Update: Why my plain bullet journal beats the fancy ones

Okay, so for a long time, I bought into the idea that a bullet journal had to be a work of art. Every page needed washi tape and cool lettering. I'd see people online showing off their spreads and feel bad about my messy notes. Then I had a week where I was so focused on making my monthly log look nice that I forgot two meetings. That was my wake-up call. I stripped everything back to just bullets and dates in a cheap notebook. Suddenly, I was keeping up with tasks without stress. All that decoration is nice, but it's not for me, and I think we overhype the pretty part.

3 comments

3 Comments

sam_thomas5d ago

That pressure to make every page perfect is so real... It's easy to lose the actual purpose of the thing. Going basic just lets the tool work for you instead of against you... My own notebook is a mess of scribbles and it's way more useful that way.

kai_singh426d ago

Honestly, that point about forgetting meetings because you were decorating really sticks with me. Tbh, nobody talks about how the fancy journal trend can turn a personal tool into a performance for likes online. Ngl, once you start making spreads for other people to see, it stops being about your own productivity. That need to show off a perfect page adds so much mental clutter. Keeping it simple cuts out that fake pressure and lets the journal actually work for you. It's just way more honest and useful when it's messy and real.

derek_dixon6d ago

Maybe it's not that deep for most people. @kai_singh42 makes a fair point about online pressure, but lots of folks just enjoy the decorating part without it becoming a whole thing. The real trick is using whatever style actually helps you remember your meetings.