It’s Okay to Bullet Journal “The Wrong Way”
You shouldn’t feel guilty for bending rules that were designed to be flexible.
If you’re here, I assume you know what Bullet Journaling is, or you probably wouldn’t have clicked past the title. Just in case you’ve wandered in here with no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a primer:
Bullet Journaling is, at its core, a system for writing down goals, reminders, and tasks using bulleted lists. Often on dot-grid paper. It was invented as a way to consolidate all the tiny notes in our lives that end up scattered across sticky notes and memo books and notepad apps.
Everything is together, and easy to find.
The creator of the Bullet Journal (and author of The Bullet Journal Method), Ryder Carroll, is a fairly strict minimalist, but as a community formed around the concept of bullet journaling, people started to interpret the system in different ways. Some particularly creative individuals started decorating their journals and devising elaborate pages to take the system beyond Ryder Carroll’s initial vision.
With such a large community, it was natural for opinions to bubble to the surface. The vast majority of the Bullet Journal community is lovely, helpful, and supportive, and I don’t want to imply otherwise. Yet, even when someone has the best intentions, trends ripple through the community that can affect how we all use and think about our journals. Sometimes, in a negative way.
Even though the initial Bullet Journal “how to” was posted online in 2013, the Bullet Journal Method book wasn’t released until 2018. When it came out, it set the thriving community abuzz and rekindled Ryder Carroll’s original vision: the one centered around minimalism and simplicity.
Shortly after the book was released, once people had a minute to read it (it’s a big book, clocking in at over 300 pages), there was a surge of people “getting back to basics” with their journal.
Ryder Carroll puts a huge focus on simplicity and functionality in the book, and readers took that to heart. Many of the larger “influencers” in the space changed their style drastically and explained how much better it was to keep things simple.
The unfortunate side effect was that this community-wide idea of getting back to basics was so prevalent that it made the decision to decorate a journal seem almost frivolous.
All the ‘cool kids’ were changing their lives and saving time by not drawing out a monthly calendar, and simply numbering the page from 1 to 31. Keeping clean lists of plain, black-inked tasks, with simple Xs and dots to mark them.
Even I got unsolicited comments about how much time I must “waste” adding drawings or small charts in my journals, and my following is very small, relatively speaking. I can only imagine the comments that more popular accounts received!
With this community-wide shift, there was the distinct idea that the artistic side of journaling was becoming a burden that they needed to shed in order to find true productivity again.
I admit it: decorations can be complex, visually distracting, and time-consuming. Unnecessary, and inefficient. And, like I said, the community is highly supportive overall. I didn’t see any bullying, or targeted criticism. These thoughts were more of an undertone, but it changed how people were using the system.
I’m a huge fan of minimalism in most areas of my life: I can’t stand clutter in my house, I go through the Kon-Mari decluttering process at least once a year (even though I don’t really need to), and I even prefer to eat simple meals that I can cook in bulk.
Minimalism makes much of life easier for me to organize and deal with, but it doesn’t fit everywhere.
Here’s what it boils down to: appreciating minimalism for what it can offer me doesn’t mean I want my journals to be uber-minimal, and that’s okay.
What matters is that I’m paying attention to my own journaling needs, rather than what’s trendy at the time.
A journal of any kind is a highly personal thing. It exists for you, and only you, even if you choose to share it with others on social media.
There’s nothing wrong with spending your time drawing doodles in the margins, or even creating full watercolor paintings within your pages.
There’s also nothing wrong with grabbing an old bic pen and scribbling down your tasks on a memo pad you found in your junk drawer.
The only “right” answer is what you find value in. It’s all for you.
There’s another side to this spectrum, too. Some people dove into stark minimalism, and others did the opposite: the wildly creative journal, decorated to god-like perfection and posed delicately among matching office supplies and strands of wheat.
Don’t ask me why there are always strands of wheat. I don’t know why.
There are journalers who unabashedly design their journal for public consumption. For them, they get the most enjoyment and value out of creating beautiful journal pages and sharing them with others.
Their goals are different from the goals of people who prefer a minimal approach, or people somewhere in-between.
All of this is okay.
The side-effect here is that it’s very easy to look at these beautiful pages with thousands of likes on Instagram and think, “I should be doing that.”
“Should” is a slippery slope, because it implies you’re lacking somewhere, or that you’re not doing enough. Entertain these thoughts for too long, and it can bring you down. We start the comparison game in our heads and feel inadequate because our journals (and, by extension, our lives) aren’t as pretty or as meaningful as the ones we see online.
Like I said, your journal is for you. If you want to decorate, go wild. If you want to keep it minimal, cut the excess. But what do you do if you feel pressured or inadequate surrounded by all these crisply curated works of art?
There are a few things to remember here:
- Photoshop exists. Most images on Instagram have at least a filter applied, and many have additional editing before they get uploaded to Instagram. What you’re seeing has been edited and posed for aesthetic impact.
- Elaborate art takes time. That beautiful journal page might have taken hours or days to create, so comparing it to a spread that you drew out in 30 minutes is unfair. The same thing goes for videos: many of them feature a time-lapse of the process and require more effort than you might expect.
- Art is a skill. It’s time for a smidgeon of tough love: if you haven’t drawn anything in your life, you aren’t going to have the skill necessary to draw out a perfect rendition of the Hogwarts castle in your journal. Art has to be practiced to attain mastery. Don’t feel bad if your art isn’t as nice as that of people who have been practicing for years.
Keep all these things in mind when you’re browsing those eye-catching journaling posts, and remember that we’re all on our own path. If you feel these thoughts creep up and prickle at your self-image, revisit this list.
Finally, if you find that following highly-polished influencers makes you feel bad about your life or art, even if they have the best intentions, I give you permission to stop following them. Take care of yourself.
I want to hit on one last thing with respect to Bullet Journaling: the rules.
The Bullet Journal Method is a detailed system, with the process laid out in black and white. I think this clarity is what attracts to many people, but I also think it can box them in if they’re not mindful.
Here’s a secret: no one is giving out points for following the rules. You don’t win anything if you keep your monthly log tidy, or if you keep a monthly log at all. The purpose of the Bullet Journal is to help you organize your tasks and express yourself in written form.
If you’re following the Bullet Journal Method to the letter and as a result you’re getting more done and are happier than ever: congratulations. Truly. It’s really good to find something that works.
But if it isn’t exactly what you need, CHANGE IT.
Maybe it’s taking too long to set up each month? Stop doing monthly logs, or simplify them.
Maybe you find it boring to look at, and that’s making it hard to be consistent? Add some color, or stickers or washi tape to jazz it up.
Maybe you actually need more structure than Ryder Carroll proposes? Draw in some daily timelines, or additional monthly collections to gather your thoughts.
The Bullet Journal method is designed to be flexible. There are a lot of trends and expectations around the ‘right way’ to do it, and I’m here to shatter that. There is no right way, so focus on your way.
Do what makes your heart sing. Do what helps you find a clear path to achieving your goals. Experiment, adjust, and rearrange things to see if they work better.
That’s it! No more guilt.
If you found this compelling, I also wrote a blog post on my website about how my own Bullet Journals have evolved over the years, and I also publish videos to YouTube about my planning process, how I’m setting up my journal for each month, and reflecting on my goals throughout the year.
I try to take an honest approach to sharing my journal (and my life). I talk often about what works for me and, more importantly, why I think it’s working. I do videos at least once a month and I’d love to see you there!
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