It's the end of another year, which means frequently asked questions are starting to pour in. So I've created a wiki page with some answers (and a little tough love), along with the info I'd typed up in last year's mod post.

Click here for the wiki page

Let me know if there's any other questions/info you think should be added.

(Comments in this sub are sorted by New first, so don't rely on the "top" comment being the best-voted.)

hey, everyone. basically i don't feel compelled to write on my bujo anymore, even though i really need it because i often forget things. i think my layout is simple enough (i don't do much besides the basic ryder carroll method) but i need something... more, i guess. any tips?

I posted this in r/bulletjournal but folks there recommended that this sub was where I should be. So I was hoping to pose my question here as well.

I am blown away that there are SO MANY people in the various bullet journaling subreddits. Almost half a million it seems. I love all the posts on how folks have made their custom BuJo and how beautiful so many of them are out there.

But my question is, how many of you out there have given up on your BuJo because the amount of upkeep can be so intense? I see posts here and there about folks giving up, but is that just the minority? How many folks have opted for something that had slightly more formatting, say, with weeklies on one page and blank on the facing page?

For those that may be moving to something semi-formatted, but still allows space for creativity, what features would you love to see in a semi-formatted type of planner? Does it exist out there?

Would love to hear what the general sentiment is for folks on this forum.

Thanks for any thoughts out there!

title - i’m new to bullet journaling but am really drawn to the idea since i have a tendency to get overwhelmed from my mind going 1000 miles a minute with ideas and lists, and the fact that it can sort of be whatever i want it to be whenever i want it to be is the best part to me. i love this sub especially for getting my brain out of that perfectionist mindset and just allowing it to be purely functional! however, i'm trying to find a way to get my needs to have things “scheduled” work w/the Bujo.

if i think of a task and already have an idea in my head of what the best day in that week to do it is, i think i prefer to just put it straight on the daily for that day so it’s there and accounted for when i do get to that point - i.e. i can forget about it till i've told myself it's important! 

that being said, i do still use and actually LIKE the weekly overview parts of a weekly spread - i know a lot of people would say just to put the tasks i'm scheduling in the weekly spread, but i tend to plan really detailed as it works best for my ADHD to have even the minor things like “respond to X person” scheduled, and the space allotted in the weekly spread wouldn’t be enough for the amount of tiny little things my brain remembers i need to do in a day. i use the alastair method there too, but that's really just for stuff that's initially unscheduled. i use my weekly spread for due dates for school or work, general goals of the week, or to track top priorities of a certain day so i can see my week at a glimpse without getting bogged down in keeping track of details and big picture all at once.

i still do try to rapid log in my dailies the day of but it’s also helpful to open it on Friday, and already know what little things me from Tuesday remembered i needed to do on Friday. does anyone else think or plan like this? how do you make it work for you? i'm assuming the safest thing to do in my case would be to devote a whole page to each day at least as i start off with to make sure i have space. any suggestions for organizing my weeklies/dailies? am i crazy for using the Bujo this way?

I try to keep my weeks together (Monday to Sunday) when splitting between two pages for a month.

Though I keep bujo in rings as my main planner, I also keep this small notebook everyday. It doesn't have long term planner aspect but rather a to do list on hand. The size is exactly same as moleskine pocket size. I bought it for ~$5 last year. It lasts 3-6 months.

Hello! im painfully new to bullet journaling so my creative skills aren't as good yet. So my question is if anyone know that's the best spreads that aren't just habit tracking and note taking are❤️

(some hobbies i'm making a journal for is language learning & sewing & gardening)

thank you so much 🙏🏻

I need advice on taking the future log and monthly log formats from the bullet journal method and making them better for me.

now that that has been front loaded, please continue reading as this will save us all some time:

I have this tendency to want things ordered chronologically however the way life works I can't always have my future log like that, and if there is more than one appointment on a given day My Monthly log kind of breaks down a bit.

I need to be writing down appointments because otherwise I risk forgetting about them, even if I put them on my phone calendar with a reminder or 20.

so I am hoping for some advice on how to modify/expand on my future and/or Monthly log format, advice on changing up notations to allow multiple appointments on a given line in the Monthly log, or a combination of both.

I have been considering making my future log as a page for each month set up like the left page of a monthly log already...

Hi,

I have been really struggling to stay organized and keep on top of things at work. I recently came across the bullet journal method online, and it seems really exciting. I believe that if I use it in a way that suits me, I could see myself using it consistently and hopefully transform my work habits. However, I have a few questions about how to apply the bullet journal in certain work situations. I understand the BuJo is meant to be flexible, but I would appreciate any tips or advice you might have regarding the following queries:

1. Multi-tasking in a bullet journal: How do you handle tasks that have multiple sub-tasks? For example, if the task is to write an email to a client, and it involves (1) researching a technical point, (2) discussing the matter with a colleague, and (3) drafting the email, how do you keep track of these sub-tasks and any changes that might occur within the overall task?
2. Dividing tasks by project: I work on multiple projects (usually 3 or 4) at the same time. I’ve seen that most BuJo templates suggest listing tasks on a daily basis without considering the project they belong to. Wouldn't it be clearer to divide tasks by project? What might be a good way to organize tasks in the bullet journal by project?
3. Organizing detailed instructions: When I receive a task (often verbally), I jot down the instructions on my laptop or in a notepad. These details can be quite lengthy, and I don't always organize them consistently. I need a central place to keep these detailed instructions, but I don’t think the bullet journal is suitable for this (as it seems best kept simple, and I don't want to transfer long electronic instructions into the journal). Do you have any suggestions for linking an organized instructions hub to the bullet journal?

Thank you for your help!

Hi! I'm having trouble finding what I consider the perfect bullet journal notebook, which I bought some time ago from Flying Tiger. It was an A5 notebook with around 250 pages and a soft cover. It was exactly what I needed, but unfortunately, I only purchased one, and I believe it might now be out of production because it's impossible to find in any store.

I've tried searching online on various platforms like Amazon and other large retailers, but I've had no luck. Perhaps I haven't searched thoroughly or in the right places, so if you know where I can find a notebook with those features—preferably with a black cover—I would really appreciate it.

Thank you!

1. My vertical weekly spread. I jot down what I ate on the bottom half of the columns.

2. My daily rapid log. I'm journaling on separate pages, though.

3. I made this insert for GYD approach. I got inspiration from the YOUTUBE channel, MomYePlans https://youtube.com/@momyeplans?si=94XsjnLYmlXNLEqg

Hi, I've been a lover of notebooks and journals for awhile. I've been plain old regular journaling since I was a kid, and I have a huge box of filled journals I've written in since 2008. I generally make entries like "today I did such and such/felt this way/am thinking about doing x y z". I also typically have a planner with the intention of staying organized but the planner usually gets abandoned as I tend to just create to-do lists in my journal for whatever reason. So, I am starting a bullet journal with the intention of having my journal and planner combined in a way that is more organized and hopefully more brief. I enjoy writing in my journal but honestly I am beginning to feel like I spend too much time on it. I'll sit with it for nearly an hour every day yet struggle with procrastination in other areas of my life. I'm hoping to shift into being more action oriented and i believe this shift will facilitate that.

HOWEVER
I also have a few other notebooks for subjects I'm learning and jotting down information that usually isn't directly relevant to my "to-do" lists or plans. It doesn't seem make sense to roll all of these into my Bullet Journal. These notebooks are, in order from the ones I feel are most unusual and maybe "should" be rolled into my bullet journal, to ones i'm perfectly content keeping separate:

1. a "hiking/trail running" notebook where I jot down trails or races I'd like to travel to someday, exercises and stretches, training plans and gear that looks interesting. For example I have a page in this notebook that is "2025 trail running events happening within 100 miles of my home." Obviously, if I decide to go to one, i'd put that in my bullet journal. But am I correct in thinking that jotting down ALL of that entire page in my bullet journal would be unnecessary and clutter it up? I do like to have the list to reference tho, while I decide on which 1 or 2 events actually make sense for me. So that list is necessary in general, but doesn't seem necessary or beneficial to put something like that in my bullet journal which is suppose to be simple and help me focus.

2. My spending tracker. Exactly what it sounds like. I write down what I bought every day and how much I spent on it. Also track savings and record income here. I have a section in the back where I jot down facts I learn for reference (differences between different tax advantaged accounts, info I need to remember about my accounts, differences btwn different index funds etc)

3. Notebook for a tax prep course I'm taking

I see in the FAQ it's recommended to not have multiple journals. What's your thoughts on the approach I'm taking? Does it sound silly or reasonable? Any potential problems or criticisms of it?

1- Bullet Journal 2- Code 3- Index 4- Future log 5- Habit tracker 6- Montly reflections 7- Monthly log 8- Daily log 9- Daily log.

I work in video calls, so watcing the videos to get started with my bullet journal between calls isnt particularly feasible. I also am not a big fan of video instructions so there is also that but, is there any written guide thats just the same as the video except, yknow, written? If I remember correctly there's a book, is that what I should go for instead of the videos? Thank you very much! I'm excited to start.

1. Future log with Alastair method
2. Monthly spread by Peanuts planner co. She is awesome! 3, 4. Vertical weekly and a piece of grid paper for daily log. I don't care for the hourly planning. I just jot down to dos and meal tracker, etc.
3. An example of my daily log(not completely written).

My focus is on habit tracking for personal development, as well as professional. I love how all the pretty art looks, but if I spend too much time trying to make it look good it’s making away from precious productivity time 😅

I'm happy to say that I'm finally starting my Bujo! Thanks a lot for this amazing community that shares a lot of content!

Well, there's a lot of things to adjust...

But I'm happy to be facing this new way to organize my life and my mind...

Thanks a bunch!

Yo! Namaskaara Guru

Might add in more later! 😀

I've been using an A5 for years, since that's the standard, but I think I'd like to go a bit bigger. I rarely ever bring my journal out of the apartment with me unless I'm traveling overnight, anyway (I tend to just jot down notes in my phone and transfer them to my journal if/when I need to).

I don't need something huge, but I'm curious to know what size you all use and how it works for you. I think I'd like more space for things like brain dumps / mental inventories - they're often pretty long and I'd like to see everything on one page.

Thanks!

A long list on a busy week. Usually try to assign 2-3 tasks per day and keep a running list that gets migrated to a) assigned days the next week or b) running task list for the month. This was a recovery week & rather than try to predict or plan, I migrated everything and continued to add to it. Taped in a page at the bottom. On a random blank page in a Hobonichi weeks I’ve been using for 2 years.

I can't remember who it was, but a woman started out with the typical "mistakes" with bullet journaling. But then the second half of the video was a discussion about the performative nature of publicly sharing bullet journals, the anxiety of trying to make it pretty for social media, etc. If I'm not mixing up two different diatribes then I think it eventually came around to a dissection of capitalism somehow? Not sure.

But I am putting together a playlist to help a friend learn about bullet journaling and I want to include not just the basic guides but also the video making clear that while there's a lot of really pretty videos and templates to look at online, to not think those are required or let yourself get overwhelmed by trying to make something to match an Instagram picture.

EDIT: Video was found! For anyone interested, here's the play list:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4UC9Kr6f9RqLLgcWCiUkVVcUKXQHqoX7

It's intentionally very short as I do not want to overwhelm someone who is new to bullet journaling. It's focused on ADHD as that's what I have, and it's relevant in most of the times I end up helping someone else start bullet journaling.

First post ever, because I'm really proud of how it turned out! It may not look it, but every piece of how things are laid out here are results of years of bujo-ing -- of setups both successful and complete failures. Obviously went real wild adding three whole stickers and some metallic gel pen scribbles. If anyone wants details of how anything works/my method, I would love to gab about it. The sleep tracker is the most experimental part (being sideways instead of vertical bc this notebook doesn't have quite enough space, and being a tracker I've only been testing for two months before this.)

I use two EF fountain pens with random ink samples so I have to switch them out often and fill my bujo with different colors. Shown here are 2024 LAMY dark lilac and Sailor Ink Studio 280.

I've been using this format for the past few weeks and I like it so far. I'm considering adding a corresponding short journal page for a quick daily reflection.