c/bullet-journaling

Finally figured out a weekly spread that works for me after three years of trying

I started bullet journaling in 2021, but my weekly layouts were always a mess. I'd cram too much in or leave too much blank space. Last month, I switched to a simple two-page spread with a time tracker on the left and a rolling task list on the right. I use a black Muji pen and a ruler. It takes me 10 minutes to set up every Sunday night now. What's your weekly setup look like?

My new bullet journal is bleeding through the pages

I bought a cheap notebook from the dollar store to test layouts before using my good one. The ink from my basic gel pen bled through so badly I can't use the back of any page. What's a good, cheap notebook that won't do this?

My entire March spread got ruined by a leaky pen in my bag yesterday.

I finally saw my bullet journal wasn't working at a coffee shop in Denver

I was trying to plan my week and realized I'd spent 45 minutes just drawing boxes and lines. My friend looked over and said, 'That looks like a lot of work for a to-do list.' It hit me that I was making art, not a tool to help me. How do you keep your bujo from getting too fancy and slow?

Saw a guy bullet journaling on a rollercoaster at Six Flags last weekend

My journal for the week my store flooded was just a solid block of black ink.

The pipe burst on a Tuesday. Water everywhere. Had to manage the cleanup, insurance calls, the whole mess. Every night I'd open my bujo to log it. No fancy spreads. Just rapid logging with a black pen. Page after page of tasks and notes. No color, no trackers. Just pure function. It felt grim but looking back, it did its job. Got me through. Anyone else have a week where your bujo just became a bare bones survival tool?

Remember when we all used to hand draw those perfect monthly calendars?

Honestly, I spent like 3 hours last month trying to get my future log dates to line up perfectly across two pages. Ngl, I kept messing up the spacing for July and had to start over twice. I finally gave up and just used a ruler and pencil to lightly grid it out first, which I should have done from the start. Anyone have a better trick for setting up a yearly spread without the headache?

Heads up on those $40 'bullet journal starter kits' you see online

Finally decided between a weekly spread and a rolling daily log after a messy March

I picked the rolling daily because my schedule is too unpredictable, and it's been a game-changer for keeping track of last-minute shifts at the cafe.

Shoutout to the cheap Pilot G2 pen I found at the gas station

I was rushing to set up my new weekly spread and grabbed this random pen instead of my usual fancy ones. The ink flow was actually perfect for my rapid logging, no skipping at all even on the thicker paper. Has anyone else had a surprisingly good experience with a basic pen they just picked up somewhere?

My friend said my weekly spread looked like a chore chart

We were at a coffee shop last Thursday and I showed her my journal. She pointed at my Monday box and said 'this just looks like work.' I had a full list of tasks with no color or fun stuff. It hit me that I turned my hobby into another job. How do you keep your spreads from feeling like a to-do list?

Thought using a ruler for spreads was a waste of time until my March pages looked way cleaner.

My friend in Chicago said to just try it for one month. Now I can't go back to freehand lines. Anyone else have a simple tool that made a big difference?

My monthly habit tracker went from a total mess to actually useful in about 3 months

I used to just scribble a bunch of boxes for things like 'read' or 'water plants' and it looked chaotic. Then I saw a video where someone grouped habits by morning, afternoon, and night. I tried that and color-coded each group with mildliners. Now I can see my patterns way better, like I always miss my afternoon walk on Tuesdays. Has anyone else found a simple layout tweak that made a tracker click for them?

Warning: I saw a stranger's journal at a coffee shop in Portland and it broke my system

I was at a place called Case Study Coffee about two years ago. The person next to me had their journal open, and I saw they used a single page for a whole month's tasks, not a daily log. They just had a big list with tiny checkboxes. I'd been doing daily spreads for years, filling maybe half a page each day. That night I tried their way. I saved 15 pages in my Leuchtturm that month. Now my weekly log is just one page with a rolling task list. Has anyone else switched from daily to a more condensed format and stuck with it?

I switched from a weekly to a daily log for my work schedule and it saved my brain

Finally got my weekly spread to work for me after months of trying

I mean, I kept making these super detailed layouts that took forever to draw and then I'd just skip using them. Last week, I just grabbed a ruler and made three columns: 'work', 'home', and 'me'. I wrote my tasks in pencil and moved them around. Idk, maybe it's just me, but that simple change made me actually open my journal every day this week. Has anyone else found that a basic layout works better than a fancy one?

My kid's school art show made me rethink my whole weekly spread

I was at the elementary school gym last Thursday for my son's art show, and all the projects were just taped to the wall with no real order. It hit me that my own weekly log looked the same, just a messy list of tasks. I came home and drew a big circle in the middle of the page, splitting it into 7 pie slices for each day. Now I put my 3 main tasks for the day right in the slice, and it's way easier to see my whole week at once. Has anyone else tried a circular layout instead of the normal boxes?

The great pen bleed test of 2024 did not go as planned

I had to pick between a set of Staedtler fineliners I already owned and a new pack of Sakura Pigma Microns for my new journal. I went with the Staedtler because I'm cheap, but the 0.3mm tip bled right through the 120gsm paper on my first weekly spread. Now I've got ghosting on the next three pages. Anyone have a good pen for thin paper that won't cost me another $20?

DAE feel like everyone's trackers are way too complicated now?

I see these huge, color-coded mood and habit spreads online, but they often get abandoned after a week because they take 20 minutes to fill out. The original point was rapid logging, not making art. What's a simple tracker that actually stuck for you?

I finally hit 100 pages in my bullet journal and it felt weird

I started this journal in January and just filled page 100 this morning. It's a Leuchtturm1917 notebook, and I never thought I'd stick with it long enough to get that far. Seeing that number made me realize how much small daily stuff I've actually tracked and planned out. Has anyone else been surprised by a page count or a streak they kept up?

Looking back at my first bullet journal setup in 2018

I remember staring at a blank notebook, stuck between doing a super artsy, decorated journal or a bare-bones, rapid-logging one. I picked the simple route, just a black pen and a ruler, because I was scared of messing up fancy layouts. For the first six months, it was just tasks and dates, no colors or drawings at all. It felt a bit plain, but it actually got me using it every single day, which was the whole point. Now my style is somewhere in the middle, with a few simple doodles. Anyone else start out super minimal and slowly add more art later?

Changed my mind on a $50 pen for my bullet journal

I always thought a nice pen was a waste, but my sister got me a Lamy Safari for my birthday. After using it for a month, my handwriting is neater and I actually look forward to writing my daily log. That $50 felt like a splurge, but it made the whole practice more enjoyable. Has anyone else found a specific tool that improved their journaling habit?

My sister told me to stop buying expensive pens for my bullet journal and just use a basic Bic.

I finally tried it for a month and my daily logging actually got faster because I stopped worrying about making every entry perfect.

A stranger on the train saw me bullet journaling and asked for tips.

Trying to explain bullet journaling to my grandma went hilariously wrong

She thought it was a recipe book and started adding her own pie recipes. Now I have a section for desserts I never planned for, lol.