Update: I was wrong about color coding my whole journal

I spent 4 months doing this complicated color key with 8 different pens and it just made everything messy. Last week I switched to just one highlighter for deadlines and one pen color for everything else, and my spreads actually look clean now. Anyone else find simpler works better after overcomplicating your system?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_davis311mo ago

Tried something similar with my workout log last year. Bought a dozen different colored pens for tracking different exercises and it ended up looking like a rainbow threw up on the page. Switched to just one black pen for everything and a single green highlighter for personal records. Now I actually flip back through old pages to check progress instead of being embarrassed by the mess. Sometimes having fewer choices makes you actually use the system instead of just playing with it.

annajenkins1mo agoMost Upvoted

Right?! I did the exact same thing with my meal planning notebook. Bought a bunch of pretty colored markers to track calories and macros and it was just a hot mess after like two days. Ended up spending more time picking out which color to use than actually writing down what I ate. Now I just use a plain black pen and one red one for days I went over my goal. Actually makes sense to look back at now, and I don't feel like I'm trying to be some aesthetic instagrammer.

michaelgrant1mo ago

Bought a 36-pack of gel pens and now I can't even find the black one in the pile.