My cousin's 12 year old daughter showed me her bullet journal and I realized I've been overcomplicating things

I was visiting family last weekend and my cousin's daughter Emma asked to see my bullet journal. She's been doing one for about a year now, just simple weekly spreads with a cheap pen and some washi tape. She said my setup looked like a full time job and asked why I need 6 different colored pens and a separate index for my index. It hit me that I spend way too much time making my spreads look pretty and not enough time actually using them. Her whole journal is just a planner with a few habit trackers and some stickers, and she seems way more consistent with it than I am. Has anyone else stepped back and simplified their system after seeing how someone else does it?

2 comments

2 Comments

hernandez.ben7d ago

Ngl my buddy Jake had the exact same wake up call when his niece asked why he had a "key" page for his stickers. Dude was color coding his mood tracker with seven different shades of green just for "content" vs "happy." He ditched the whole system after that, now he just uses one blue pen and a ruler. Kid logic is brutal but honest.

nelson.finley8d ago

The part about "a separate index for your index" hit me right in the gut. That was a personal attack and I felt it. I gave up my 15 pen system last month and switched to one Pilot G2 and a highlighter. My productivity went up and my hand stopped cramping. Sometimes you just need a kid to point out you're spending four hours decorating a to-do list instead of doing the actual list.