The way I was laying out my weekly spread was completely wrong...

I realized last weekend that I've been bullet journaling all wrong for like 6 months now. I kept seeing these super clean spreads online where people put their week on two facing pages with all these boxes and trackers. But here's the thing... I was trying to cram everything into those boxes and then running out of room by Wednesday. Turns out I was using way too many horizontal lines and not leaving any space for actual tasks to grow. My buddy at the coffee shop down on Elm Street showed me his simple vertical layout with just a date column and a notes column. That changed everything. Now I just write what I need day by day and add stuff as it comes up. Has anyone else found that the standard weekly layout just doesn't hold up under real use?

3 comments

3 Comments

uma_williams1mo agoTop Commenter

Oh yeah, "way too many horizontal lines" really got me... I spent three months feeling like a failure because my weekly spread looked like a test I didn't study for. It's like those pretty layouts online are designed by robots who never have a Tuesday that explodes with urgent nonsense at 2pm. I finally just gave up and use a single running list now... everyone who sees it asks if I'm okay, but at least I don't lose tasks anymore.

the_wesley1mo ago

Honestly, those pretty spreads online are straight up lies for anyone with a real life. I tried the horizontal box thing once and felt like I was trying to fit a week's worth of groceries into a lunch bag. The vertical layout your buddy showed you is the real deal. It leaves room for the chaos that always shows up on a Wednesday afternoon. Ngl, I switched to vertical lines and my brain actually feels clear now.

jennifer8331mo ago

It's funny you mention that coffee shop on Elm Street, my cousin used to work at the one next to the laundromat and she said the same thing about those layouts. But @the_wesley is totally right, all those pretty spreads online just don't leave room for stuff to pile up. I had a whole week where my "urgent" column basically took over the entire spread by Thursday