Why I Broke Up With My Bullet Journal

The first month I used a bullet journal was the first month I truly felt like I could translate the clutter in my brain into words and put them onto paper without spending an entire afternoon doing it.

I was hooked… until I wasn’t.

The Bullet Journal Method first appeared online in August of 2013

I discovered it the next year and was immediately hooked. A whole online community formed around this highly-customizable planner system.

Then a whole wave of people who had tried to join this community abandoned ship. The reason? Overwhelm.

I even ended up abandoning my bullet journal for the same reason.

The irony is that overwhelm should be the last thing a bujo newbie feels. In fact, Ryder Carroll, the creator of the Bullet Journal Method, gave a TEDx Talk about it titled, “How to declutter your mind—keep a journal.”

“The power of the bullet journal lies in its simplicity and flexibility.”

—Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal Method

I’ve always know that the flashy, viral side of the bujo community online does newbies a disservice by focusing on customizations and decorations. Of course a newbie would face overwhelm looking at this page full of color-coding, hand-written headers, and complicated layouts! But here’s the thing: all of these overwhelming things are add ons and aren’t technically a part of the bullet journal method at all!

Sure, the bullet journal method is highly customizable, so for people who want to add color and complication it’s the perfect “blank page” to do so. But ultimately, the method itself is much simpler.

That’s what I let myself forget.

While I was young and single, designing custom layouts and playing with color was a great creative outlet. I kept things pretty minimal, but even so as I added children and mental health diagnoses (and misdiagnoses) to my life all the little extras added to my mental clutter instead of taking it away.

So I broke up with my bujo, and I regret that.

A couple of weeks ago I slowly eased my way back in, choosing a notebook with a little less flexibility that my usual dot-grid favorite, and forcing myself to stick to the very basics. I’m so glad I did.

I’ve put together three quick tips to help you avoid overwhelm as you find your own personal bullet journal flow.

How to have a good relationship with your bullet journal:

1. Forget everything you’ve seen on Instagram and Pinterest and watch this video created by Ryder Carroll.

You can also find it on the bullet journal homepage. As shown in the video, there are three main pillars of this method, and if you remember nothing else, remember these:

• If you can rapid log, you can bullet journal.
• Collections help stop rapid logs from getting out of hand.
• Any notebook will do.

That’s it.

2. When you do want to add customization, add a little at a time.

The beauty of the bullet journal is its flexibility.

If you like to color-code or doodle, the bullet journal provides a great canvas. This is where the bujo community that has sprung up on Instagram and Pinterest comes in. It provides a wealth of inspiration that can be quite useful, when taken in small doses, so my advice is this: only add up to three customization or changes at any one time.

If the change is a big one — say a weekly layout or a new tracker — focus on that one change. If they are small, like making your headers pretty or working on your handwriting, up to three are managable.

Test it for a while, but only keep the customizations if they become a smooth part of your flow. Sometimes that will happen very quickly, sometimes it’s worth taking some time to get used to a change. Either way, you may find yourself getting out of flow later.

It’s okay to remove customizations that you used to love too, like I could have done instead of entirely abandoning the method.

3. Do what works for you.

Experiment. Play. Try new things. But only keep what makes your life better.

I started out using a pocket-sized notebook that I already had, then I experimented with different sizes, ruled or gridded with lines or dots, and ultimately decided that Baron Fig’s Charcoal Confidant was my favorite. But that was only after I’d determined what things were important to me in a bullet journal — and I did that through the process of using the basic method day after day, month after month.

Now that I’m coming back to bullet journaling you might think I’d feel a strong need to use my old favorite notebook, but the opposite is true. I’m going back to where I began: using a notebook I was given, and letting it limit me.

So far it’s working beautifully.

The bullet journal method may not be for everyone, but far too many people don’t give it a fair chance. I’d love to see more people fall in love with their bujo.

If your relationship with your bullet journal is struggling, leave me a comment. I’d be happy to help rekindle the fire that got you interested in the first place.

And if you take nothing else away from reading this, remember: You are not alone. There are people out there who “get you.” Find them and you’ll find FLOE.