Last Christmas, I fell down one of my usual Youtube rabbit holes and ended up on a video of a woman doing what she called “bullet journaling.” I was intrigued by the idea of starting a planner from a blank notebook and being able to customize it to best fit my needs. Not only could this method of planning help me organize my schoolwork, but it could also function as a journal and a time capsule. Quickly becoming a borderline-obsession, I made it a goal to keep a bullet journal for the entire year of 2021. I even wrote an article about it, which you can read here. Flash forward to 2022, and I’ve learned a lot since watching those original bullet journaling videos. While I enjoy bullet journaling (and will be keeping another bullet journal this year) there are a few downsides to the hobby that might make it difficult for some people to enjoy it. Therefore, before you decide to start a bullet journal, I’ve compiled a list of important things to keep in mind.
It’s a commitmenT.
One of the main challenges I faced when bullet journaling is that it takes a lot of time to plan out. Bullet journaling videos on Youtube make coming up with cute spreads look so easy. In reality, it takes hours to design and draw out spreads. With normal planners, when a month ends you can just flip to the next month. However, when bullet journaling, you have to take time out of your schedule to design your spreads for the next month. I found this aspect of bullet journaling a little disheartening, especially when I was extremely busy at the end of some months and struggled to set aside time to create my next month’s spreads.
It can be expensive.
It is possible to create simple bullet journals that won’t break your bank. However, if you’re someone looking to create elaborate spreads like the ones on Pinterest, be prepared to spend some money. I’ve spent more than I would like to admit on cute pens and washi tape.
There’s a lot of trial and error.
No amount of research can truly prepare you for starting a bullet journal. I quickly discovered that some of the spreads and habit trackers that seemed useful to me in theory, I ended up never touching again. In fact, I can flip to multiple pages in my 2021 bullet journal that I’d half-finished or completely abandoned. The bottom line is, you shouldn’t go into bullet journaling expecting a polished final book and you should expect to do a lot of experimentation to find what works best for you.
Perfectionists beware.
Building off the previous point, bullet journaling can sometimes be a perfectionist’s worst nightmare. As a perfectionist myself, there’s been a few occasions where a line wasn’t as straight as I wanted it to be or a design didn’t line up how I imagined it to. When this happened, it took so much willpower to just accept those mistakes and not tear out the page entirely. Being a perfectionist also means that planning out spreads might be an even more time-consuming process. While making mistakes has helped me work on understanding that not everything has to be perfect, all my hardcore perfectionists out there should be warned that you will mess up and it can be extremely discouraging at times.
So, do I recommend starting a bullet journal? Yes and no. It’s definitely been more of a challenge than I originally expected. However, as someone who usually loses interest in hobbies very quickly, being able to keep a bullet journal for an entire year has been an extremely rewarding achievement. Like all hobbies, you have to be prepared to put a decent amount of commitment into it. Also, understand that bullet journaling is not for everyone, and in some cases, I actually recommend opting for a normal planner over bullet journaling.