No one warns you about the dark thoughts youâll have whilst bullet journaling.
Iâve been bujo-ing for 7 months now. It was fun as first, but now Iâm focusing on what makes this system work and getting the results I need, which is what persuaded me to try it in the first place.
Like most I thought, âfinally, a solution for a creative with a demanding day job to stay organized, get things done, and achieve goals.â
Now, Iâm starting to run into functionality problems, such as layouts or spreads not working the way I intended. Objectives are not being acquired. For instance, my tracking of habits I REALLY NEED TO CHANGE is inconsistent and follow-through and completion of tasks has only slightly improved since June. I am still suffering my old friend of not finishing what I start, getting bored half way through. Problems I was hoping to solve with bullet-journaling.
Itâs not enough to make me quit. I want to figure this out. I know itâs just a matter of an ah-ha moment or one of those going-through-the-process rides. Ugh.
I keep researching and scouring the endless amount of bujo info out there and there is a plethora of resource material shared by bullet-journaling-perfectionist-Pollyannas who show how great the system is working for them and posting beautiful pictures, convincing the world of how effective it is.
Maybe a few will admit they didnât like a layout or a tracker wasnât working for them, so they changed it, making it seem like itâs just that easy. (Itâs not.)
To me, this insinuates that functionality and flow will suddenly fall into place next week on the next page with the next weekly spread, and life will be perfect. (It wonât.)
Thereâs NOT enough information or sharing of the frustrations, obstacles, or dysfunctions of the methods individuals employ within journals and how to overcome them.
It can get kind of frustrating and disruptive to âjust try something elseâ week after week, month after month.
Bullet journaling is a very âpositiveâ sport encouraging and promoting a more positive mindset and positive lifestyle.
In fact, the word âpositiveâ and any of its variations is overly abundant, and overly professed, during oneâs bullet journal indoctrination.
Itâs Thursday of the first week of January 2018 and I have yet to finish my monthly setup. A much slower start than I would have liked. Itâs a bit disheartening. The struggle is real.
Yet, I thought Iâd share this moment I had, which is not so positive, with the bujo noobs.
The fine-tuning process can be painful, but perhaps necessary. Like growing pains, I guess.
However, if youâre new to bullet-journaling and want a not so sticky-sweet, real-life example of how it MAY help and what youâll learn - the last 7 months I have observed myself sticking with something, becoming more aware of my own resilience and perserverence, and the ever-increasing awareness of how truly important self-acceptance is.
Iâd say thatâs a pretty positive result.
