You should know by now that I love bullet journals. I don’t actually have one, but do I love to look at them. I marvel about the pretty layouts that people create. I marvel at the lettering, the calendars, the trackers of everything from water, to exercise, to social media followers. I ooh and aah over these works of art. And that’s what they are to me, works of art that a lot of time is spent creating. But, is a bullet journal a waste of your time?
What is a Bullet Journal?
There are a thousand different bullet journals. The original bullet was created by Ryder Carroll. Here’s a video link to his updated version of his tracking journal.
Somewhere along the line, though, someone took the simplicity of Ryder’s Bullet Journal and threw it out the window. Gone was the simple tracking technique that Ryder created. In came elaborate tracking sheets, daily, and weekly calendars.
Ryder’s monthly calendar was just a list of numbers down the side of a sheet. These updated calendars are full on two page spreads with boxes big enough to hold more than one event. Pretty artwork or lettering around the name of the month and possibly other artwork or stickers or washi tape to represent the month.
The daily list of activities that needed to get done is now included on elaborate daily sheets that also include pretty lettering and pictures. Banners, flags, flowers, and other items adorn each page.
And then there are the tracking sheets. Track your water, your exercise, your budget, your sleep patterns, your social media, and almost anything else that you wish to track.
Want to keep track of the books you read each month? Create a page for that. Need to track how many followers you have on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter? You can do that in a monthly spread or even a yearly spread that you keep at the end of your bullet journal.
Is A Bullet Journal a Waste of Time?
For me, the answer to that question would be yes. It’s a waste of time. I have no patience or skill to make pretty artwork around calendars or tracking lists. In fact, I find it difficult to remember to track something even after I spent time creating a tracker for it. So that tells you right there that it was a waste of time for me.
Some people have elaborate trackers complete with a picture of the activity they are tracking. If you are already an artist then this is something easy for you to create. If you’re not an artist, it can be a time-consuming pain in the ass.
But a bullet journal might not be a waste of time for you. We’re all different and I think that’s the idea behind most bullet journals. Whether you create elaborate pieces of art, the original tracker that Ryder created, or even something in between, a bullet journal is what you make it out to be.
And that’s why a whole business has been created behind bullet journaling. You can buy stencils that will help you create the spreads that you want.
You can even buy a bullet journal that comes with all the things you’ll need. Stencils, Washi tape, pens, and even stickers.
Or you can do what I do. An un-bullet journal. It’s my very minimalist version. I use a Moleskine notebook and just go day by day and write my to-do list, keep track of quotes, thoughts, beginnings of blog posts, gratitude statements, things I liked from the day, ideas, rants, and anything else that I can think of.
Over time, I found what works for me. I still have some pretty stencils that I bought to use in my bullet journal…but I don’t use them. I’m not even sure if I can find them since the move. But I do keep track of what I need to in my trusty journal. How do you keep track of your days?
Check out my guest post on how I evolved my Journaling Journey over on Sizzling Towards Sixty. Sue’s theme in this month is Journaling in July and you’ll find journaling prompts and guest posts around journals and journaling. I hope you enjoy.
Oh my word Jennifer YES they are a complete waste of time for me too. I’m like you, I keep an un-bullet Journal – well mine is an asterisk journal to be precise, every day I put the date in a big, A4 project book. Then I put an asterisk to denote a new activity/task/reminder etc and I have a list of asterisked ‘stuff’ to see to throughout my working day. I tick things off as I go and if I don’t finish the list, I move things over to the next day. That’s it. It’s a spiral bound project book and I buy them at the supermarket stationery section.I’d be lost without the info I keep in those books and I often refer back for measurements, settings, colours etc. Perfect. No time for fancy journalling! Where the hec does anyone get the time to track all the things you mention!? And why? In not too many years, some poor sod will have the task of chucking out all our stuff when we go into care homes – lets make it easy for them! ? A very good post – thanks, I’m not alone in my UnBuJo habit.
Of all the people who I thought would have a pretty bullet journal, it would be you. On the one hand, feeling a little disappointed that the artist is not making a pretty planner, on the other hand, nodding my head in unison, “Don’t got time for that!”
Between looking after my mum since dad died, (and I know you know all about THAT!) working and trying to find time to breathe out, my feeling is why put work into something my boys will toss into a skip when they eventually clear my house. ? It’s weird how we suddenly realise how little time there is left for us – I’d love to go back to feeling like I was going to live forever and be oblivious to reality.
Love the term un-bullet journal because that’s what I’ve evolved to as well. I do have a couple of pages of “tracking” in it – things I want to track like my 101 New and/or Fun Things this year, my gratitude list and my A to Z thinking list. I have a couple of pages with critical info and devoted a full page to my Summer Bucket list where I actually pulled out the colored pens and tried to make it a unique page. LOL. But I love it because it has weekly to-do’s, I can take notes in it, and I can look back to see things I noted (instead of note pads which pages tend to go missing).
I’ve thought about tracking books read, only because I’ve been asked to recommend something to someone and I can never recall both author and title! A woman I met had her list on her phone and gave me 3 recco’s really quickly! But other stuff … no. I think I looked at the bullet journal stuff as inspirational ideas, not must do’s. I’m not an artist so never expected that aspect… but I do use color at times.
Anyway, I’m calling mine an un-bullet journal from now on. 🙂
My sister read so much that she would track the books she read in a small notebook. She’d take the notebook to the library to make sure that she wasn’t taking a book out twice. And she’d check it before she bought a book. She kept the pages by author name because once she found one that she really liked, she would read all of their books.
Looks like you have started an UnBuJo trend Jennifer – I love it! There at least three of us now ?
I have a bullet journal that isn’t a bullet journal. It’s a journal that I put everything in and it has bullet points and an index and page numbers…but that’s where the similarity to BuJo ends. I love looking at the beautifully illustrated ones on Instagram but it’s not for me. I like the term UnBuJo
Seems like Unbullet Journal or UnBuJo is taking off!
I’ve never really understood all these fancy pants journals that come with stickers and pens and wide columns to “create art” in. I have a plain lined journal (with a pretty cover) that gets all my notes, jottings etc. I’m just not arty enough to want to doodle all over it – and don’t get me started on the bible versions – all those swirls and flowers etc just do my head in!
Thanks for sharing at MLSTL. My thought too. I personalize journal writing by using colored pens to journal longhand. This connects me to my body, mind, spirit and senses better than bullet journals have ever done for me. More power to those who enjoy them, but for me it’s a spiral notebook or the guided journal I wrote and published, “Colors of Joy: A Woman’s Guide for Self-Discovery, Balance, or Bliss.”
I use different colored gel pens. I use whatever strikes me and makes me happy that day.
Hi Jennifer, I like the idea of a bullet journal but being more practical, I would actually use a more un-bullet journal like you! I enjoyed your guest post on Sue’s blog too by the way! I have pinned for #mlstl
Thanks for stopping by, Deb. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
I do use a form of bullet journal, but mine is not pretty or artful. Well, the book itself is pretty, but nothing much in the pages is. It is often scribbled! There are no drawings or stickers or beautiful calligraphy. I don’t keep track of things like water consumption. I do take notes on books I read, or keep quotes, or notes for a project I am working on. I do keep a page index at the front so I can go back and find things.
Thanks for stopping by, Michele. The index is one of the important details of the original bullet journal that Ryder created. You use the minimalism version of one! I don’t use an index instead I use Post-It notes. When I’m done with one journal, I go back through it to see if there was anything in there that I might need for the future. I use the Post-It notes as tabs that I can go to for future brilliance. 😉
I keep a regular journal and a to-do list. A bullet journal seems sort of a hybrid between the two. I guess I’ll stick to my system, but have to admit a bullet journal is prettier.
I track everything on my Google calendar and Google sheets. That way I can access it from my phone or iPad. Anytime I have something on paper I scribble on it and make a mess of it. I want less paper in my life. However, it could be relaxing for someone who needs an outlet for their creativity.