by Alison Heathcote - Published: October, 2026

How to Use Bingo Journal Pages to Support Your Creative Life

Introduction

In this article I'm sharing with you how I use bingo cards in my creative journal.

Bingo used to be called "Housey-Housey" when I was a kid so that term may mean something to you as well.

Choosing a Journal

My Favorite Journal

I love the Leuchtturm 1917 A5 dotted journal hard or soft cover.

I find this journal holds up over time where other journals fail and this is usually at the spine.

In the past I've tried other generic (cheaper) journals such as those from Michaels but they can't beat the Leuchtturm for durability in my opinion.

However, use what you have on hand and always buy in your budget.

Creative Bingo Journal Page

Journal Page

A classic creative bingo journal page has a five-by-five grid with small activities in each square.

The center square is for the title of the bingo so it could be:

• September Creative Ideas
• Writing my Novel
• Growing my Garden
• Autumn Seasonal Reset
• My 2027 Master Plan

Each bingo card can be for a different part of what you are creatively working on.

You'll end up with 24 activities in total.

You get to choose what to put in each square.

Personally, I like a monthly bingo card where I can add all the content I'm creating and blog posts I'm writing.

I'll add any weekend away plans.

Craft projects I'm working on.

Additionally, I add in some health-related activities and a social component as well.

Below is an example for one of my months bingo cards so you can see how I do it.

Bingo vs To-Do List

Visual Appeal

Why I do this is because I like drawing the grid and deciding on the activities that go into my bingo cards.

Because I was getting tired of my monthly to-do lists surrounding content creation and other creative things in my life, like crochet or gardening.

To me, lists seem tedious.

Drawing the Grid

Square Size

My squares are 25mm or 1-inch square.

I find this to be the best size because then I can get a 5x5 bingo card on one A5 page in my journal.

How Many Squares to Use

You can choose how many squares to have in your bingo blocks, but they should be an odd number and in a square.

So, 3 x 3, 5 x 5 or 7 x 7 squares for example.

Avoid 4 x 4 or 6 x 6 squares because then there is no center square.

Center Square = Title

I use the center square for the title of my bingo card like "September Content Creative" or "February Recipes to Try" or "April Plants Blooming in my Garden."

Three-by-Three (Weekly)

You can do a weekly three-by-three block as well.

This gives you eight activities for the week so perhaps one a day plus a bonus one.

Five-by-Five

I like the five-by-five blocks for my monthly projects.

With the 5 x 5 grid you get a total of 25 squares and then can use one for the center.

You have twenty-four activities to check off and, if a month has 31 days, you have enough options but are not overwhelmed by having something to do every single day of the month.

Seven-by-Seven (Seasonal)

I did try the seven-by-seven block once but I found it too much.

With the 7 x 7 block you must add forty-eight activities and I found this to be too many for one month.

Although it could work for a seasonal bingo which cover three months at one go.

I use seasonal timeframes for product creation which takes more time.

What to Write on Your Bingo Card

Small Creative Activities

I like to add small creative projects such as "crochet a scarf."

I can crochet a scarf watching TV over several evenings and will probably complete one item in a month if not sooner.

"Make Five Signs and Symbols cards" is another activity that can be achieved in a month.

Bigger Creative Projects

My bigger creative projects usually include making a video for YouTube or creating a notebook for Amazon.

I'll also have the book that I'm writing as a bigger more background activity.

You see I like to have many things on the go and not just one big thing at once.

Things You Want to Try

You can add one or two things that are new to you.

For me that would be something like:

• Baking sourdough bread
• Taking a pottery class
• Take a weaving class

Creative Ideas You Keep Putting Off

Then there are the creative ideas that you keep putting off.

For me these are activities like:

• Do a larger (3' x 3') acrylic painting as I usually only do 12" square canvasses
• Try out pastels, but first get some
• Try out oil paints
• Take a photography course
• Take a writing course (this I have just signed up for)

Mix Easy and More Challenging Activities

The idea is not to stuff your month with non-stop activities but to carefully curate what you want to spend your time and more importantly energy on.

Leave Room for the Unexpected

Always leave about two- or three-squares empty in each bingo card.

You can fill them up as the timeframe unfolds.

You never know what will come up for you next so really you do need space to be spontaneous and flexible.

Start Playing Your Creative Bingo

Begin

Once you have your journal, the squares drawn and the title in the center, then you can begin.

If you set up your bingo card ahead of time, for instance if you prep next month's card by the 15th of the previous month, you could even get a head start on some things.

Choose Any Square

You can pick and choose what to do first.

You could simply focus on the main events that you want to complete.

Once an activity is finished you color in the square.

Across, Down or Diagonally

You can also work across or down or diagonally to complete a line.

You Don't Have to Go in Order

Honestly, I never go in order, that why I do bingo card in the first place and not tedious lists.

I typically jump from one square to the other and color them in as I achieve the completion of each activity.

Coloring It in When It's Done

Choosing Your Bingo Colors

I color code my bingo cards with different colours for different types of activities.

Content Creation

I like yellow for my Heathcote Living content creation.

Yellow is used for blog posts, newsletters and videos etc.

Wellbeing

I use purple for health goals like "Walk 10000 steps in one day" or "Lift weights three time a week" or "Eat whole food only for five days" and things like that.

Mental Health

I use turquoise or cyan for mental health activities.

Being aware of my mental health is another area that I focus on for my wellbeing.

These are simple things like "Meditate x 4 this month" or "Offload social apps from my phone" (which I have done) or "Prioritize sleep and be in bed by 9pm."

Social Life

I use blue for social events.

I try to be social three times each month.

I call these my social butterfly events and the emoji for butterflies is the blue morpho 🦋 thus the blue for social events.

Being social three times a month may sound a lot to some people, and not much for others, it depends on your social life already.

But I tend to be less social so it's important for me to aim for three events each month at least.

Wealth

For wealth activities I use chartreuse which is a lovely lime green.

I usually have one financial activity on each month's bingo card which is "increase net worth" and this simply means that I want to have more money saved, or invested, at the end of the month than I did at the start.

It doesn't have to be thousands or even hundreds of dollars but it must go up.

This one helps to grow your wealth every month.

Watching Your Creative Progress

How to Win Bingo

When the whole card is complete you win the bingo for that month.

But there are smaller wins along the way.

Celebrate the Line Wins

You get a line by completing a line of five either vertically, horizontally or diagonally.

The diagonal goes through the center so actually only four activities are needed for this one and the center vertical and horizontal lines.

Bingo Card Legacy

Use Each Bingo Card as a Creative Record

If you create a bingo card for each month's content and activities, as I do, then you can look back on them later.

Not all cards will be completed.

Some activities will make it onto the following card but not in every instance.

Let's take a look at this.

Carry Forward Activities

I carry forward from one bingo card to the next any activity that I still want to do or which I'm in the process of doing.

For example, I have an activity that says, "Set up my next year's journal."

My next year's journal is the full set up for the year which means, counting the pages to divide into twelve, adding some front and back blanks for overall yearly information, month dividers, adding tabs that stick out, coloring title pages and a hand drawn calendar (and bingo card frame) for each month.

This takes time and so I don't do it all in one go.

This is the type of activity which I carry forward and the activity lives to fight another day and appears on my next month's bingo card until it's all completed.

I start working on next year's journal setup in July and its now September and I'm still going strong on this one.

Drop Out Activities

Drop out activities are those activities which did not get done, nor do I feel that I want to do them and so they will drop off my bingo card and not get carried forward to the following month's card.

There are things like, "Bake a sourdough loaf."

Much as I like the idea of baking my own bread and therefore knowing what the ingredients are, and not having fillers, colorants and stabilizers in my food, I just never seem to do this type of baking.

So, this activity gets dropped although it does pop up now and again for another try, but it's one that is perhaps more of a dream than a reality.

I'm just not a baker.

Your Way is the Right Way

There is no right or wrong way to decide what activities you want to add to your bingo card.

My list is different to yours.

The important thing is to add the activities which interest you or which will move your life forward in the direction you want.

Create Seasonal Bingo Cards

Four a Year

A seasonal bingo card can have items that pertain to the season.

The four seasons are winter, spring, summer and autumn.

Each season can have specific tasks and traditions related to it.

I've given you some examples here.

Winter Season Example Activities

Winter starts around December 21st at the solstice and goes until about March 21st to end at the equinox.

There are many things to be done at this time such as:

• Seasonal decorating with greenery
• Putting up the tree
• Sending Christmas cards
• Gift preparation
• Meal menus for celebration dinners
• Giving to your favorite local charities

Spring Season Example Activities

Spring is when nature starts to wake up.

Some spring activities are:

• Planting seeds in trays
• Spring cleaning your house
• Carpet and curtain cleaning
• Clean the snowblower and put away, yes, I live in Canada and this was always a big job when we had a house
• Morning walks in the crisp air
• Eating more fresh salads

Summer Season Example Activities

Summer starts at the solstice around June 21st and lasts until the equinox about September 21st.

This is clearly the warmest time of the year and much activity goes on outside the home such as:

• Picnics
• Reading in the park
• Vacations
• Weekends away
• Garden planting
• Cutting flowers for the vase
• Outdoor cooking and bar-b-cues
• Beach days
• Walking

Autumn Season Example Activities

Autumn or Fall starts around September 21st at the equinox to December 21st at the solstice.

In Autumn the light begins to fade as the days get shorter.

This is a great time for many activities such as:

• Fall decorating in the home
• Candles, cloths and indoor plants trimming
• Choosing wool for knitting or crochet
• Knitting a sweater
• Crocheting a hat
• Operation deadwood, cleaning up your garden or outdoor space and pruning
• Fruit preserving, jams and chutneys in jars
• Pantry restocking for the basics before winter
• Preparing a reading list and getting the books in to read later
• Home library sort out and book recategorization
• Learn a new craft like book binding, carpentry or weaving
• Declutter and donate the junk in your home

Overarching Your Creative Life

A Guide not Control

Bingo card activities bring forward the things you want to do and spend your time on to improve your life and can help to provide focus to your days.

They are simply a guide rather than some hard and fast rule about more things that you must do.

You are improving each month, in your rhythm, at your pace and that is all you can ask of yourself.

Your incomplete bingo card activities will live to fight another day.

Do not sweat this part.

Creativity Doesn't Have to Be Productive

Also, the activities do not have to be productive and by that, I mean have a product at the like a hat, a pottery bowl, a pair of handmade earrings or a book at the end.

They can be activities which you enjoy doing which make you happy like a walk in nature or testing yourself at the gym.

Make Time for Enjoyment

Life is short.

Your time is precious.

Make time for what you want and not what you think you should do.

Avoid

Avoid events where you are invited but are not really keen to attend.

Avoid activities that drain you like spending time with your boring brother-in-law or long hikes which are just too far for your capabilities now.

Live Your Best Life

Yes, it's good to stretch yourself, I'm not saying that, but what I am saying is live your best life and you do that by being true to yourself and what you want and more importantly need now.

Just because you've always hosted a New Year bash every year for the past fifteen years does not mean you have to always do so.

You get to choose.

Over to You

Your Journal, Your Bingo Pages

Your journal and bingo card pages and spreads are for you.

Therefore, if you do decide to create a bingo card for the next month then you can see how you get on.

5 x 5 Grid

I started this method, the grid, because I could not stand a massive "To-do list" on my desk in my creator studio every morning.

It felt like I was not getting anywhere.

Longs Lists

The nature of lists is hierarchical and that means going from the top to the bottom which is not always the best way to do things.

On the other hand, using a bingo card, where things are randomly placed and not like a pecking order in any way, lets me hop about and gain a small win by completing an activity.

Let Me Know

Will you try a bingo journal page next month?

How many squares will you have?

How else can you use a bingo card style method to bring some calmness into your life?

I'd love to know.

Email me at HeathcoteLiving@gmail.com and let me know.

I'll provide some of your replies in a later post so we can all learn.

Creatively yours,

Alison

Author Bio

Alison Heathcote writes about living creatively and building a meaningful life on your own terms. Through gentle reflections on solo living, home and everyday creativity, she explores how to shape a life that feels calm, intentional and deeply your own. More

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