c/bullet-journaling

Debated between a spiral notebook and a discbound system for 3 months

I ended up going with the discbound because I rip pages out too often when I mess up a spread. Has anyone else switched systems after sticking with one for years?

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amy_foster79•2d ago

My mom saw my bullet journal and laughed at the pricey markers

I was showing her my monthly spread last weekend and she pulled out her old Filofax from 1987. She had this beat up binder with a cheap pen and some white out tape, no color coding or little drawings. She said "you spend more time making it pretty than actually writing stuff down" and honestly it hit me hard. I started bullet journaling 4 years ago to get organized but now I obsess over washi tape and brush pens. Anyone else feel like they lost the original point somewhere along the way?

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annas87•2d ago

Pro tip: Don't buy that $50 stencil pack for your bullet journal

I saw a fancy pack of 20 stencils on Etsy and grabbed them thinking they'd make my layouts look perfect. After three months of trying, I've only used one circle stencil twice and the rest are just collecting dust in my drawer. Anyone else end up with a pile of bujo supplies they barely touch?

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gavinlopez•3d ago

Dropped my whole monthly spread because of one dumb mistake at a coffee shop

I was at a Starbucks in Austin working on my weekly layout and spilled a whole latte across March's page. Had to scratch the whole thing and start fresh with a pocket notebook for the next 3 days. Has anyone else just given up on a spread mid-month and restarted?

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patriciareed•6d ago

Debate: is a $60 month-at-a-glance spread worth it or just a waste of pages?

I dropped $60 on a full month layout with a dashboard for each week, complete with habit trackers and a notes section. It looked amazing but I found myself ignoring half the boxes after day 10. On the other hand, a friend in Portland swears by her $15 minimalist setup and says she gets more done. Which side are you on - do you go all out on monthly spreads or keep it cheap and simple?

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avery_lopez•8d ago

Can we talk about people using 50 different ink colors in one spread?

I see these Instagram bujos with 8 colors per weekly spread and it just looks like a mess to me. Stuck to one black pen and one highlighter for the last 6 months, never been more consistent. How do you guys keep it from turning into a distraction?

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faith684•12d ago

Had a week last month where every single thing went right on my monthly spread

I usually mess up my monthly log by day 3, but last October I had this one week that was just perfect. My habit tracker actually stayed filled in for 7 days straight with no skipped boxes. I used my mildliner to color code my work appointments and client names, and it didn't bleed through even a little bit on my Leuchtturm paper. The wild part was that I kept up with my daily rapid logging too, which I normally forget after lunch. I even added a small doodle of a poodle that looked halfway decent for once. Idk what was different, maybe it was the new fine tip pen I grabbed from the art supply store or just that my schedule was lighter that week. Has anyone else had a random spell where your bujo just clicks for no clear reason?

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wilson.kelly•13d ago

Simpler layouts beat artistic spreads every time for me

At a bullet journal meetup in Portland last spring, a woman in her 60s named Ruth showed me her journal that looked almost blank - just dates and tiny check marks. She said "I only track what keeps me honest, not what looks pretty on Instagram." Has anyone else found that keeping it bare bones actually helps you stick with it longer?

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perry.evan•13d ago

My habit tracker went from messy to clean in just 2 weeks

I started bullet journaling back in September but my habit tracker was always a jumbled mess. I tried a simple line method last month and wow, it made a huge difference. Instead of boxes, I drew a single line for each habit and filled in a square for each day I did it. After 14 days, I could actually see my progress without squinting at tiny grids. The change came from switching to a vertical layout with space between each row. Has anyone else found a tracker format that clicked for them after trying a few?

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hugoh55•14d ago

Took me 3 years to realize I was overcomplicating my weekly layout

I used to spend 2 hours every Sunday drawing out these elaborate weekly spreads with color coding and habit trackers. Last month I forgot my journal at home and had to sketch a quick layout on scrap paper at lunch. I got more done that week than in the previous month combined. Has anyone else found that simpler is actually better for them?

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nathanj56•15d ago

I tried a minimalist weekly layout vs my old detailed one and the difference was huge

I spent 4 months doing this super detailed weekly spread with color coding and all these trackers, then last week I switched to just a simple list of tasks for each day with no decorations. The minimalist one actually got me to finish more stuff because I wasn't scared to mess up the pretty layout. Anyone else find that less is better for actual productivity?

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the_matthew•15d ago

Finally got my weekly spread to actually work after 3 months of messing it up

My bullet journal has been a disaster lately... I kept trying to cram way too many tasks into each day and ending up with half-empty pages. Last Tuesday I sat down and forced myself to only put 3 must-dos per day and leave the rest for a "overflow" section. It actually worked for the first time all year. My brain just feels less cluttered now when I open my journal in the morning. Has anyone else struggled with overplanning their spreads and had to scale back?

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brown.gavin•16d ago

I just realized I was laying out my weekly spread all wrong for 8 months

I started bullet journaling in February and always put my tasks on the left page and my notes on the right. It felt fine until last week when I tried flipping it around after seeing a post here. Putting notes on the left and tasks on the right made everything click instantly. I think I was fighting my own brain by keeping my schedule off to the side. Has anyone else found a layout trick that totally changed how you use your journal?

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briancarter•16d ago

Wasted 6 months on fancy layouts until I tried the minimalist approach

I was spending 45 minutes every night decorating my journal with washi tape and doodles, but then I stripped it down to just dots and lines and my actual task completion rate doubled. Has anyone else found that simpler spreads actually work better for staying on track?

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nancybailey•18d ago

Ditched my weekly log for a rolling weekly, best change ever

I used to make super detailed weekly spreads every Sunday with color coding and habit trackers. Took me like 45 minutes each time and I'd get stressed if I messed up a line. Then I tried a rolling weekly where I just list tasks and events as they come. Now my setup takes 5 minutes and I actually use it every day. Has anyone else switched to a simpler layout and seen their consistency go up?

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paige86•18d ago

Just realized my monthly spread was way too detailed

I used to pack every single day with color coded boxes for work, habits, meals, and even chores. A friend in this sub told me my layout looked more like a calendar for a project manager than a journal for myself. She said I was spending more time decorating than actually using it. At first I was kinda offended, but then I looked at my last 3 months and realized I had abandoned most of them halfway through. So I stripped it down to just a simple list of priorities and a small mood tracker. I kept blank space for notes instead of filling every inch. Now I actually stick with it past the first week. Anyone else have a moment where someone's blunt feedback made you totally rework your layout?

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ben_ross51•19d ago

Can we talk about the whole "no mistakes allowed" thing in bullet journals?

I was reading through a blog post last week from some bullet journal blogger, and she had a stat that really surprised me. She said something like 70% of people who start a bullet journal quit within the first three months because they feel like they mess it up too much. That honestly blew my mind because I always thought the whole point was that it's supposed to be flexible and forgiving. On one hand, I get it, there's this pressure online to have these perfect spreads with fancy lettering and no cross-outs. But on the other hand, the original system Ryder Carroll came up with is literally just rapid logging, you can mess up and just put an X through it and move on. So which side do you fall on? Do you think the perfectionism is ruining bullet journaling for newcomers, or is it just part of the creative fun for you? I'm genuinely curious where everyone lands on this.

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phoenix_thompson4•19d ago

Went from hating weekly spreads to loving them after 3 months

I always thought weekly spreads were a waste of space and time. But I tried a simple layout from Ryder Carroll's book where each day gets just a vertical column. After 3 months of using it in my A5 Leuchtturm, I actually see how my tasks connect across the week now. Has anyone else had a setup they hated at first that ended up working?

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briancarter•20d ago

I brought my bullet journal to a team meeting and forgot it had my angry doodles about the project in the margins

I was sitting in the conference room on Tuesday, flipping to my notes section, when Kevin from accounting leaned over and pointed at the tiny frowning face I drew next to his name last week, and I just closed the book and said I had a dentist appointment.

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avery_lopez•21d ago

Hit 200 pages in my bullet journal and it surprised me

I started my first bullet journal back in January and just counted the pages. 200 exactly. I didn't think I'd fill that many this fast. Mostly it's daily logs and work stuff from the night shift. Did not expect to stick with it this long.

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anderson.david•22d ago

Fancy $40 stencil set I bought for my bullet journal was a total flop

I dropped $40 on a set of reusable stencils for my bullet journal last month. They looked great online with all those neat shapes and borders. But the plastic was way too thick, so they slid around on the page constantly. The lines bled under the edges no matter how slow I went with my pen. I ended up tossing them after three tries and went back to drawing grids by hand. Has anyone else had bad luck with fancy stencils for their journal?

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kim819•24d ago

Almost lost my entire year of tracking after my coffee spilled on my journal at a cafe in Denver

I was at a crowded spot downtown and my drink tipped over onto my open bujo, soaking through about six months of spreads. Has anyone else had a close call like this, or do you take steps to protect your journal when you're out?

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margaret_williams5•25d ago

Spilled coffee all over my August spread and had to pivot hard

I was sitting at my kitchen table last Tuesday morning, feeling proud because I had just finished a really clean August monthly spread with these little doodle borders I learned from a YouTube tutorial. Then my cat jumped up and knocked my entire mug of black coffee right across the page. The ink smeared everywhere, three days of habit trackers and a grocery list were just brown blobs. I sat there for a minute feeling annoyed, then grabbed some paper towels and blotted what I could. Ended up turning the whole mess into a background wash with watercolors, and now that page looks kind of artsy and accidental on purpose. Has anyone else had a journaling disaster turn into something you actually ended up liking?

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lewis.troy•25d ago

Found out 89% of people quit their journals in February

Saw that stat from a productivity study and it makes me wonder how many here actually hit a wall mid-winter, anyone else struggle to keep going past January?

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hernandez.finley•27d ago

Started with a $3 composition notebook, now I use a $25 Leuchtturm

Back in 2018 I was using a spiral notebook and a ballpoint pen for my bullet journal. The paper was so thin my markers bled through everything. Switched to a dotted Leuchtturm1917 last year and it holds up way better with my mildliners. Anyone else stick with the same setup for years or do you swap notebooks every season?

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