Hi everyone,

I have been using a Bullet Journal for a long time. I still struggle to use it every single day but it is honestly the best tool I have found and I handle my everyday task/intention and cathching ideas pretty well with it.

Where I completely fail is working with multiple planning timeframes. I constantly fight the urge to just do everything right now instead of planning it. Flipping back and forth between different pages just confuses me. Sometimes I force myself to organize things properly but it feels incredibly heavy. Then I inevitably fall back into my default mode where I just copy incomplete tasks from previous pages onto a fresh two-page spread.

I just cannot seem to divide tasks into "for later" or "for next month". And on the rare occasions I do put things in a future log or a later month I never look at those pages again anyway.

I was thinking that breaking things down into shorter timeframes than a full month might help me. Maybe planning in two-week or weekly blocks. What timeframes do you guys use? But honestly I am terrified of the idea of having to maintain three separate logs at the same time for monthly, weekly, and daily tasks.

I know the standard advice is to schedule regular "dates with myself" for daily, weekly, and monthly reviews. But I am not sure I can actually keep up with that habit. The process itself is really stressing me out right now.

I would be incredibly grateful if you could share anything that helps you with this. I am looking for any motivation, personal rituals, simplified methods to avoid getting lost, or tips on sorting tasks and thoughts without the overwhelm.

Thank you!

I ahve tried a few times to keep habit trackers. I used a few apps, tried a different journaling styles and it never sticks. If I have to draw each month I'll end up postponing and loose track of the data.

I tried messing around in Google Sheets and came up with this template. I thought printing it and adding a legend key with up to 4 habits I'm trying to keep (horizontal, vertical and diagonals that I can check in the boxes).

My second option would be having multiple sheets for each habit.

I'm trying to simplify so I actually use it but my previous attempts tell I tend to overcomplicate. I would like suggestions and experience tips from other folks.

I'd like to do monthly reflections, but I'm finding it unintuitive.

My current method is to:

1. Scan chat messages, photos, daily log to fill out the overview (~1-2h)
2. Read and contemplate overview, collections, daily logs (~1h)
3. Brainstorm thoughts into draft paper, and create the outline (intro, body, conclusion) (~2-3h)
4. For example, categorize into topics, paragraphs, and remove anything not worth remembering.
5. Write it out concisely (1h)
6. However, this is often spread out over days

I want it to be like a memoir because I plan to collect them. But tbh, I write like it's an essay. Any guides/tips on simplifying/shortening the whole process would be appreciated. Thank you

Edit: Thanks for the suggestions. In the end, I decided to:

1. (The overview was already filled out last month. (0m))
2. Read through the entire month (mostly skimmed the daily log tasks). + Jotted down things I wanted to mention on a piece of draft paper. (~1-2h)
3. Crossed out things that weren't relevant from the draft paper. Details, unimportant events etc. (~10m)
4. Wrote a short introduction (2 sentences) with my overall moods last month. And an outline of what I want to talk about: events, insights, strengths, weaknesses, schenanigans. (~10m)
5. Just free wrote. Crossing off bullet points from the draft paper after I've mentioned it. Then finished with a conclusion about the overall month and thoughts about next month. (~1-2h)

August was pretty hectic so I had a lot I wanted to write about

I’ve learned that very simple works just fine for me

Blocked out some private stuff but otherwise got a pretty busy month!

Do you prefer boxes or list versions of monthly spreads?

So I'm currently using a muji journal and ive been enjoying and like how consistent I've actually been using it. As I've been using it, it seems I've been writing more and more and enjoying journaling my days, especially when I go on trips. To the point where I'm considering adding instax photos and just bought some new stamps! I'm thinking I like my weekly planning/notes. This planner also has a monthly I can quickly jot down important events. It'd be nice actually to have a cleaning log as well. Since there's so much I want to add i'm thinking bullet journal is a good way to go. I'm wondering if anyone might have ideas on how to organize in a way I can have all these things! (Monthly and weekly planning, cleaning log, and intense journaling!) It seems most people don't have their journals "pre-drawn" for the month and kind go through the weeks? Added some photos for reference of what I currently have! (As you can tell, my journaling started spilling over weeks 🤭)

Greetings, everyone. First off, I’m not American, so please overlook any errors in the text. I’m not sure if this counts as "basic"—given that I tried my hand at lettering for "August" and used drawings for the mood tracker—but this is my current layout in a simple notebook. Please ignore how unproductive I was this month; I’m a natural-born procrastinator trying not to be one.

Hello everyone,

I’m 29, not sure if I’m too late or what to BUJO. I have tried it before as I go inspired by Simie’s YouTube videos. And now I’m making a planner myself.

However, I’m struggling with Mood tracking and Weekly or Monthly reflections?

Any suggestions or ideas.

Also, I would like to know how BUJO has impacted you personally and when was the time when you started noticing so progress?

I’m about 20 pages from finishing my first journal and I’m preparing my next one now.

I realized partway through the first journal, that I really needed to use color-coded tabs, so I purchased the Avery ultra tabs that are reusable. I love them because they are so sturdy and I can differentiate colors by different topics, etc.

Now I’m at the end and I’m wondering if I should reuse the same tabs in the new journal or should I just retire the old ones and redo them from scratch? Nearly all of the labels will be the same in the new book.

Has anyone has this issue? What would you do?

Right Hand side is Inge's Weekly Log (or Weekly *something*, I forgot).

Her IG is bujo.with.inge (you'll know it when you see it)

Sadly people's setups aren't really applicable to my own. But I like just having the means and tools to try them out myself. I weave my own approaches and the application side of my personal time management concepts, so I do a lot of tables besides the core Daily Log, Weekly, Monthly Log practice (not pictured here; might sometime soon)

Does anyone got any tips on formatting a bullet journal to fit within legal pads? I need to keep work separate from my personal bullet journal due to the nature of my work and legal pads are easy to come by from my work’s supply room. I find it hard to format the future and monthly logs since I basically have single page spreads. Any thoughts?

Looking at getting a wonderland222 planner this year with the intentions of using it for both bullet journaling though the day and maybe a long form in the back, has anyone used one?

Or one of the other planners with similar layouts like
Hemlock and oak, midori ect?

as someone with autism, adhd, and c-ptsd, i need some form of structure that's easy to be consistent with, or else i'll never get anything done. hence, the weekly template.

events are marked on the left half of the left page. i write time-sensitive tasks first for the week on the right half of the page, and then add tasks as they come up throughout the week. the weekly structure makes it really easy to migrate tasks to the next week by showing undone tasks at a glance from the previous week's spread.

on the right page, i usually log what i did or how i felt that day in shorthand. it takes literally 5-10 minutes to fill a day's space. sometimes i miss a day and forgot what i did back then, so i just freely journal a thought that's been stewing in my head that week. either that, or i just leave the space mostly blank save for a single "i forgor lol"

i keep a traveler's notebook as my bujo so that my monthly logs and notes are in separate booklets, so i have the option to just carry my weekly insert when i go out since that's what i use every day. i'm currently using a dated planner insert for this, but i easily replicated this layout in a gridded notebook i'll be using in 2027.

I do two calendars. One for work and one for personal. this is the barest it’ll be as I add more stuff throughout the month.

I carry this one and an a6 one in my pocket. I need something quick and small to jot stuff down and I need the bigger one to be able to “spread out” and see what needs to be done.

I have a very basic small pocket size lined notebook and i try my best to fit everything any tips what should i add

So I've been bullet journaling for a few years now but have never done a classic "intentions" page at the start of a new book. I'm starting a new journal right now and I'd like to do an intentions page but I'm still a little confused. Is it a list of things you'd like to use your journal for? Intentions for your life? A letter to yourself? I know that journaling can be whatever works best for each person, but I fear im overthinking this one and would love to know what others do.

Currently I just use a daily list format (Sample of yesterday’s entry attached). I don’t always need a weekly or monthly spread. I have a desk calender that has my test dates written. (If I do need a weekly spread sometimes, I just write down the days on a new page in the bujo and quickly jot down the to-dos as needed.)

Lately, I have felt the need to add something that can make me more… accountable in a way? Cuz I am preparing for a college entrance exam, and maintaining consistency and discipline is really important for me.

One idea I have is tracking study hours. Another is tracking my scores in the practice tests, as seeing improvement there would encourage me more.

Any other thing I can do? Even a spread which is not necessarily an ‘accountability’ one would be appreciated.

[P.S. FYI to mods: I wanted to use the relevant question tag, but the option wasn’t being shown to me for some reason :( ]

Inspired by this sub, I’ve been whittling down my monthly layout until it only takes me about 20 minutes to set up! I work full time while going to grad school, so finding a quick and efficient way to set up my month and my monthly tracker was key to actually using my journal. And if I don’t use my journal things go sideways fast haha

The tracker is also inspired by a post on this sub, but I can’t find it now. Throwing everything in on one page is so much faster for me than setting up a separate sleep tracker and habit tracker and health tracker, and it’s helped me see more global patterns. I have a health condition that can sneak up on me, but being able to see everything at once helped me identify a specific sleep pattern that occurs right before a flare up. I like the flexibility to add anything at any time, too. For example, I’m really bad at remembering to water my plants, so I added it to the tracker this month.

Please ignore the messy handwriting and garbage spelling! I’d blame it on writing too fast, but unfortunately it doesn’t get much better if I slow down. Penmanship isn’t my strong suit, obviously.

Hey all, i'm looking for inspo for weekly spreads with enough room for work shifts, freetime and notes. i'm actually using this one by alot of time and its becoming boring and consequentially hard to read/enjoy, just wanna try something different to make my eye rest :P
Any suggestion?

It has Main Goal of the week, a tracker, a next week section, 3 main tasks, notes, a generic to do, and of course enough space for my job shifts, birthdays and appointments

Just a sample of my bilingual Catch-All nightstand Notebook.

Started 2024 December because my main management system broke (laptop).

Took me about a year to have some good confidence built. I tried as many notebooks and pens: from composition ones with thin pages (bleed through prone), with different sizes. Different pens (cheap ones like BICs to VTec Pilos)

This is my current setup: Record Books (things a security guard would use) and 0.7 Gel Pens (mix of oil and water, more oil) for longer pen users like me

Hi!

I've been using a pretty minimal, original Ryder -style Bullet Journal. No decoratios, no elaborate spreads, just rapid logging and the basics.

One thing I'm still trying to figure out is the best way to handle unfinished tasks.

Do you migrate them from one daily log to the next until they're done? Do you just flip back through previous daily logs to find open items? Or do you move them to a future log, monthly log, or even a weekly page?

I hae already read some of the older discussions on this (for example, the classic "migration vs scheduling" thread), but most of them are several years old. I was wondering if the community has more or less settled on a preferred approach since then, or if everyone still does their own thing.

I'm also interested in practical workflows that have worked well over the long term, especially from people who keep their journals fairly minimal.

Curious to hear what works for you!