So I've been journaling (not bullet journaling) since 2020 on and off, since my mental health went down the drain. I define journaling as just getting my feelings and thoughts on paper because I get too overwhelmed too often and need to clear my head and think properly. It's helped me be less impulsive.

For the last 4 years, I have been recovering health wise (and still am) but I didn't do much and my quality of life decreased.

So I'm planning to take things back in control and which is where bujo and my questions come in.

I used use notion but switched to coda (which is amazing both aesthetics and database wise and I got pro for free because of student id haha + will actually recommend u to try it out, they have so much functionality but that's off point).

I started a few days ago to figure this thing out before 2025 and get on track and here's what I've realised:

1. I really need a physical outlet to organise my thoughts. Not only thoughts but habits & actions too.
2. I need have multiple things going on - I have college admissions, job, writing a book (passion project), educational stuff to supplement college, gym + running, and starting a filmmaking project. I know it sounds too much but it has to get done. Not to mention the commitments & opportunities for the admissions process.

While I value connectivity and relational database to gain a sense of my performance to be able to iterate & strategize better, I can't clear my head like digitally. I even tried handwriting & connecting it (had to work around that) but I need the connections and I also need to clear my head.

What I'm trying to do is : Use bujo(s) for capturing my thoughts & ideas (later transferring ideas)

Coda (the platform) for

1. Detailed notes of courses (since that'd be cumbersome
2. Tracking habits, projects, auctions since a lot of it is interrelated

While this may seem fine, I can't start like a different brainstorming thing every 3 pages. It breaks the flow? I know Ryder said you can have the index and then project related index and then work out page numbers but it gets too cluttered for me & I'm realllllllly struggling with my ocd right now.

I kinda have to make up for the last 4 years so cutting out projects is NOT an option.

First post! I‘ve been bullet journaling consistently for a year and a half. I initially bought a Leuchtturm 1917 hardcover dotted notebook to try out, but almost a year into using it, I found that A6 flimsy lined notebooks have been way more convenient in my everyday life. While the A5 looked nice and was durable, it was also very bulky to carry around for everyday tasks. I ended up using it as a commonplace/ scrapbooking journal that usually stays at home. Meanwhile, I could quickly grab my tiny bujo in the morning, jot something down, and toss it into my purse with a small pen (Zebra Sarasa Nano 0.3 OR Pentel Energel 0.3) to write things as I go about my day. Plus, they are pretty cheap! I spend $2-$5 max whenever I restock. I’ve been using random A6 notebooks from Daiso, choosing whichever is the prettiest and has 0.6 mm lines. They tend to switch their products out every time I visit, so I can never find the same journal twice.

In late October, I bought an A6 Kokuyo Campus notebook at Daiso, and it has been my favorite mini bujo notebook to use! While I typically go for plastic covered A6 notebooks for durability, I don’t like spiral notebooks. To make mine last through wear and tear, I used clear packaging tape on the corners of the covers. The binding on Campus notebooks is sturdy. They also look very sleek, has 96 pages (a good amount for A6!), and it has 6mm lines (21 lines on one page, 42 lines in a spread). So far, I have just enough pages to dedicate one page for every day until the new year, plus the monthly spread for the December calendar and tasks. I loved it so much in November, I went to Daiso again and bought 8 more. I don’t know if they’ll restock them soon, so I took what seemed like a reasonable amount of notebooks for 2025. I may even want 4 more, so I can dedicate one to every month of the new year and use extra space for taking notes. Eight of them cost about $17, so it’s similar to the cost of one A5 journal.

If Daiso ever runs out of these, I’ll be sad, but I know I’ll find another kind of journal to use. This year, the bujo system has been so useful in jotting down memorable moments throughout the week and tracking personal tasks and projects that overwhelm me. Recently, I’ve been decorating my spreads with stickers and washis, but that is long after completing the pages. I don’t use anything but my journal and a pen when writing things down. I’d love to know if you have specific needs for the type of journal you use for bujo!

Trying not to over think it and doing the bare minimum. Hoping it makes sense, hoping it helps. My big baby step. I'm visual, if you guys have time, I'd like to see some of yours. Thank you all.

How do I bullet journal without stressing myself out?

I want to have a bullet journal that I *can* spend a lot of time on, but don't have to, so that I don't burn out but can still obsess over it.

Any idea for a layout that worked for you that is not only NOT ARTSY but also doesn't need tons of time or effort?

I need my bullet journal to overcome depression, to do myself justice in day-to-day life (e.g. showering regularly) and to plan ahead.

How do I do that? I'm familiar with the bullet journaling technique but it just does not work for me and just steals time instead of actually helping, even if I don't doodle.

Thanks for any answers! I know you won't be able to give me my personal solution since you don't know me, but maybe your personal way of bullet journaling has some wisdom nuggets I could use.

It’s not pretty but it gets the job done. And it’s satisfying in its own way!

For some reason, I want to have a new start and I don't want to wait until the new year or a special time for it, I want to do it as soon as possible.But I don't know if I should plan for this new start in my old notebook, which still has many unused pages, or my new ones.

Hi, I’m new to BuJo, but very intrigued after a friend recommended the method. The slow and mindful approach is super appealing and the fact that, unlike with digital tools, unfinished tasks don’t stick around unless you explicitly make them.

My question is: what are your approaches for making it work in a professional context, where you have to use shared digital task and calendaring tools to collaborate with others?

My job requires me to track tasks and projects together with my team in Asana and to keep my Google Calendar up to date, so coworkers can book meetings with me.

I’m thinking I might use Asana for tasks that have strict deadlines or which originate from colleagues, and to use BuJo for personal/individual tasks.

Also: If you’re using an analog/digital hybrid approach, do you have any specific reflection rituals?

Hello everyone! I have been reading this sub for a while now and decided I could ask for advice on my planner/bujo hybrid I want to make. It's a topic a bit complicated to explain for me and English is not my first language, so I hope everyone can understand me!

I have been bullet journaling for +3 years now. I have tried different things, layouts, methods, etc., but lately things haven't been working for me and I decided to "start over" and get a simple planner with pre-drawn months and weeks and some extra blank pages I want to use for something useful. If anyone is curious, I got Muji's 2025 Monthly/Weekly Planning Diary.

I have used a physical notebook before, it was my first bujo, and I had habits trackers and a sleep tracker I want back. These will go on the blank page I have next to my weekly pages, so I have that covered. But I'm lost on waht to do with a lot of blank pages at the end. Also in my first bujo I had films/books/games trackers, but I will maintain those on Notion (the platform I'm using right now for journaling). I have thought on making a spendings/saves tracker, but I'm unsure on how to do it. Right now I'm looking for any ideas for this pages, but as I said, something that is useful. I prefer to leave them if going to them ends up being a chore, something that has happened to me a couple of times through the years.

A bit of info about me that may help you with recommendations: I'm a masters degree student, and I will finish my studies on May. Then, I will start working (hopefully) on publishing houses, maybe sometimes writing articles. I still live with my parents and I don't have plans on moving out soon. Right now my income is an allowance I use for uni materials, eating at uni, paying public transport, buying books or games... With this, what I want to say is that I don't need to plan my meals or pay attention to "big finances" like rent or groceries. I'm also VERY forgetful, so I need to have everything written down. I don't need mood trackers o reflection spaces, I have my own diary for that, but maybe an info-dumping space for quick notes would be nice.

Thank you for reading this long ranting xD And thank you in advance for your comments!

So my future log is going to run out of pages but the bullet journal book is still only half used. Can I make another future log section after the latest monthly and daily views of the book and just add it's location to the index?

Hi everyone. I’ve recently stumbled upon bullet journaling and love it. However, I am confused by some of the aspects of it. As I understand, the Future Log is used to schedule tasks/events thy take place the next 3-6 months (depending on the length of the log), right? If so, what do you use to schedule tasks for the current month? Ryder Caroll mentioned in all of his examples that the calendar part of the Monthly Log is used to record what happened that day (events/moods/things you got done) after they have already happened. And the Tasks List part of the Monthly Log is used to brainstorm a general list of tasks for the month. Nowhere does it say that these tasks get scheduled for the current month on the monthly calendar, nor the Future Log (since it only gets referred to at the creation of each new Monthly Log). Are you supposed to use a planner for things that come up that month? Or just keep migrating it forward across the month repetitiously until the event reaches the daily log where it is set to transpire? I’m curious what the purist take on this issue would be using the original method

Edit: Also, how frequently are you supposed to do migrations? The original method mentions every month, but that means you are only actively eliminating tasks from your Daily Logs monthly, which seems kind of slow. Most tasks need to get done before an entire month elapses without them getting done

I've been trying to keep a traditional bullet journal, as simple as possible, but I can't get used to bullet notebooks.

So I wonder if a bullet journal can also be done using a square notebook or in lines

My idea is to start the new month with the remaining pages and if the notebook runs out before the end of the month, I will migrate the information of that month to the new notebook.But I'm curious to know what others do in this situation.

I have been using a filofax recently with diary and other insert pages. Rapid logging is easy, dot grid, grid, lined or plain pages will do. I am wondering about ditching pre printed day to a page and making up my own spreads like I used to do in a bound A5 book. The issue is back in the day when I used a bound book I never had so much on. An easy job I really could do without actually doing much planning. So I never really had to go far from the very bassic page of dates style of monthly in the original method (as outlined in the official bullet journal from Leuctturm.

So I need a way to put outlook work meetings into an A5 page in my filofax. On outlook I look at weeks but I also lok at months as I need to make sure I am not missing things that I need to start a lot earlier. I tend to look at current month and the next at one time. So I need to have a means to record time, date and brief note. DOing the vertical style with one line on one page per day is not enough. That format I tended not to use the other side but going all the way across is messy I reckon.

My working week has a mix of sessions at set time and space which is empty and I just use it for getting things done in projects and tasks for a later completion date. So sessions are for meetings but also deadlines without time. Some days are empty others are most definitely not.

As I said I have issues with how to do a monthly with time and dated sessions listed. Weekly would be 3 vertical on left page and 2 full verticals on right with a half vertical for the weekend on the right. But this does not easily let me see the next week and so on for the full month. Anyone got a way to create the above described weekly but with a full month of weeks on the same double page spread?

Looking for inspiration and I have not seen anything so far online!! There must be something I just have not found it.

PS I mentioned outlook appointments page where you can toggle from day, working week, full week to month easily Perhaps I should just copy that format with a month and four weeks afterwards. That takes a lot of time to set up and I am a but lazy at that at times. I would end up getting fed up doing it every month. Hence the need to look for something else!! Anyone help me out here?

To me it is a personal to do and calendar.

Considering I just this week recorded my first appointment for 2025, I figured maybe I could get a jump on my 2025 notebook. I am still unsure of what I want to do going forward for my future logs and montly logs. for november I am trying an alternative montly log of 4 pages consisting of recorded notable events, next page Bills to pay, third page for appointments, and 4th page for Monthly tasks and so far so good.

Part of my puzzle to solve is that I like things organized chronologically, but the basic Future log of 3 months per page doesn't really lend itself to that.

I have tried the Alistair Method as well as a couple of similar methods and they didn't mesh. Someone once suggested to just do a future log of 1 month per page and therefore 12 pseudo Monthly logs at the beginning of the book.

what do you all think? I could infact be over thinking this but I do need my bullet journal to work with and for my brain...

I should mention that I am also using the pocket edition books for most of my daily logging.

Hello,

I have started reading the bujo method book. I know what are collections and what they can be used for. What I am not comfortable with is to manage them.

How do you feed them ? Daily ? Monthly ? On demand ?

I tend to put all in my daily log via rapid jotting things but I miss the link between it and the adhoc collection list.

Thank you.

The right-side page contents change a lot depending on what my focus is for the week, but the to-do list is a mainstay. “Bucket lists” are not mandatory for me to check off, but things that would be nice to accomplish— having a separate list takes some of the pressure off in my brain!

So, I'm restarting a bullet journal, after 10 months with a Hobonichi Cousin that I just could not love. Of course, I watched some Ryder video's about intentions (especially this one). Theoretically it makes sense to me to set an intention before even starting anything, because making explicit your why helps it to stick and to set it up accordingly.

The problem however is that after thinking about my intention for a couple of days, I cannot seem to formulate it. Maybe I am overthinking it, but nothing feels right, like that is what it is about for me.

I currently have two thought strings. The first one is that the bullet journal should help me to get insight into what makes me feel good and things I learn. The problem I have with this, is that this doesn't relate at all to my goals in life at the moment. This is also not formulated as someone that I want to be, as Ryder says in the video. My second intention would be something like 'to be a better [fill in my job/career path]'. I am searching for a new job and feel things are changing, and it is not entirely clear yet what that job/career path is going to be. Also I am also not this person that defines themself as their job. I am more than my job.

How are you setting your intention? Why do you bullet journal or what does it help you with? How do you know it resonates completely with what you want to be on this moment?

I feel habit trackers are engaging. So far I'll track (starting in November):

• groom the cat
• floss
• journal
• programming my own projects
• study
• CV send

Most of them are boolean, so I was looking for some inspiration in quantitative item to track.

What are yours?

Crossposted from r/bulletjournal! It takes me about 15 minutes to set up my monthly log (counting migrating events over from the future log), and I have all my trackers in one place to see correlations easily :)

Found some videos covering the Alistair method and it looks interesting. Also checked out the bulletjournal blog site where they mention using a similar structure but instead of days/weeks/months for the columns, you can use a kanban style ticket status instead.

Is this really just a ‘what works for you’ kind of thing? while I do have daily tasks to be completed, a lot of my work is a mix of making sure other people are completing their tasks/tickets, and tracking multiple medium size deliverables for clients which can often take multiple weeks (occasionally also months).

Trying to work out the best initial approach - understanding I can adjust as I go but i’d like to be in the ballpark at least.

For any of you that use this system, what do you find is a comfortable timescale/cadence to work with, and how does that map to the kinds of tasks you have (which may provide useful context for the original answer)?

Initially I’m thinking the kanban approach is tempting as it has no specific dates (I can map concrete dates in a year/monthly planner or attach target dates to the tasks). weekly would perhaps be doable but then I can’t really see a convenient way to have those in columns unless I use up12-13 columns to try and get a quarter view at a time.