c/bullet-journaling

24

jordanc32•1d ago

Just found a way to use my monthly review as a conversation starter

I was at a coffee shop in Bellevue last month, just flipping through my bullet journal during a slow afternoon. The barista noticed my little habit tracker for water intake and asked about it, so I ended up showing them the whole monthly review section I do every 30 days. They said it looked like a "life dashboard" and asked how I decide what to track. That got me thinking about how personal our journals really are... I explained I just pick one or two things I actually struggled with, like sleep consistency or reading goals, not everything under the sun. They ended up drawing a tiny sketch in my margin of a coffee cup for their own journal. Has anyone else had a stranger ask about their bujo setup and get a good tip out of it?

7

karen_west59•2d ago

Question about using washi tape as a divider in my bullet journal

I've been bullet journaling for about 4 years now, and I always struggled with making my monthly spreads look organized without spending hours on them. Last week I tried using washi tape strips as simple section dividers instead of drawing lines or boxes. It took me maybe 10 minutes to lay down three strips across the page for my tasks, events, and notes sections. Has anyone else found a quick trick that saves time but still looks decent?

13

keith_rodriguez•3d ago

Can we talk about the "spreadsheet method" my coworker swore by?

I was stuck on my weekly layout last month, just staring at a blank page. My coworker Dave from accounting told me to treat it like a spreadsheet with columns for each day and rows for tasks. I tried it for two weeks and honestly it was a mess, I kept running out of space for notes and the flexibility was gone. His system works for his excel brain, but I realized I need organic space for random thoughts. Has anyone else taken bad advice from someone who doesn't even bullet journal?

18

umathompson•4d ago

Tried a mood tracker for 45 days and it just stressed me out more

I started a mood tracker in my bullet journal back in February, color coding every day with a marker. After about 3 weeks I noticed I was spending way too much time deciding what color to use for a day that felt mixed. Last weekend I flipped back through April and realized I was just picking the same shade of yellow over and over. Did anyone else try tracking moods and find it made you overthink your feelings instead of helping?

23

wright.lisa•4d ago

I used a washi tape sample pack to test color combos before I committed to buying the full rolls

Turned out the $5 pack I ignored for 6 months saved me from buying a whole set of olive greens that looked terrible against my purple ink, so has anyone else skipped samples and regretted it?

15

jana_fox50•5d ago

My bullet journal collection page got out of hand at the library cafe

I was at the public library downtown trying to track my reading for 2024 in a new collection page, but the grid I drew got so messy with cross-outs that I gave up halfway through. The librarian actually came over and suggested I use a ruler and a separate sticky note for totals, which made me realize my whole approach was too loose. Do you all have a favorite way to set up habit or reading trackers that stays neat even when life gets busy?

4

evan_wilson18•5d ago

I tried the minimalist 1-pen setup and it's just NOT for me

I see everyone raving about using just one black pen for their whole bullet journal. I gave it a shot for 3 months straight back in March and it drove me crazy. The whole point of bullet journaling for ME is being able to quickly scan and see what's work stuff, what's personal, and what's urgent. With one color everything just blurs together on the page and I spend way too long reading through lines. I switched back to a 4-color system with red for deadlines, blue for appointments, and green for notes. Anyone else find the single pen thing more frustrating than freeing?

14

daniel_walker•5d ago

Had one of those perfect bullet journal days last Tuesday where everything clicked

I normally keep a pretty simple monthly log and daily rapid logging, but last Tuesday I woke up early and decided to actually use my Alistair method for once. Wrote down my top 3 tasks, tracked my water intake, and even did a quick mood check in the corner. By noon I had finished all three tasks which never happens. I think it was because I actually matched my daily spread to what I needed instead of just copying a layout from Pinterest. What's the one spread that actually made a dent in your day when you tried it?

3

patriciareed•6d ago

Found out my habit trackers were killing my productivity from a simple blog post

I read this blog post on Tiny Ray of Sunshine last week about how tracking too many habits can backfire. The writer said that tracking more than 4 things at once makes your brain feel overloaded and you stop doing them. I was tracking 12 habits every day and wondering why I kept skipping half of them. I cut it down to 3 this week and I've actually stuck with all of them. Has anyone else noticed that less tracking means more follow through?

5

hollyc92•6d ago

Rant: Why I ditched my monthly spread after 6 months of loyal use

I kept seeing people online swear by monthly spreads for planning ahead, so I stuck with it for half a year. But all it did was make me feel pressured to fill in days I hadn't planned yet, and I ended up ignoring my daily logs. Has anyone else found that monthly layouts just don't work for how your brain organizes things?

16

rileyp49•7d ago

Learned my daily habit tracking was actually making me less productive

I was reading this study from Baylor University that said tracking too many habits at once can overwhelm your brain and hurt follow-through. I counted my April spread and had 14 different trackers going. Anyone else pare down their bullet journal setup and see better results?

13

aaron884•7d ago

Appreciation post: the librarian who showed me her bujo at a coffee shop

She flipped to a page where she tracked every patron's weird question for 3 months, and it blew my mind how simple it was. Has anyone else gotten ideas from watching a stranger's spread in public?

16

jamesfox•7d ago

I think the "productivity hack" posts are missing the point of bullet journaling

Last month I was scrolling through this community and saw like 20 posts about fancy trackers and color coded spreads. Three years ago when I started mine, I just used a $2 notebook from the drugstore and a single pen. Am I the only one who thinks all these elaborate setups actually kill the simplicity that makes bullet journaling work?

30

averywilliams•8d ago

My coworker told me my collections were a mess and she was right

Sarah from accounting looked at my October habit tracker and said it looked like a grocery list scribbled on a napkin. She pointed out I was using 3 different colors for the same category and my sleep log was just a line running through the whole week. I switched to a single pen for each section and added a simple key in the corner (a game changer for sure). Has anyone else had a buddy call them out on their layout and actually improve it?

11

dylanmurray•8d ago

Tried to save space by cramming everything into one weekly spread. Regretted it by Wednesday.

Had a trip to Portland last month and thought I'd be clever. Squeezed 7 days into two pages with tiny boxes. Tuesday I had three appointments, a grocery list, and a work deadline all overlapping. Couldn't read half my own handwriting. Threw the whole thing out and started a fresh daily log. Anyone else tried compact layouts and had them backfire?

7

derek656•9d ago

Had a real 'aha' moment when I tried to skip my monthly spread

I've been bullet journaling for about 8 months now and I always thought monthly spreads were a waste of time. I just used my daily log and figured that was enough. But last week I was trying to find a note about a dentist appointment from 3 weeks ago and it took me like 15 minutes of flipping through pages. I got so frustrated I almost threw my journal across the room. Then I realized the whole point of the monthly log is to have a quick reference for stuff like that. I spent an hour setting up a simple monthly spread with just a calendar and a task list and now everything feels way more organized. Has anyone else been stubborn about certain spreads and then totally changed their mind after a mess up?

11

miam75•9d ago

That minimalist spread at a meetup in Austin made me question everything about daily logs

Saw someone with a super stripped down layout during the Austin bullet journal meetup last month and it hit me that my overly detailed daily logs were just making me anxious. Has anyone else found less structure actually helps you keep up with your journal long term?

26

diana20•11d ago

Stopped using 20 different color pens and my bujo actually works now

I spent my first year trying to color code everything with a different marker for work, personal, habits, you name it. It looked pretty but I spent more time switching pens than actually writing stuff down. Three months ago I cut it down to just one black pen and a single red one for urgent tasks only. Now my daily log takes maybe 2 minutes instead of 15 and I actually keep up with it. Anyone else find that less decoration makes the system stick better?

21

caleb_ross12•11d ago

Finally filled my whole January spread without skipping a single day for the first time in three years

I was sitting in my truck at a rest stop outside Flagstaff last night and realized I'd actually used every tracker and habit log I set up this month, which feels huge because I usually give up by the second week, so does anyone else struggle with keeping up with the daily mood tracker or is it just me?

8

nancy475•11d ago

Overheard a librarian say she uses bullet journals for her kids' homework tracking and learning schedules

She tracks every subject, test date, and assignment due date in one notebook. Said it saved her three hours each week. Never thought to use a bujo for my kid's school stuff. Anyone else do this for their kids?

1

max415•15d ago

Rapid logging vs full sentences, which side are you on?

I was at a coffee shop downtown last week and saw two people bullet journaling at different tables. One was doing straight rapid logging, dashes and bullets, no fluff. The other was writing full journal entries in their notebook. It got me thinking about how I started with rapid logging but slowly drifted into writing more and more words. Do you stick to the original bullet system or have you evolved into something more like a diary?

18

daniel_walker•17d ago

Found out my habit trackers were totally useless after 4 months

I had this detailed habit tracker in my bullet journal for tracking water intake, reading, and exercise. Every day I'd color in the little boxes and feel good about it. Then I looked back at 4 months of data and realized I was just using the same 3 colors over and over without actually checking if I was doing the habits. The tracker looked pretty but it didn't actually help me drink more water or read more books. I found a post on a bujo blog that explained the difference between tracking and actually changing behavior. Now I'm trying a simpler weekly checklist instead. Has anyone else caught themselves decorating more than actually using their trackers?

22

jessica_hall49•1mo ago

Was never convinced by habit trackers until my third year of journaling

For almost two years I thought habit trackers were just decorative filler that took up space in my bullet journal. But after I started tracking how many days I actually watered my houseplants, I realized I was forgetting almost half the time. Has anyone else had a bullet journal feature they dismissed early on that later became essential?

20

rileyp49•1mo ago

Spent $75 on a fancy journal that didn't even lay flat

I picked up this leather-bound bullet journal from an Etsy shop back in April for $75 because it looked so nice in the photos, but the spine is so stiff it won't stay open on my desk without me holding it down. Now I'm stuck using a cheap $8 dotted notebook from Target that works way better for my daily spreads and habit trackers. Anyone else bought a pricey journal that just ended up collecting dust?

17

taylor.amy•1mo ago

Vent: My whole weekly spread fell apart after I tried the Alastair method

I was all in on that rapid logging system where you use different dots and dashes for tasks, events, and notes. But last Tuesday I realized I spent 20 minutes just decoding my own symbols from Monday morning, and by Thursday I had completely stopped using the whole thing. I'm back to my old Ryder Carroll basics now, just bullets and crosses. Has anyone else tried a fancy migration system that totally backfired?