My bullet journal looked like a mess until I saw my cousin's simple spread

I was trying to make these super detailed weekly layouts with trackers for everything, and it took me like an hour every Sunday to set up. Then I visited my cousin in Chicago and she showed me her journal, which was just a daily log and a monthly calendar page. She said she spends maybe five minutes a day on it. I realized I was making it way too hard and missing the whole point of the system. Has anyone else had to scale back from over-planning to something that actually works?

3 comments

3 Comments

jasonf171mo agoMost Upvoted

You mentioned missing the point of the system, but I see the point differently. For me, the detailed setup is the relaxing part of my week. That hour on Sunday is my creative time, not wasted effort.

lucasschmidt1mo ago

i mean, @jasonf17, but do you ever find that the time you spend on that detailed setup actually makes it harder to pivot during the week? like, if something changes on tuesday, do you feel locked into what you planned on sunday? idk, maybe it's just me but i've had that happen a lot where i spend all this time organizing things and then a new task pops up and it throws the whole system off. it's like the creativity part is great but then the rigidity of the plan catches up with you later.

hannah_perry1mo ago

Tbh @jasonf17 that Sunday hour sounds like a creative reset, not a trap, just gotta leave room for the chaos.