Vent: My index fell apart after 3 months and I almost quit

So I was talking to a friend who runs a small woodworking shop. He mentioned how he sets up his project boards with a single running list on scrap paper and hardly ever uses a binder. That got me thinking about my own bullet journal setup. I had spent like 2 hours designing this fancy index with color coded tabs and page numbers, but after 3 months the tape started peeling and the pages were falling out. I was about to throw the whole journal in the trash. Then he said 'maybe you dont need a index at all, just number the next open page and flip.' Hit me that I was overcomplicating it for the sake of looks. Has anyone else scrapped a system that was too pretty to work?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wesley1mo ago

That hit me too, I read somewhere that the whole point of a bullet journal is to be flexible not a work of art." A friend told me the same thing, and my setup got way simpler after that.

sean_cooper581mo ago

Stripped mine down to four basic collections and a monthly log. The fancy layouts were just making me avoid actually using the thing. Now I just have a simple task list for the day, a habit tracker, and a spot for notes. The whole thing fits in about five minutes of setup a week. Way better than spending an hour drawing boxes and arrows.

wade8711mo ago

Wait, only five minutes of setup a week? @sean_cooper58 that actually blows my mind lol. I was spending like an hour every Sunday making these elaborate weekly spreads with color coding and little doodles, but I'd barely write in it by Tuesday. The fancy layouts just made me feel bad when I didn't keep up with them. I might try your way and see if I actually stick with it for more than a week.