Serious question, why did it take me 3 years to realize I was making my monthly spread way too complicated?

I've been bullet journaling since 2021 and every month I'd spend like 4 hours making these elaborate monthly spreads with color coded boxes, washi tape borders, and little doodles. Looked great on Instagram but I never actually used them. Last week I was flipping back through old months to find a dentist appointment I'd written down and realized I'd buried it under three layers of decorative crap. What tipped me off was when my coworker Steve showed me his bullet journal - just a black pen, a ruler, and a list of dates with a few lines each. He spends maybe 15 minutes setting up a month. I felt like an idiot. Has anyone else wasted years on pretty spreads that don't actually work?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse7731mo ago

Man, that hits close to home. I spent a whole year using five different colored pens to track my water intake before I realized I was just drawing rainbows and not actually drinking more water. Sometimes you gotta try the flashy stuff just to learn why simple works better.

matthewh281mo ago

3 years of monthly spreads and it took a coworker's basic list to wake you up? I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say maybe the extra time was worth it if the process actually helped you build the habit in the first place. Some people need the creative outlet to stay interested in journaling long enough for it to stick. Your current frustration might just be the growing pain of figuring out what actually works for you versus what looks good online.