Creative September Bullet Journal Ideas to Help You Embrace Fall

As the fall races toward us, it’s time to start thinking about what the rest of the year has in store, and what better place to start with that than in our bullet journals? As we look back at the summer and the things we’ve learned and accomplished, and look forward to fall and winter and the dreams we’ve yet to pursue, our September Bullet Journal layouts seem like the perfect opportunity to pause, reflect, and envision what lies ahead. To get you started, we’ve compiled our top tips for creating a cohesive, fall-inspired bullet journal theme hot enough to conquer the end-of-summer blues. 

Affiliate disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended.  Please read our disclaimer for more details.

The Benefits of Bullet Journaling

Whether you’re a seasoned bullet journaling pro or you’re trying it out for the first time, September is the ideal time to dig into the art of bullet journaling. The start of the school year is often seen as a time of new beginnings, an opportunity to reflect on the last twelve months and decide what you want to do differently. Your bullet journal is one of the best friends you can have when it comes to accomplishing your goals. 

If bullet journaling is new to you, here’s a super-quick overview of what it is and why you might love it. 

Initially popularized in 2013, bullet journaling is a method of personal organization that uses dotted notebooks to help people plan, structure, and reflect on their day-to-day lives. Though it can be done digitally or on blank or lined paper, the dotted journal style is most commonly associated with the hobby. 

Far more than just a Day-Timer or a planner, a bullet journal can serve many purposes. While it can house calendars and schedules, it can also be used for to-do lists, brainstorming, habit tracking, goal setting, and more. You can essentially take all the little lists that represent the things most important to you and put them all in one convenient and beautiful book. Bullet journaling is both an effective planning method and a creative outlet that allows you to express your individual tastes and aesthetic preferences. 

Other Benefits of Bullet Journaling

In addition to keeping you on track, bullet journals can help you live your best life in several other ways. 

• Time management. The versatility of bullet journals means you can set up your daily, weekly, and monthly schedules in whatever way suits you best. There are endless ways to organize this information to achieve better time management. When you can see your day, week, or month at a glance, it’s easier to track everything you need to do. It also helps you see when you’re getting overscheduled so you can say no as needed to create more margin. 
• Organization. ​Having a bunch of lists in different places makes it hard to stay on top of the things you need to do. A bullet journal collates all your thoughts and notes in one place, making it easier to follow through. Bullet journaling is a positive habit in itself and as you work towards consistency in your journal keeping, you’re also reinforcing your ability to build habits. 
• Reinforces other habits. ​Habits are some of the most common things people track in their bullet journals. Whether you’re expressing gratitude or taking time for self-care, having trackers or pages dedicated to your desired habits makes it far more likely that you’ll follow through. 
• Goal setting.  Writing down​ your goals increases the likelihood that you’ll achieve them. Having them front and center in your journal where you will see them regularly also helps. 
• Promotes mindfulness. Bullet journaling helps you develop both mindfulness and self-awareness. If you’re doing it regularly, it causes you to stop and reflect periodically and pay attention to your life. This helps you notice trends and patterns and make changes as necessary to move you closer to where you want to be.

Whatever you decide to put in your bullet journal, making it visually appealing and cultivating a habit of using it daily will increase the likelihood of you finding it useful. 

What’s the Point of a September Bullet Journal Layout?

While it’s possible to just open up your journal and start writing in it without much forethought, I don’t recommend it. Creating a cohesive theme for your monthly layout is an important step in tying the month’s pages together and enhancing your overall bullet journaling experience. It would be easy to let one month flow into another without doing a hard stop and starting over for the new month, but there are several benefits to creating a distinct September bullet journal layout instead.  

A distinct theme for the month lets you:

• Start with a reference page. A cover page for your new month creates a distinct separation in your book between months, signaling to your brain that it’s starting on a fresh new project. 
• Find everything you’re looking for. By creating a distinct section for September, you’ll easily find everything you need at a glance without looking too hard for it. 
• Track progress. When you stop at the end of the month to reflect on everything that’s happened in the past 30-odd days, it’s much easier to see your progress from month to month. 
• Explore a new theme or aesthetic each month. Let’s face it—too much of a good thing gets boring after a while. By switching up your bullet journal theme each month, you’re keeping it fresh and making sure your brain stays engaged. ​

Seasonal Themes for September: Embracing the Fall Season in Your Bullet Journal

While there are, of course, many different ways you could set up your September bullet journal layouts, it can be fun to take inspiration from the season and build it into a cohesive theme that carries through all of your September bullet journal layouts. Using a fall theme helps you transition from summer to autumn in a fun and comforting way. It connects you to the season and encourages you to pay attention to nature’s subtle changes. 

Not only that but developing a seasonal theme sparks creativity and allows you to experiment more with your bullet journal designs. Embracing a seasonal theme in your bullet journal layout encourages mindfulness, nudging you to reflect on the changes in the seasons and the changes within your own life. As you spark your creativity, set your mind on warm fall colors, warm, cozy, and inviting spaces, and the things that bring you comfort while you work on putting together the colors and elements you’ll use to represent Autumn. 

Choosing Your September Bullet Journal Theme

Popular September themes include fall items such as leaves, acorns, and umbrellas; back-to-school; harvest; and cozy fall fashion. Incorporating one or more of these themes into your September designs will instantly give them the seasonal vibes you’re looking for to carry you into the new season. 

1. Fall Theme

The first option is to go for a general fall theme. Embellish your pages with apples, pumpkins, leaves, and lots of warm cozy colors. Here are a few things to consider if you decide to go this route.

• Colors: Choose rich oranges, deep reds, mustard yellows, and earthy browns that reflect the changing leaves and cozy atmosphere of autumn.
• Design Elements: Incorporate illustrations of falling leaves, acorns, and pumpkins, as well as items that evoke the coziness of a colder season such as sweaters, scarves, knitted blankets, and warm beverages. Quotes about autumn or the beauty of change would also work.
• Layout Ideas: Pages could feature leaf-shaped habit trackers, to-do lists surrounded by autumnal doodles, or a gratitude log with a theme of giving thanks for the beauty of the season.

2. Back-to-School Theme

If you are a teacher or a student, back-to-school is probably a huge aspect of your life in September. Get yourself pumped up for the new year by celebrating back-to-school themes in your September bullet journal layout. Incorporate:

• Colors: Opt for classic school colors like navy blue, deep red, yellow, and green, or, if you prefer your school’s colors, go for those. You could also incorporate some chalkboard-inspired elements using black paper and a white pen or chalk pencils.
• Design Elements: Include school-related illustrations such as pencils, notebooks, chalkboards, paper clips, and apples. You can also add motivational quotes about learning or growth.
• Layout Ideas: Pages might include a schedule for school or work, goal-setting sections for the academic year, or study trackers. You could also create a “fresh start” spread that aligns with setting new intentions or habits for the coming months.

3. Harvest Theme

Harvest is another popular inspiration in the fall. While spring is a time of new birth and growth, fall is the time when we reap what was sown earlier in the year. For a harvest-inspired theme, think about:

• Colors: Choose warm, earthy tones like deep oranges, browns, golden yellows, and greens.
• Design Elements: Include elements like cornucopias, baskets of apples, sheaves of wheat, sunflowers, and other symbols of abundance. You might also include rustic touches like burlap textures or farmhouse-style fonts.
• Layout Ideas: A harvest theme can be reflected in meal planning pages, focusing on seasonal recipes or a farmer’s market shopping list. You might also include a gratitude spread focused on the bounty of the season or a garden log if you enjoy tracking any late-season gardening efforts.

When choosing a theme for your bullet journal spreads, the most important thing is that it resonates for you personally and feels authentic to who you are and where you are currently at in your life. Ask yourself these questions to help you select the best theme for you:

• What do you enjoy? 
• What are you passionate about? 
• What’s grabbing your attention right now?
• What life circumstances are taking center stage for you? How can you work this into your theme?
• What colors, designs, and styles do you find visually appealing?

Finally, if you’re not sure which theme is calling out to you, scroll through bullet journal inspiration pictures on Instagram, Pinterest, or Google Images and make a collage or folder of the spreads that stand out to you and make you feel happy. Then use this collection to inspire your own theme. 

Using Beautiful Colors to Enhance Your Theme

Colors play a major role in every bullet journal theme. Whichever palette you pick, you have tons of options for how you incorporate those colors into your designs. For example, you can use your selected colors for:

• Page borders and accents, like colored dots or lines
• Headers and titles
• Monthly or weekly spreads featuring watercolor washes or gradient effects
• Highlighting different boxes or sections
• Illustrations or doodles
• Tracking tools: use seasonal colors in your habit or mood trackers
• Washi tape and stickers

Designing September Bullet Journal Cover Pages

Your monthly bullet journal cover page is an opportunity to set the tone for the month. It creates a visual divider between the last month and the current one and quickly establishes the new theme and palette. As you flip through your journal each day, your cover page will help you quickly navigate to the right section. 

​Thoughtfully designing your cover page has several benefits. First, it encourages reflection and anticipation. The work you are doing right now to think through the upcoming month and what you want it to represent for you is vastly important in realizing your intentions for the month. Searching for quotes, setting goals, and reflecting on the upcoming season are all helpful in increasing your mindfulness and self-awareness, making it more likely that you’ll achieve the targets you set for yourself. 

Second, your theme is a reflection of your personal style and makes your bullet journal more meaningful for you. It sets the mood you want to represent your month and gives you the motivational boost you need to keep going. 

Finally, it helps keep you organized. It’s a visual anchor and a clear starting point, helping this month stand apart from all the others. 

Ideas for September Cover Pages 

Your September cover page should use the same design elements you plan to incorporate into your monthly theme as this is where your cohesive design begins. Consider using:

• Autumn leaves
• Back-to-school elements
• Harvest imagery
• Cozy fall scenery
• Misty mornings
• Fall fashion 
• September moon
• Seasonal quotes
• Fall fruits
• Pumpkin spice
• A steaming cup of coffee

Essential Monthly Pages for September

After your cover page, you’ll most likely want to begin your monthly pages. These are bullet journal spreads that stay relevant for the whole month. 

Some of the key pages to include in your monthly pages are:

• Your September calendar (the design for this does not have to be a typical calendar style. You can lay it out any way you want to, just make sure it includes important dates and events as well as a place for notes). 
• Goals and priorities for the month
• Habit tracker
• Mood tracker
• Monthly to-do list

Monthly Goals: Setting and Tracking Your Goals for the Month

When it comes time to set goals for the month, I recommend starting with a reflection of last month’s goals. Flip to that page and read through it. What did you accomplish? What didn’t you get to yet? Are those unfinished goals still priorities for you? If so, carry them over to the new goals page. 

Then ask yourself what other priorities arose over the past month that need to be added to the current month. Maybe the completion of one goal led to something new you want to try. Or maybe you realized that something you’d set out to do was too intimidating and you need to break it down into smaller chunks. 

Finally, I encourage you to go back to the beginning of your bullet journal and reflect again on your annual goals. Is there anything you’ve forgotten about that needs to get pushed up to the front burner? We still have four months left in the year, so there is plenty of time to re-prioritize our goals and get things done before the year ends. 

Here are some key things to include in your bullet journal goal-setting pages:

• Title and date
• Main goals
• Action steps
• Progress tracker
• Reflection space
• Visual elements
• Motivational quotes
• Priority list

Strategies for Effective Goal Setting

​If you’re new to goal setting or you have been having a hard time accomplishing the goals you set, here are a few steps you can take to get more effective with goals. For more on this, please read my posts on bullet journal goal setting, effective goals to set for yourself, and personal improvement goals for growth. 

Simple Goal-Setting Process

1. Set SMART goals (specific, measurable, time-bound, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) 
2. Break down goals
3. Create a plan
4. Track progress
5. Stay flexible

To-Do List: Organizing Your Tasks and Priorities Effectively

Your monthly to-do list is a helpful tool for keeping track of all the smaller tasks you hope to get done this month. Here’s a quick progress for making your to-do list as effective as possible. 

1. List all tasks (you may want to do this on a separate piece of paper to start and then copy it into your bullet journal after you have the list organized)
2. Categorize tasks
3. Prioritize tasks
4. Break down larger tasks
5. Set deadlines

Using this process to organize your to-do list will make it more manageable. Remember to find a balance between urgent and important tasks. Sometimes non-urgent yet important tasks take a backseat to all the little urgent things that crop up throughout the month. Make sure you’re setting aside time to tackle those important things that may not be getting the attention they deserve. 

Habit Tracker for September

A habit tracker is another of the most commonly used tools in bullet journaling. Having a visual tool for reinforcing the positive behaviors you’re trying to develop is an effective and fun way to ingrain those habits over time. 

Benefits of Habit Tracking

​Tracking your habits offers many benefits, including:

• Writing your goals down makes the commitment more real and tangible.
•  A printable habit tracker ensures all your habits are tracked in one, prominent place. No more jumping around between different apps on your phone, trying to keep track of multiple habits.
• Seeing your habit-tracking goals throughout the day serves as a constant reminder to make time for the things you set out to do.
• All of those empty squares begging to be checked off create a sense of accountability that makes keeping track of your habits on a regular basis more rewarding.
• You get a feeling of accomplishment every time you check a box off, which further motivates you to keep working toward your goals.
• Having your habit goals written down encourages you to manage your time better and establish good routines that support your goals.
• Creating a record of your progress gives you the data you need to adjust your goals, your time management strategy, or your routine
• Using a habit tracker consistently is a habit in itself, and building up this discipline will also improve the chances of you following through on your other habits
• Using the data from your habit tracker as a decision-making tool will continuously enhance your productivity.

Ideas for Setting Up a Habit Tracker

I prefer simple options like circular habit trackers and spreadsheet-style trackers, though you can, of course, get more creative in your designs. You can use your fall palette colors or small fall-themed stickers to mark off your habits each day. I have a few free printable designs you can print and either glue into your journal or copy by hand. Check these out to get you started:

• Circle habit tracker template
• Printable habit tracker bundle

Examples of Habits to Track

​Here are some examples of habits you may want to track:

• water consumption
• mood
• sleep
• morning routine
• new school year routine
• exercise/steps
• vitamins and medication
• journaling/writing routine
• reading
• abstaining from alcohol or other food/drink items you want to cut down on
• flossing
• skin care routine
• tracking symptoms of an illness
• fruit and vegetable intake
• talking to a friend
• time spent working on a hobby (crafting, playing an instrument, photography, etc.)
• unplugging from technology
• time spent outside
• quality time with spouse/child(ren)/family
• taking care of pets
• homework/studying

Mood Tracker for September

Though not essential, a mood tracker can help you tune into your body and mental health and become more aware of your emotional patterns. Noting how you feel each day and trying to uncover the underlying causes of your moods is an important step in self-awareness and emotional regulation. It can also help you understand your emotional cycles better, facilitate goal setting, and increase mindfulness. 

Creative Mood Tracker Designs

There are several ways to map your mood tracking. Here are a few examples:

• Mood charts and graphs
• Mood color coding
• Mood maps – emotional heat maps, geographic maps (tracking how mood varies by location)
• Mood diaries
• Mood trees

Integrating the Tracker with Your September Theme

It’s easy to carry your September bullet journal theme into your mood tracker. First, try to match the visual style by sticking with the same colors, patterns, and designs. It’s helpful if you get your chosen colors in several tones so you can use different tones to represent each mode. Theme elements such as leaves and apples can also represent different moods. One option is to draw a tree with many branches and 30 leaves. Then color each leaf a different color depending on your primary mood for that day. You may also want to include some mindset-related quotes in your mood tracker spread. 

Creative Bullet Journal Ideas for September

Now that you’ve settled on your main themes and monthly pages, it’s time to have some fun and incorporate different materials and textures into your bullet journal. Whether you use scraps of newspaper, kraft paper, tissue paper, or scrapbook paper, there are tons of ways to unleash your creativity in your bullet journal. 

Start by choosing a collection of materials that coordinate well with your theme. Kraft paper would go well with fall colors but so would burlap, newsprint, and gold tissue paper. Here are a few ways to include these elements:

• Layering kraft paper or other colored/textured papers
• Accents and borders
• Pocket inserts
• Handmade embellishments
• Mixed media (papers, tapes, stickers, stamps)

Maintaining Creativity Throughout the Month

Sometimes we start a new month with tons of energy and creativity that fizzles out by mid-month. We have the best intentions about following through with the pages we’ve planned, but life gets in the way and we let another few weeks slide by before we return to our routine. Here are a few ways to keep yourself feeling creative and motivated throughout the month:

1. Set daily or weekly challenges
2. Change up your routine
3. Use creative tools to keep your projects varied
4. Seek new sources of inspiration such as art, music, or nature
5. Reflect and adjust

And always know that even if you do let a few months go by without looking at your journal, it’s never too late to jump back in. 

Time to Get Journaling!

Hopefully, by this point, you are brimming with inspiration to get started on your own September bullet journal layouts. We’ve looked at several themes you might want to try including fall, harvest, and back-to-school, and covered some of the most important monthly pages to include. We’ve also looked at tips for goal setting and habit tracking to help you accomplish everything you want to do this fall. We’d love it if you took a minute to tell us what themes and design elements you’re excited to try this month and maybe even share a link to your favorite spreads on Instagram. Happy journaling!