PSA: A friend said my bullet journal looked like a chore list and it made me rethink everything

My best friend looked at my weekly spread last month and said, 'This looks so stressful, like a work report.' I had been packing every inch with tasks, trackers, and color codes. I realized I was spending more time decorating and logging than actually doing things. I switched to a simple two-page spread with just three daily priorities and one habit tracker. Now I actually enjoy opening my journal. Has anyone else simplified their setup after a comment like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

andrew_rodriguez1mo agoMost Upvoted

My 2022 planner had 12 different highlighters for mood and energy tracking. It was a museum of my own stress. I cut it down to one pen and a single page per week. The rule is if it doesn't fit there, it's not important this week. The blank space feels like relief now, not a failure.

maryt621mo agoMost Upvoted

That phrase "museum of my own stress" really got me. We treat our planners like proof we're doing enough, but they just end up holding our guilt. I used to have a whole color code for things I didn't do, which felt like a public record of failing. Your single page rule turns the planner into a tool for the present, not a judge for the past. It's smart to make the empty space a good thing.

alicecooper21d ago

3 years ago I had a full color coded weekly spread that ran 4 pages with 8 trackers and a mood graph. I showed it to a friend and she said "this looks like you're trying to prove something to yourself." She was right. @maryt62 hit the nail on the head about guilt and public records of failing. All that decoration just made me feel worse when I inevitably skipped a day. Now I just use a black pen and a simple list of 3 things I actually want to do that day. The blank space feels like permission to breathe instead of a to do list I didn't finish.