c/bullet-journaling

Wasted $40 on a fancy bullet journal before realizing a $3 notebook works way better

Bought a Scribbles That Matter journal online and hated how thick the pages were for my fountain pen, so now it's sitting in my drawer while I use a cheap composition book from the grocery store.

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ruby_lane•1d ago

That friend who told me to use a ruler instead of a stencil for my monthly spread was actually right

I spent a year fighting wonky lines from cheap stencils because I thought a ruler would look too plain. After she handed me her own journal with this clean, custom box borders I had to admit my spreads looked messy. Now I wonder if I wasted a year fighting the obvious fix how many of you just use a ruler straight from the beginning?

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parker_bailey•2d ago

My habit tracker was failing because I kept making the boxes too small to actually write in

Switched from a whole month on one page to a single week per spread and suddenly I'm actually filling the thing out instead of giving up by day 5; has anyone else found that scaling up the grid size fixes your consistency?

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faithbaker•4d ago

Tried a $2 pen vs a $12 pen for three months, the cheap one won every time

I know it sounds crazy but I ordered a pack of those Pilot G2s off Amazon for like 12 bucks for a 20 pack. My fancy Leuchtturm pen kept smudging on my weekly spreads and I got sick of it. The G2 writes smoother on the pages and I don't get ink bleeds like I did with the expensive one. Has anyone else found cheaper pens just work better for journaling than the pricey ones?

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uma306•5d ago

Caught myself color coding my entire monthly spread wrong for 6 months straight

I realized last Tuesday that I was using my red pen for work tasks and orange for personal stuff which sounds fine but I kept mixing them up because orange is too close to red for me. Then I borrowed a friend's journal at coffee and she uses blue for everything except appointments which she underlines in green and it clicked so hard. Now I just pick three totally different colors like black, green, and purple so I can actually tell what's what without squinting. Anyone else have a color system that backfired on them?

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ryanprice•6d ago

Finally ditched my fancy Leuchtturm for a $5 composition notebook and it's been a game changer

I spent two years using those expensive dotted notebooks for my bullet journal. At $20 a pop it adds up fast, especially when I go through one every 3 months. A buddy on a jobsite handed me a standard composition book from Walgreens to jot down some measurements, and I realized the paper handles my fountain pen just fine. Ghosting is there but honestly not worse than the Leuchtturm. For my daily logs and rapid logging it works perfect, and I don't stress about making mistakes on expensive paper. Has anyone else tried going ultra budget on their journal and stuck with it?

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the_claire•22d ago

My trusty mechanical pencil snapped mid-spread on page 87

I was working on my February habit tracker last Tuesday night when my favorite Uni Kuru Toga pencil just cracked right at the grip. It happened while I was filling in a tiny box for day 3 of water intake. I had to stop and dig through my desk drawer for a backup, which was some cheap Bic I forgot I owned. That pencil threw off my whole line consistency and the tracker looks a little bumpy now. Has anyone found a bullet journal friendly pencil that actually lasts and doesn't break after a few months?

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elizabeth_gonzalez•25d ago

Hot take: Those $50 Archer and Olive journals are a total waste

I dropped $52 on one of their fancy dot grid notebooks last month because everyone raves about the thick paper. First week the ink bleed from my Tombow markers was brutal, like see through to the next page bad. My $12 Moleskine from Target handles it way better and I don't feel bad scribbling all over it. Am I the only one who thinks the hype is just for the aesthetic and not the function?

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elizabeth_gonzalez•26d ago

Heard a coworker swear by monthly collections instead of weekly spreads

I overheard a cashier at my store talking about how she groups all her tasks by month instead of week in her bujo. Tried it for March and it cut down my setup time by about 15 minutes each Sunday. Has anyone else found monthly layouts work better than weekly ones?

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the_hugo•27d ago

Found out my habit tracker was lying to me for 8 months

I was going through my old bullet journal last night and noticed I had colored in "exercised" for a whole week in March. Thing is, I had the flu that week and definitely didn't go anywhere near a gym. Made me wonder how many other days I'm just filling in out of habit instead of what actually happened. Anyone ever catch themselves doing the same thing with their trackers?

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ivan82•27d ago

Debate: That $35 washi tape haul I got online

I splurged on a set of 20 washi tapes for $35 from an Etsy shop and half of them barely stick to paper, but the other half are the best I've ever used. Did I waste money or get a steal depending on luck, or do you all swear by spending more per roll for quality? What's your experience?

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jadeg81•28d ago

Hit 500 pages in my bujo last week and it barely looks like a notebook anymore

I started my bullet journal back in March 2023 thinking it would just be a quick task tracker. Last week I counted and I'm on page 503, the thing is so fat the spine is cracking. It really hit me how much life I crammed into this one book, all the grocery lists, doctor visits, and random doodles. Anyone else have a journal that's bulging out like it's about to explode?

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robin836•28d ago

My coworker told me my weekly spreads were way too cluttered and now I just do a simple task list with three priorities each day

She said 'you're spending more time decorating than actually tracking your habits' and after trying her method for two weeks I actually get more done, has anyone else had to simplify their setup?

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karent75•1mo ago

Bought a $40 stabilo boss highlighter set and it was totally worth it

Finally grabbed one after using cheap highlighters that bled through my journal pages for months. Has anyone else found a specific brand that doesn't bleed on thin paper?

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paul_webb45•1mo ago

I finally stopped putting my daily tasks in my monthly spread

For like 6 months I was cramming every single task into my monthly log and wondering why it looked like a mess. Then I realized the monthly column is really just for appointments and deadlines, not my grocery list or laundry reminders. I started using a simple weekly layout instead and now I can actually find stuff without squinting. Has anyone else been overcomplicating their monthly spreads?

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jamiesingh•1mo ago

Feedback on my monthly log made me rethink everything

A commenter pointed out that my monthly log was just a to-do list with dates, not a proper brain dump collection. I switched to using a single page for tasks and a facing page for notes and events, and my weeks feel way less cluttered now. Has anyone else gotten a simple suggestion that totally changed their layout?

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julia_fisher28•1mo ago

My weekly spread got way too cluttered after I added habit tracking

Went to a bullet journal meetup in Austin and everyone showed me their minimalist layouts, now I'm rethinking every single line I draw on the page... has anyone else had to strip back their layout after going overboard?

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grantthomas•1mo ago

Tracked my mood for 6 months and realized I was doing it wrong

I used to put a color dot for each day in my bullet journal showing how I felt. Happy was green, sad was blue, angry was red, that kind of thing. After 6 months I looked back and just saw a bunch of random colors with no pattern. Then I saw someone online who tracks the reason for the mood, not just the mood itself. So I started writing one or two words next to each dot like 'work deadline' or 'slept bad' or 'called mom'. Now when I flip back I can actually see what triggers my bad days. It made the whole habit useful instead of just coloring. Has anyone else found a better way to track moods that actually tells you something?

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kelly_coleman61•1mo ago

Was skeptical about rapid logging at first but now I'm hooked

I used to think rapid logging was just messy scribbling, not real bullet journaling. But after three months of trying both detailed spreads and quick entries, I found rapid logging saved me about 15 minutes each day. The key for me was using symbols I stuck to, like a dot for tasks and a star for priority items. Has anyone else switched sides on this, or do you still prefer full sentences in your journal?

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the_mia•1mo ago

My sister called my bujo setup "aggressively minimal" and it got me thinking

We were talking about planners and she said mine looks like it belongs to someone who hates colors. She was joking but it hit different because I realized I've been so scared of making it messy that I barely use it. I always stick to black pen, a ruler, and maybe one highlighter if I'm feeling wild. But now I'm wondering if I'm missing out on the fun part of tracking moods or habits with actual color codes. Anyone else stuck in a black and white rut and broke out of it?

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the_simon•1mo ago

Finally got back into bullet journaling after years away

I used to keep a super detailed bullet journal back in 2016. Every day had a full spread with trackers for water, sleep, mood, the whole deal. But somewhere around 2019 I just stopped doing it. It felt like too much work keeping up with all those boxes. Last month I started again but way simpler. Now I just do a daily log with 3 tasks max and a small note section. No fancy trackers or color coding. My old journal had 12 different pens and now I just use one black Pilot G2. Funny how I went from wanting it perfect to just needing it to work. Has anyone else found that doing less makes them stick with it longer?

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skyler_white•1mo ago

My friend pointed out my weekly spreads were way too cluttered

I had this habit of cramming every task, habit, and note into one page each week. A buddy glanced at my journal and said, 'This looks like a ransom note, not a planner.' At first I was annoyed, but then I looked at it again and yeah, it was a mess. I cut down to only 5 tasks per day and left blank space for random thoughts. Now I actually finish things instead of just listing them. Has anyone else had to totally rethink their layout because of one comment?

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the_derek•1mo ago

A chat with a regular at the coffee shop totally flipped my weekly spread setup

I was sketching next week's layout at my usual spot when the barista, Maria, leaned over and asked why I always put my tasks on the left and events on the right. I told her it just felt right, but she showed me her journal where she mixes them all in one column by day. She said, "Seeing everything I need to do for a day in one spot keeps me from flipping pages." I tried her way for two weeks and my planning time dropped by maybe 15 minutes a week. Has anyone else tried a single-column daily log instead of splitting things up?

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the_miles•1mo ago

A quiet library in Portland showed me how to use my bullet journal differently

I was at the main library downtown about three months ago, working on my weekly spread. A person at the next table saw my journal and asked if they could show me their system. They had a simple notebook with just two colors, black and a light blue, and used it for everything from work tasks to meal planning. They said, 'I used to spend hours on layouts, but now I just need it to work.' That chat made me drop my fancy weekly tracker and go back to basics. I now use only a pen and a highlighter, and my planning time has gone from over an hour to maybe 20 minutes. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where seeing someone else's simple setup changed how you journal?

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jadeg81•1mo ago

Can we talk about how I used to think trackers were a waste of time?

When I first started bullet journaling about 3 years ago, I saw all these fancy mood and habit trackers and thought they were just for show. I figured my daily log was enough. Then last winter, I was feeling really off and couldn't figure out why. On a whim, I made a simple tracker for my sleep, water, and time outside for a month. Looking back at it, I saw a clear link. Every time I got less than 7 hours of sleep for three days straight, my mood and energy tanked, no matter what else I did. That one page of simple boxes made me change my whole evening routine. It turned a vague feeling into a real thing I could fix. Has anyone else had a tracker show them something totally unexpected?

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