Why Bullet Journaling Just Doesn't Work...

I’m an industrial designer and I was taught “form follows function” and while that might sound like what you pointed out in your video it kind of isn’t. As the function changes so does the form… and the way the brain of the person that uses the journal works also plays a big role. For you the more artsy setup doesn’t work and I thought I was the same but this year was the first year I actually stuck to a journal the entire year and funnily enough this year I did an illustration for each month and very artsy fonts… this way I personally feel motivated to open the journal and actually use it plus if I have to commit and sit down at the end of the month to create the new spreads it forces me to actually use it and to find the motivation for that I do it in a way that is enjoyable for me. It takes me the better part of a day to do the entire month but that’s essentially one day of ‘me-time’. That being said: I do art and I draw in sketchbooks during the month as well so for me this is free time not a daunting pile of work… well most of the time at least and at those times as soon as I got up and started doing it I do find it enjoyable.
The best thing about using a bullet journal is that you can personalize it so it works for you… some people just need to realize that having an artsy journal might be nice but if it doesn’t work for you it’s ok to let go instead of pressuring yourself to do it any at cause that clearly defeats the purpose 😊

I was a bit ready to completely disagree, but honestly you’re right. I will also say that my gratitude spread is the MOST important part of my monthly spreads (yes I do make them pretty 🤷🏼‍♀️ sue me) I don’t see a lot of them, but this is something that has greatly improved my mental health. When I’m having a bit of a anxiety attack, I grab my journal and write anything I can think of that I’m grateful for and it truly helps. Also, as an artist, I do find that coloring and creating a cohesive spread that differs from month to month helps as well and also keeps me engaged; I know it’s not for everyone.

Bullet Journaling gave me herpes too, so disapointing

As per you bujo getting wet, I prefer a rite in the rain note book..

I'm constantly out in the elements and I love to get inspiration from nature.

Really good summary 🎉 one of the best / clearest i’ve seen

thank you.

I've been relying on a bullet journal as my primary method of organization for seven years and it's helped a great deal. No it's not pretty. Sometimes it's carefully set up, sometimes it's a fast scrawl of information. Sometimes it's plain text on a blank page, sometimes there's a doodle or bit of painting, sometimes I literally spray ink across the blank areas next to the organizational data. It's whatever I feel like making it in the moment, not something for others to admire.

And like you said, that's where people go wrong: they take an efficiency tool that can help them and turn it into a competition to see who can do it least efficiently, compromising how helpful it can be. And if you've been around the stationery set for a little while, you know a primary reason for this state of affairs is that the social media aspects of such practices are driven by people doing it for therapeutic reasons, or to satisfy compulsions, and not by those whose goal is to just use them practically, efficiently, and most effectively. The end result is that the bullet journaling we see and hear about is an artistic hobby/competition using BuJo as the medium, and the bullet journaling that's being used best usually isn't worth showing off.

As another commenter pointed out, it's not that the decorators misunderstood the objective, it's that they have a different objective. But the problem with that is that in doing so they co-opted an organizational tool to use simultaneously as both an organization tool and a method of generating "creative sphere" social media content and gaining status within an existing online community. And that is a problem: An efficient organizer is a good organizer; a painting is a good form of expressive art; but an organizer that prioritizes strict adherence to precise aesthetics, to the detriment of efficiency and organization, is neither a good organizer nor an effective expressive medium. It's a mixture of the two that sabotages both goals, so those seeking a creative outlet and organization need to make serious pursuits of both separately, rather than disorganized pursuits that don't gain either satisfactorily. That doesn't necessarily mean creativity needs to be physically separated from the journal; there are plenty of opportunities for creativity within the bounds of a bullet journal, but it's dangerous and misguided to make the basic structure of the organization into something held to laborious standards of creativity and craft.

It's like buying a practical car, lowering it until the frame is resting on the ground for attention and clout, and then complaining that the car isn't doing what the manufacturer promised. User error.

It's kinda funny how much your bullet journal aligns with my bujo structure. The only difference is that I doodle in the margin to fill out empty space.

I actually love drawing and arts but I'm really lazy with calendar spreads, which used to take me also hours and just made me anxious. So nowadays I have a minimalist bullet journal and then own separate pages for the art stuff. There I won't need to care about day numbers or any fancy spreads and I just draw whatever I feel like, it is not stressfull to me at all. It has increased my drawing time a lot and made me progress really fast in learning art, can't recommend enough.

I use a rubber stamp for my spreads. Simple. To the point and fill out accordingly. I recently wanted to work on my cursive handwriting so at the moment it looks like a mix of industrial forms and Lord of the Rings script. But it works for me. I’m productive and my handwriting is improving. Plus it’s kinda cool to see your progress over the past year.

My bujo was super helpful up until the day it eas eaten by my in laws dogs

You met Chris Do! 😮


(great video about bujo, also) 😅

It's nice to hear your opinion on this. I love Bullet Journaling although I'm just doing it since 2023 started. However, in the beginning, I was so stressed to write everyday and to keep it pretty. I'm an artist and this is where I live. I found a place for all that creativity. I didn't need to write something down for every day, I just needed a space where I could write down so that my thoughts would get more clearly. So I cut the bullshit, I kept the designs pretty but I quit doing an "every day" or "weekly spread". That just didn't work for me. So: I love bullet journaling for everyone who struggles just like I did - you can cut all the bullshit you don't need and just do whatever the hell you want. :) <3

Love the gray highlighter

Thank u so much❤

Thank you❤

I have been wanting to start BUJO and bullet journaling because I'm that kind of person that wants to make it aesthetic and look nice. I also have time for it which helps although that definitely is not the case for everyone

I see a lot of comments saying that making your bullet journal pretty isn't bad; let me yes, and that. I do it the other way around. My sketchbook also serves as my bujo. This is EXTREMELY helpful because I skip pages with sketches and art pieces I'm proud of and repurpose sketch pages that aren't particularly good, or that I used just to test swatches or do practice strokes or gestures drawings. Sometimes I completely remake an old sketch into something entirely different with new materials after I've bujo-ified the page. I am also a stationary JUNKIE and it's a great way to use a lot of my washi tapes, stickers, sticky notes and ephemera. This also serves an incredibly important value of mine, which is to actually USE all the different notebooks and sketchbooks I've only partially filled because I was just testing them or not happy sticking with them or felt limited by them. Whenever I combine the two, I have a reason to fully utilize a whole sketchbook.

This has been my first year doing this and I've finally, for the first time in my life, completely filled a sketchbook where I love just about every page and I'm planning out another for next year, which I imagine will be filled up before the year is out----which never happened with my old Bujos that I used to switch out for some new fun notebook with different/better paper or whatnot.

It's not a junk journal. It's not a smash journal. It's not a travel journal. it's not a bujo either. It's my sketchbook bujo and it's taken me five years to realize the minmaxing of a bujo is just not for me, so I've developed a system that works for me. I imagine a lot of bujo creatives absolutely feel the same love while decorating their bujos. :)

i've occasionally made a pretty spread... but for me, it is super plain - dots and crosses out. i have another journal for morning pages and other things. But i agree - i think i want to add end of day synopsis.

My bujo is a whole mess, not at all pretty. But it does help me to be more productive. One notebook and a black pen are enough for bujoing. Preferably, a ruler would do nice job.

I'm still pretty new to this, but I've been learning as I go and I've found the best balance for me

At first I thought you had to draw images and be artistic. I soon found that, not being an artist, I wasn't happy with the results.

I still do like to decorate though, although not as much as I think most people seem to. But stickers and Washi and scrapbook papers are all I need now.

I use my Happy Planners, but really I just decorate the side bar and maybe a touch underneath. But for me I prefer to not touch the part where I write at all.

Just the side decorations make it feel special to me, but leaving the writing parts untouched is my reminder that it's the writing part that really matters.

I do also however create a few pp at the start of the year that I will really decorate. Eg the Index, the Key, a Vision Board for the year. But those don't take long and I only need to do them once for the year

It is definitely a creative outlet fore. But the way I decorate, for me, doesn't interfere at all with doing the journalling itself.

Some of those really busy ones almost make me dizzy to look at. I think they'd feel distracting to me myself, so I'm somewhere down the middle. I prefer my decorating to be rather sparse.

Herp

Bullet Journal has worked brilliantly for me, for the last 10+ years, but not the art gallery stuff you see on loads of video. Would not be without it.

The actual Bullet Journal method is barely featured on the website anymore, it’s hidden behind the book and the course.

Thanks, this was the kind of information I was looking for.

I found myself in the same loop. Lol wanting to make it pretty that I never even actually used it. With time I gave that up and used it for to do lists and brain dumps. Stopped caring about “pretty” and cared more about practical. I still go days without using it but I started keeping a different journal for therapy. I’m thinking now of this next year combining the two in just one notebook. I’m happy that I’m at the point that I don’t care what it looks like because it is for me and me only. MY journal. I also need to be better about going back and reflecting. I know what works and what doesn’t work for me so going to try and implement new things. And if it fails, I know it is ok and can just continue using the notebook as I need it.

Excellent video man, good job!

I just buy a daily planner (because I can't be bothered designing the dates and calendars) and it turns out however it suits my day - sometimes it will look like a bullet journal, other days it will just be a minimal to-do list, while other entries will look like journal pages or even visual/art journal pages, brainstorming pages, and so on. No hassle, no need to design and get creative unless I really really want to.

What highlighter is that?

The problem is not the bullet journal.
It is people seeing it as an instant fix and treating it as a cult, falling into perceived peer pressure through buho influencers. In short: the people are the problem, like always.

I do not agree with you on a few points, like having to actually journal when you can do what you want with YOUR bujo. A bit subjective.
But overall this is a great video, emphasising on the basics and strengths of the bujo.

you need to introduce more "kurwaaaaa" and "uncle przemek" in your journal !

i gotta aplaud you for learning everything about bujo and doing it for four years but not stumbling upon the main bujo idea

Thank you for your video, I will start asap. I think this will help me to organize myself better

I never realized how the "making it pretty" part was not allowing me to use my bujo the way I wanted to; I couldn't write notes on the sides cuz that's ugly, I couldn't just infodump to lessen my anxiety over forgetting cuz that's ugly, and in the end I just started using scraps of paper instead of my perfectly set up bujo. I tried to set my bujo in the most ugly, lazy way I could. And now I'm actually reaching out for it. Thank you so much for this video.

I kept a “pretty and artistic” journal for almost a year. It was a complete waste of time. Never again. Simple from now on. Journals are supposed to keep us productive. Concentrating on the “artsy” stuff took away the main point of keeping me on the main task of productivity and organizing my time. I have my main hobbies that got put off and this to me is wrong. My hobbies are my creative outlet and journaling is time management…period!

Thank you very much to bring everything back to simplicity , it's a kind of decluttering what you are doing

Cześć, jakiś długopisów / pisaków używasz? Bardzo fajnie odcinają grubością i kolorem dzięki czemu wszystko jest mega czytelne, pozdrawiam.

I think that the perfect system for me it’s, I use a dated agenda, and the bujo system (bullets, migrate tasks, etc) I try to buy always an agenda that have enough space for a busy busy day, so never run out of space. But the bujo system it’s so useful, the original concept at least, even in the blank pages at the end of my agenda, I use collections like, when I change the toothbrush, when I went to the doctor, and thinks like that, like yearly things.
But I find that you are so right, I quit pretty bujo after like 3 years also 😅
Sorry my English, greetings from chile 🇨🇱

I absolutely 💯 agree, function over beauty, otherwise what are you ACTUALLY doing it for? All it leads to the other way around is procrastinating on the things you initially wanted it to help you with! Only took me a year and a half to learn this 😆

I agree with this. The reason I failed to do bullet journaling is the consistency I wanted when decorating my journal. I spent time designing my spread and got tired when it came to making the schedules or important parts that I actually needed. I tried using a simple notebook to write all my tasks and accomplishments for the day and surprise, it worked for me. From then on, I've been focusing on the functionality of the journal that I need. I just decorate my bujo for fun during my free time and I don't overdo it. In fact, I bought stickers so I didn't have to do some letterings or banners and so on. The good thing about this is I discovered something about myself: simplicity works for me.

after "forgetting" to update my even quite simple bullet journal, I'm in a rut. But after listening to what u said about this made me realize it was simple but not simple enough to help me achieve my goal to be productive and mentally free. You showed me the pathways now ill walk on it. ThankYou!

lol

Your using the " interstitial journaling technique. Nice.

All the systems don't mean shit if you don't put in the bloody work!

Notes app in my phone works great too. Especially when I note stuff from audios or lectures I listen to

I am (bullet) journaling for about 4 years now. I do not view it as a productivity method. For me it is journaling, keeping memories, keeping track of things (to do for example), but nothing more. I enjoy all stages of 'prettyness' cause it reflects what was important to me at that time.
I refuse to view everything under the lense of productivity and instead do what I like. If that is collecting quotes about cats, I do that. If that is making a list for my house moving, I do that in there as well.

What's wrong with your upper lips?

Buying Rydell's book just at the beginning would have saved you 4 years, but better late than never!

re:getting it wet, I always use sharpie fine point because they're relatively cheap, reportedly archival quality, and most importantly (contrary to their papermate competitors) water fast. Not ideal to get any book wet, but at least after managing the emergency and saving the book I don't have lost data on top of it all. (though you could write more sensitive info in papermate felt tip pen to make it more difficult for someone to reconstruct if you throw it in water. Similar things were done in WWII, but that's about all the papermate felt tips are goodfor IMO)

Gratitude IS in fact a major factor for happiness. Nice job.