PSA: My bullet journal was stressing me out because I was copying spreads wrong

I was trying to make my weekly log look exactly like this artist's on Instagram, with perfect little boxes and tiny, neat writing. I spent over an hour every Sunday night just setting it up, and I started dreading it. The tip-off was last Tuesday when my friend saw my journal and said, 'Wow, that looks like a lot of work. Does it help you?' I realized I was treating it like an art project I had to get an A on, not a tool to make my life easier. I was so focused on the look that I stopped actually using the rapid logging part. Now I just do a simple two-column list for the week with my basic symbols, and it takes maybe 10 minutes. Has anyone else gotten stuck trying to make their journal 'pretty' and lost the actual point of it?

3 comments

3 Comments

willow6721mo ago

Totally feel this. My first bullet journal looked like a toddler tried to copy an architecture blueprint. Got so hung up on ruler lines that I forgot to write down my dentist appointment. Isn't it funny how we can turn a simple tool into a source of homework? The shift to basic lists was a game changer for me too. Who knew the goal was to actually use the thing, not just make it look ready for a museum.

lucas_jenkins1mo ago

Yeah, the whole aesthetic trap. I fell for it hard. Now my journal is just ugly lists that actually work.

zarap1419d ago

Honestly, I'm gonna push back on this a little bit. For some people, the aesthetic part IS the point, and that's okay too. If spending an hour on those perfect little boxes is what makes you feel organized and calm at the start of the week, then that's not wasted time, it's self-care. @willow672 mentioned turning it into homework, but for me, the ritual of making it look nice is what kept me coming back to actually use it later. If rapid logging works for you, great, but not everyone's brain needs to be that utilitarian. There's a middle ground between a museum piece and a scrap of paper.