One of the great things about the Bullet Journal system is that it’s completely adaptable. As your schedule, ideas, and needs change, you can develop new ways of visualizing your productivity goals in your BuJo. Since I last wrote about using BuJo to keep organized, I no longer use separate weekly and daily spreads. Instead, for the past six months I’ve used a combined weekly/daily spread that I’ve found works perfectly for what’s going on in my personal and professional life right now.

As an academic, the week is the unit of time that governs my professional life. In particular, the online teaching schedule runs from Monday through Sunday, so even during summer or winter breaks, I still tend to think in terms of the week.

My standard weekly/daily spread is two pages and includes six boxes, one for each weekday plus one for the weekend. On the bottom half of one page, I create a list of tasks to do that week, divided up into whatever categories seem appropriate for that particular week.

The combined weekly/daily works particularly well for managing busy weeks, since the whole week is visible in one glance, and seeing progress throughout the week helps me to feel positive. For instance, when grading larger assignments, I make tally marks in the list item so my progress seems more tangible.

I’ve chosen this particular example week to share since it was an especially busy one (the final week of classes this spring) – and, to be perfectly honest, I’d rather share a productive week than an unproductive one! During the week of April 30-May 6, my main two priorities were grading and a bunch of scheduled time commitments (our annual undergraduate research symposium on Tuesday, annual end-of-semester student celebration on Wednesday, and a statewide teachers’ convention to attend on Friday/Saturday, plus teaching commitments and other meetings). Most of my classes had final assignments due on Sunday, so throughout the week I was grading assignments as they came in, to keep ahead of the rush. Longer-term planning and professional goals, plus some of my personal goals, tended to be set aside this week (hence the forwarding arrows and crossed-out items), but that was okay, since there was so much “in the moment” to get done.

This spread is adaptable to whatever’s needed at that moment. Categories in the weekly to-do lists can change depending on what I need to track; in addition, sometimes I plan a week’s worth of dinners in the bottom line of the daily boxes, and sometimes I don’t. For right now, this spread is perfect for me: compact, organized, and easy-to-use. For further inspiration and another example of a daily/weekly hybrid format, check out this video from the incomparable Sunshine & Stationery.

Do you have any favorite layouts for your Bullet Journal or planner?