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c/bullet-journaling

21

rowanr88•4d ago

Gave up my weekly spreads for a daily log setup and it's way less stressful

I started bullet journaling back in March with these detailed weekly spreads. Tracked everything from water intake to habit streaks. By June I was spending two hours every Sunday filling in boxes and grids. Then my pen ran out of ink halfway through a spread and I just snapped. Switched to a basic daily log with just a date and bullet points. No trackers, no colors, no wasted space. It takes me maybe 5 minutes a day now. Has anyone else found that simpler is actually better for staying consistent?

21

sagejackson•7d ago

That one week where my entire bujo layout fell apart by Wednesday and I finally got why simple works better.

I spent Sunday making a super detailed weekly spread with washi tape and color coding, then by Tuesday I had scribbled over half of it because real life wouldn't fit into those neat little boxes, so now I'm back to just a plain list and it's actually keeping up with me.

13

kimr91•9d ago

Unpopular opinion: a 'perfect' week in my bullet journal made me actually hate tracking everything

Last Thursday I had what looked like a flawless week in my bujo. Every habit tracker box was filled, every daily log had neat checkmarks, and my weekly spread was color coded to hell. But I realized I spent more time making it look good than actually doing the stuff. The whole week felt hollow, like I was performing productivity instead of living it. The day I actually got stuff done was Tuesday when my kid puked on the floor and I abandoned my journal completely. Anyone else find that a chaotic, messy week tracks better than a pretty one?

2

the_drew•11d ago

Tried a weekly spread instead of daily pages for the first time

Honestly, I got so tired of rewriting tasks every day that I set up one big weekly spread for last week in my A5 Leuchtturm. It actually worked way better than I expected because I could see my whole week at a glance and didn't miss any deadlines. Has anyone else switched from daily to weekly and found it helped or hurt your flow?

4

webb.hannah•11d ago

Finally got my habit tracker to work after 3 months of trying

Ive been trying to track my water intake in my bullet journal since September and kept failing because I forgot to fill in the boxes. Last week I switched to using a simple tally system on the side of my page instead and it actually stuck for 6 days straight. Has anyone else had a tracker just click after you changed the format?

14

michael803•12d ago

Just realized my minimalist bullet journal spread was wasting 20 minutes every day on setup

I ignored the fancy trackers for months thinking they were fluff, but after reading a post here I tried a simple habit tracker last week and it cut my daily logging time in half - has anyone else had a setup they swore against turn out to be a total game changer?

13

zarag17•13d ago

Walked into an old stationery shop in Portland last weekend and found a dusty box of dot grid notebooks from 2015

The paper was still good but the binding felt different, made me realize how much my journaling style has shifted from thick ink washes to simple ballpoint spreads. Anyone else find their pen choices have totally changed over the years?

20

pat_harris•14d ago

Spilled coffee all over my March spread at 6am this morning

I was sitting at my kitchen table in St. Louis trying to log my water intake for the day when I knocked over a full mug. The coffee went straight across my habit tracker and smeared half the ink into a brown blob. I had to rip out that whole page and rewrite everything on a new one. Has anyone else had a drink disaster ruin their layout and how do you recover without starting over?

15

david920•14d ago

That $50 Bullet Journal I bought on Etsy was Basically a plain notebook

I saw this handcrafted leather bullet journal on Etsy with pre printed layouts and thought it would Save me so much time setting up my spreads. Turns out the layout sections were way too small for my handwriting and the paper bled through like crazy with my favorite pen. Has anyone else been burned by a fancy journal that turned out to be more hype than function?

16

zarag17•14d ago

The index page myth that wasted half my journal

I spent months meticulously setting up an index page and never once used it. Finally ripped it out and just started threading my collections directly to the next spread, saved like 4 pages of dead space. Anyone else find the index useless or am I doing it completely wrong?

21

hollyscott•14d ago

Found a weird hack that cut my daily journaling time from 20 minutes to 5

I stopped trying to make everything perfect and started just scribbling bullet points for tasks and a single sentence for reflection, no colors or doodles, and it actually made me stick with it longer than any fancy spread ever did - anyone else ditch the art and go full messy?

6

ross.kim•16d ago

Friend said my collections were too cluttered so I cut them down to 3 pages...

She pointed out that I had 8 collections for things like 'movies to watch' and 'books I want' and I was barely using any of them. Now I only track the 3 things I actually look at weekly - has anyone else had to pare down after someone called them out?

20

casey342•17d ago

Just found out my "minimalist" monthly spread needs 7 different pens to be functional

I read a blog post by Ryder Carroll yesterday (you know, the guy who created the system) where he said the whole point was to use one pen and one notebook, and I realized I've been overcomplicating this with 4 colors, washi tape, and highlighters for the past 6 months just to make it look pretty instead of actually tracking anything useful so has anyone else fallen into the trap of buying more supplies than you actually need?

33

thomas.river•17d ago

My color coding system was a mess until I tried 3 colors max

Started bullet journaling about 4 months ago and went crazy with like 8 different colored pens. Every page looked like a rainbow threw up on it and I kept losing track of what was important. Then I saw someone's spread at a coffee shop that only used red, blue, and black. Tried it for my monthly spread and it actually made things clearer. The red is for deadlines, blue is for notes, black is everything else. Has anyone else found that less colors actually works better for keeping your brain from getting distracted?

4

victor651•19d ago

I finally cracked the code on my habit tracker after 3 months of trying fancy spreads

Every month Id set up these elaborate habit tracker spreads with color coding and icons and then Id forget to fill them in by day 3. Last week I just drew a simple vertical line on my weekly log and started marking days with a dot. Nothing fancy. And guess what. I actually kept up with it for 6 straight days now. I used to think trackers had to be pretty to work. Turns out pretty just made me avoid them. Anyone else find that simpler spreads actually stick better.

13

sandragrant•20d ago

Caught myself spending 20 minutes on a weekly spread last Tuesday and realized I'd completely missed the point of bullet journaling.

I switched from those fancy art-heavy layouts to just the original Ryder Carroll method after that, keeping it to a simple rapid log and daily migration, and now my journal actually helps me get stuff done instead of being a time sink has anyone else gone back to basics like that?

1

sam_cooper•23d ago

My habit tracker fell apart after two weeks and I'm starting over

I started a new bullet journal in January and set up this big habit tracker with 8 different things to track daily. By day 15 I had already missed 4 days in a row because I forgot to open the journal at night. Now I'm trying a simpler setup with just 3 habits and a weekly layout instead. Has anyone else had a tracker fail like this and found a format that actually sticks?

28

wesley639•23d ago

My whole weekly spread got wrecked by a leaky water bottle

I left my journal open on the kitchen table in Portland last Thursday, and my kid's bottle tipped over right on it. The pages for my entire week were a soggy, inky mess. I had to quickly copy what I could save onto sticky notes and tape them into a fresh notebook. Has anyone else had to do a fast rescue job like that?

8

dylan_ward•24d ago

My sister pointed out my bullet journal looked like a chore list and it kinda broke me

We were having coffee yesterday and she flipped through my March spread. She said, 'Dude, this looks like a punishment log, where's the fun stuff?' I realized every page was just tasks and deadlines, no trackers for books or doodles or anything. It hit different because she was right, I turned my creative outlet into a second boss. How do you guys balance planning with actually enjoying your journal?

2

jackson.max•24d ago

Found a whole section for journaling supplies at a shop in Asheville

I was at a little store called The Inkwell downtown and they had an entire wall of pens, markers, and notebooks just for bullet journaling. The owner said she started stocking more after a local group asked for it. What's the best thing you've found at a small shop for your bujo?

9

brian_hart•25d ago

Appreciation post: I switched from a weekly spread to a rolling daily log last month and it's been a game changer for my messy brain.

I picked the rolling daily because my week never goes as planned, and now I just add a new page each morning instead of staring at a half-empty weekly spread that makes me feel behind.

19

kim_davis•26d ago

I finally filled up my first bullet journal cover to cover, it took 14 months.

I never thought I'd stick with it, but seeing all those pages used up feels like proof I can keep a habit. Anyone else get a weird sense of pride from finishing a whole notebook?

13

cora813•26d ago

Update: Found a vintage stationery store in Asheville with a whole wall of old bullet journal spreads.

Seeing how people used simple grid notebooks for daily logs back in the 80s, before it was even a named system, has me rethinking my own overly decorated weekly layouts.

15

price.linda•27d ago

Rant: My journal fell in a puddle at the Seattle ferry terminal

I had to let it dry for two days, and now I love the wrinkled, stained pages for my messy weekly logs. Anyone else have a journal that got better after a disaster?

11

garcia.wren•28d ago

My sister saw my weekly spread and said it looked like a stressful to-do list, not a plan. She was right.

I was showing off my setup, all my color coded tasks for the week. She pointed at it and said, 'This just looks like a list of stuff you're gonna feel bad about if you don't finish.' I realized I was just copying my work anxiety into my journal. I was using it to track failures, not progress. I stopped putting deadlines on everything and started a 'done' log on the side page. Now I write what I actually finished, even if it's just 'made a decent dinner.' It flipped the whole thing for me. Anyone else have to unlearn using their bujo as a guilt trip?