month. Do you have a presentation that’s due next month? That goes into your future log. Do you need a reminder to do something in the next couple of months? It should be there in your future log.

The entries in your Future Log don’t even have to be date-specific. If it occurs in any given day in the month, write it down here.

This Collection is used to store dated entries that will occur outside the current month. 

Ryder Carroll, bulletjournal.com

If you really don’t have anything to write in the Future Log or you feel that there is a lot of wasted space, here are a few more ideas to fill that spread up!

Monthly recap page 📆

You might not have a lot going on in the next couple of months so why not just use this page to write down highlights per month. The great thing of the Future Log format is that you can see everything in one glance. Imagine reading a summary of the last 6 months or maybe one whole year (depending on you Future Log’s design). It’s much easier to see most of it in one spread rather than flipping through pages of your Bullet Journal just to find that one little detail.

So don’t limit yourself to only the big things like achievements or milestones – you can list down small wins for the month or anything that’s just memorable.

“When did I last” 💬

I’ve read about this on Tiny Ray of Sunshine‘s blog and have tried to incorporate this into my bullet journal routine. I’ve always admired the concept of tracking routines that happen only on occasion. A few examples from Kim were When Did I Last:

• Change my toothbrush
• Change my oil
• Clean the fridge

You will find that these are usually the things that we ask ourselves randomly and most of the time, we can’t remember when did we last do something.

Leverage the real estate of the future log to list down these types of things!

Package Tracker 📦

For those avid online shoppers out there, have you ever forgotten that you’ve actually ordered something online? Because delivery dates are uncertain sometimes, we tend to ask ourselves when we hear the doorbell “did I order anything online recently?” You can use the Future Log space to write down the things you are “waiting on” right after you order something. This proves useful especially if you had purchased something at the end of the month and expected arrival of the package would spillover the next month.

While the Bullet Journal wouldn’t be able to remind you that you have a package arriving, this will come in handy as you flip through the pages of your Bullet Journal. Eventually, this will come in handy in case you need another point of reference.

Major Expenses 💸

You don’t have to track every expense in your bullet journal. There are apps that can help you with organizing finances and they are far more reliable than listing everything down. What I advise you to track are the big purchase for the month. You don’t have to write the exact figures – perhaps an estimate would be enough.

Did you buy a new iPad last August? You can list it down in the August section of the Future Log. This way, you will be able to have a quick view immediately as you flip through the Future Log. Let’s not forget to write this down in the monthly or daily log as well.

Goal Tracker 🎯

If you have set up goals at the start of the year, you can use the Future Log real estate to track your progress. Tracking your progress does not have to be systematic and data-driven (no charts needed here!). You can simply write down what you have done in a month to achieve said goal – whether short-term or long-term.

Let’s say that one of your goals is to improve your cursive penmanship. Ask yourself, what did you do in the last or current month that helped you achieve your goal. Perhaps you bought The Art of Cursive Penmanship in March, and then in April, you have completed writing drills for an hour a day the entire month. Once you build the habit of tracking your progress, you would be able to come up with practices or activities that will help you attain your goal.

🤷🏻‍♀️ Ditch the Future Log?

If you feel that the Future Log doesn’t provide value in your daily life, then don’t use one at all. The Bullet Journal isn’t supposed to be followed to the letter and it is merely a guide on how to live a more intentional life. It’s quite understandable to not use the Future Log at all especially during the time of the pandemic. However, if you really want to have this module/collection in your Bullet Journal and maximize the space provided, then try one of those things listed above.

Read: Mastering the Bullet Journal: Future Log