4 ‘Mistakes’ that are better to avoid with your bullet journal
Some mistakes that I’ve personally made so far
Not too long ago, I started a bullet journal in the hopes that it would help me set goals, track and achieve them. After all, the bullet journal incorporates mindfulness with a system to aid productivity.
I realised that there are certain things that I was doing — ‘mistakes’ that I was making — that were negatively impacting my bullet journal, my organisation and my attempts at mindfulness. I will list 4 ‘mistakes’ below.
Mistake 1 — Restricting yourself to small spaces
Having already drawn small boxes or areas to write in means that you will have to stay confined within them, not being comfortable to write what you want to. You will end up adding details for the same topic on other pages, which is ok as you can link them on your index page, but that might not have been necessary.
You could also make the spread again on another page, which of course, wastes the current page.
E.g. using small boxes for the monthly calendar
The monthly calendar is for you to have an overview of your month. You need space to add in appointments, deadlines, events and more.
Not leaving yourself enough space for this might mean that you end up writing really small, not making things apparent enough and missing out on things. You may end up not using your monthly calendar as well as you could.
E.g. using only half a page for a monthly — like splitting a linear monthly into 2 halves & having them side by side
You can do whatever you like in your bullet journal, but having it look cluttered and cramped may have more of a negative impact on your mindfulness practice and your productivity. Therefore, it would be better to use a whole page or even 2 pages for your monthly calendar, instead of just half a page.
E.g. small weekly boxes
You might have a lot going on in your week. Your weekly pages will usually have more detail than your montly page. Small weekly boxes will not give you enough space to write as you need to.
I really struggled to stay within the boxes and not write outside of them.
Mistake 2 — Doing a sideways monthly page
Making a boxed monthly page, but sideways, might not be a problem for some people. Personally, having to view a sideways calendar and fill it in that way as well, bothered me.
Here are some better examples:
I did not struggle as much with the monthly calendars below. There was sufficient space to write as I used a whole page.
Mistake 3 — Using a different colour for every type of detail
When I did this, I realised that it was easy to distinguish between differnt points, but it soon became overwhelming. I proceeded to using a colour for one day and then switching for the next daily log but I found that to be distracting me too.
Of course, you could do this in your own bullet journal, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
A better idea is to switch colours for different subjects or projects only. You could also switch colours between personal related stuff and work related stuff.
Mistake 4 — Doing the monthly on the right hand side
If you do the monthly calendar on the right hand side, but you also want to add notes, tasks for the month or a habit tracker, you will have to flip the page in order to so.
Everytime you want to see all of your overview for the month, you will have to flip the page repeatedly.
The monthly calendar is best put on the left hand page. The right hand side of the page can be used for monthly tasks, notes, ideas for this month, things to remember for next month, habit trackers etc. This way, all you need to know for the month is on a double spread without you having to flip the page.
You could also have a double spread for your monthly instead of just one side of the page.
To conclude
The bullet journal is meant to be a mindfulness practice behind the face of a productivity system.
You can customise your bullet journal in any way you want so that it works for you, but you also want to make the most of the possible benefits.
Don’t use too many more supplies than what is necessary so you don’t overwhelm and distract yourself.
Give yourself more than enough space for all of your logs so they are easily accessible, easily read & meaningful.
And leave even more space to avoid cluttering.
