One of my favourite purchases I use on a day-to-day basis, is my planner…until this year, when I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and use a Bullet Journal. I’ll be the first to admit, I thought Bullet Journals, or BuJos as they’re referred to in the social media world, are a bit hokey. I genuinely thought Bullet Journaling was just the latest Instagram and Pineterest thing to do—get a bullet journal and make it look pretty with Washi tape and pens. But now that I’m using a Bullet Journal instead of a planner, I feel like I should talk about what I’ve discovered about the Bullet Journal world vs the Planner world, plus which you should use.
*I have included affiliate links in this post. This post is not sponsored and opinions are entirely my own*
What Exactly IS a Bullet Journal?
There’s a wide mix of definitions for what a Bullet Journal is, but sticking right to the definition from the creator, Ryder Carroll, it’s meant to help “create intentional living”. Now, one of the main things is that your Bullet Journal is meant for Rapid Logging—a system where you write in short, basic forms to keep your information concise. From there, you create little bullets to help you keep track of things.
But these aren’t just plain bullets. Actually, there’s a whole Symbol Key on bullet points and what they mean. There are bullets that symbolize tasks you’ve done, tasks that are incomplete, events you need to attend, and general thoughts.
So what does Rapid Logging and Bullet Points do? They help you keep track of what you need and can help you move the information into the past, present, or future depending on how you track it with your symbols. You can also “nest” ideas within the bullet points so you can be even more specific with how you store information.
But there’s more! You go a bit further with your information and put them into Collections. Collections are kind of like chapters in a book—there’s a section for a topic. But in this case the topics are things like the future, the current month, or the day you’re in. You can even make customized collections to track things like your moods, your eating habits, your spending, etc.
You can pretty much plan your whole life in the pages of a Bullet Journal—which can be done using any blank journal, but there seems to be a general consensus that the Leuchtrturm 1917 Notebooks are the way to go.
If you still want to read more about the way Bullet Journals are used , Ryder’s written a whole book on it that you can purchase on Amazon.
What Makes a Bullet Journal Different To a Planner?
If you’re sitting there thinking, “Bullet Journals do the exact same thing as planners!”, you’re not the only one. I thought that too. But since beginning my Bullet Journal, I can point out a few key differences.
Keep in mind, when I’m talking about Planners, I literally mean agendas with monthly, weekly and daily calendar spots. Nothing overly fancy.
Why Use A Planner?
Planners are really great in the sense that they come ready-to-write. Depending on the format you choose, you can see your days or your months at a quick glance, and have a dedicated space on the page to write what you need. Planners also come in a lot of cool designs…so you know, that’s a bonus too. If you want to know my thoughts on the planner brand pictured above, check out this review of the Day Designer.
I’ve used planners since my Kindergarten days and could not imagine my life without having little squares and boxes to write in. But something I’ve noticed is that planners can be restricting. There are some days where I have a lot of thoughts or to-do’s that pile up in box and become barely legible.
But the one thing about planners that bothers me, is that there’s no room for any thoughts or planning outside of the days in the calendar. There’s no place to keep track of the great books you’ve read or the things you’re grateful for. It’s not ALL calendars that do this, but most. It’s a restricted form of what you can keep track of. The one I’ve pictured above does have an overall goal planning guide for the year, but it’s not ideal because it’s not scalable down to small goals.
If it doesn’t fit on a square on a day on a month, you’re outta luck.
The Bridge Between Planners and Bullet Journals
So if I love the method of planning by year, months, weeks and days but need more space to do so, and if I want space to add in the other things I want to keep track of in my life, then the proverbial bridge I had to cross, was starting a Bullet Journal.
I put a Bullet Journal from Leuchtturm on my Christmas list for my Secret Santa, and Santa definitely delivered. If you’re looking for the same one, check it out on Amazon.
With a Bullet Journal, I do have to put a little more thought and effort into planning the layout because NOTHING is written into the journal. I had to write in planning essentials that I was going to use, like my Year At a Glance calendar, My Monthly Overviews, and then my Weekly and/or Daily spaces. Did I spend a few hours looking at calendars and making sure I had the right dates for the right days? Yes.
But I also got to add in pages for things I wanted to track throughout the year. I’ve been able to add in a Movies I’ve Watched section, a Books I’ve Read Section, a Goal Planning section, and a Trip Planning section.
I can also go into a more precise level of planning by creating monthly calendars with weekly views, and daily to-do areas. And with each month, I can add in monthly habits I want to track, a gratitude list, a section to dump my thoughts into, and a place to write some of that month’s memories.
And for those who strive to have things like their hours tracked down or their productivity each day tracked, there’s nothing that restricts you from doing so.
You Don’t Need To Be Artistic For a Bullet Journal
Not once have I mentioned making my Bullet Journal look pretty. Truth is, you don’t have to make your Bullet Journal “aesthetic goals” or whatever the kids are calling it these days. If you want to make your Bullet Journal plain and simple so it does the job the way you need it to, then good…you’ve mastered exactly what a Bullet Journal is!
But that’s not to say you can’t have a little fun with it. In fact, I’ve made a few fun pages in mine with doodles and calligraphy-esque lettering. But at the end of the day (all puns intended) it’s still just serving a basic function of keeping me organized and on track. While I do sometimes look at the BuJo tag on Instagram and Pinterest and think I should attempt making my Bullet Journal into a piece of art, I try to scale it back because it’s not my best use of time.
But taking a few hours every month to work on a new month’s layout, weekly spread and daily spread, isn’t a bad way to spend time. In fact, it makes me a little more conscious about the month and what I’m doing.
Why Am I Using the Bullet Journal? Should You?
And I don’t mind adding a few small design elements to make it unique, as long as I keep in mind what the goal is—creating intentional living. If that doesn’t scream “Persistently Living”, I’m not sure what does. I like that I have a new system that helps me continuously create the life I want. It makes me more mindful about what I’m tracking and how it helps in the bigger picture.
While I’m saying goodbye to my beloved Planners this year, I hope that the Bullet Journal continues to serve me well.
I’d recommend using the Bullet Journal if you find that you want MORE out of your usual planning and need to customize how you organize your thoughts. If you’re a person who has a lot of thoughts and need a place for all of them, then bullet journal your heart out! It’s great for flexibility and customization.
What’s your take on the Planners vs Bullet Journal debate? Do you stick to the traditional planner, or have you ventured into the BuJo world? Or, are you completely digital.
Let me know down in the comments!
