My neighbor's simple notebook made me question my whole bullet journal setup

Sage Owens · 2026-03-11T11:30:06.231697+00:00

I was showing my friend my new monthly spread with color coding and trackers, and she just pulled out a plain notebook from her bag. She said, "I just write three things I need to do each day, and that's it." It hit different because my own journal felt so heavy and I was avoiding it. Now I'm trying a stripped-down version for a month. Has anyone else switched from complex layouts back to basics?

reed.elliot7mo ago

Totally get that. My own bullet journal was a masterpiece of stress until I ditched the fancy spreads. Just a daily to-do list now, and it actually gets used.

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sarah_fisher497mo ago

Same here, a basic list was the only thing that stuck.

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spencer7826mo ago

Yeah, that "masterpiece of stress" feeling is way too real.

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sage3087mo ago

Agree with @reed.elliot... my own fancy layouts just became another chore to avoid.

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