Showerthought: I used to think a bullet journal had to be perfect or it was useless

Honestly, I saw all the fancy spreads online and felt like mine was a mess if a line was wobbly or I had to cross something out. I kept starting over, which just made me stop using it for like three months. Then my friend, who's a nurse, showed me her journal. It was full of scribbles, arrows, and quick notes from her shifts. She said, 'If it works for my brain on a Tuesday at 3 AM, it's perfect.' That flipped a switch for me. Now I just use a basic Moleskine notebook and a black pen, and I let it be messy. It's actually helped me stick with it because I'm not scared to mess up a page. How do you guys deal with the pressure to make every spread look Instagram-ready?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles2772mo ago

Oh man, my first bullet journal looked like a toddler with a crayon got hold of it. The pressure to make it pretty totally killed the point for a while.

christopher_flores462mo ago

Wait, is that why so many people quit bullet journaling? @miles277, I stuck with the ugly phase by using a cheap notebook and one pen, no colors allowed. The messiness actually helped me focus on tracking tasks instead of making art.

tessa3941mo ago

Messiness actually helped me focus on tracking tasks instead of making art" - that line from @christopher_flores46 really hit home for me. I used to think bullet journaling was all about the fancy layouts and perfect handwriting, but seeing people say it's more about function than form changed my mind completely. Now I grab whatever pen is closest and just write down what I need, no color coding or fancy spreads required.