Okay, I don't regret it. Using a bullet journal is amazing and my productivity has definitely gone up in the past week. The problem, however, is how addicting it is to fill out pages of the bullet journal. It is a great way to put bursts of inspiration into pretty spreads- but is that a good thing when you need that inspiration for your artwork or sketchbook?
I first heard of bullet journaling during high school and decided I'd give it a try. But that attempt was a failure; I didn't like the journal I chose and I wasn't quite as busy as I liked to think I was. With that behind me, I believed that the bujo life was not for me. So, what changed? I graduated high school, entered college and got a job. Being a college student and working eats up much more time than high school- so much of what I wanted to accomplish fell through the cracks. While doing my best in school and work and trying to have some kind of free time I didn't get to do as much art, writing, youtube, etc.
Then one fateful night, while procrastinating writing an essay, I stumbled upon a video by the youtuber Amy Landino titled "HOW TO WAKE UP AT 5AM (EVEN IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE IT)" that sent me on a sudden productivity kick. The idea of having a couple extra quiet hours to get work done in the mornings was intriguing to me, and I figured I could give it a try. This lead to binge-watching many of Landino's videos and seeing that she keeps a bullet journal. I was already tracking my finances in a journal, so it wasn't that difficult to adjust it to a bullet system.
At first, I wasn't going to put any effort into my spreads and just try it out, especially since it was almost the end of a month, but the more research I did on the topic and the more pretty YouTube videos I watched the more addicted I got to my journal. So much so that I put down my sketchbook to continue putting new decorations and trackers into my bullet. This where the bullet journal comes into question. Could I be spending too much creative time on the bullet journal, and not enough on fundamental practice for my future career?
Short answer, no. A commonly overlooked aspect of art is the warm up and cool down phases. Similar to a work out you often have to do warm up sketches to get into the groove you need for your art. Along with this I often need a cool down from leftover inspiration but not enough energy or time to do another piece. Personally, I believe this is a good place to fit in the bullet journal.
In the morning you wake up motivated but not quite inspired, which is where you can use your bujo. Planning your day in the nicely decorated journal, or even planning out a piece is a quick way to get yourself ready for what you've got planned. Then at night color in trackers, fill out journal entries, doodle in an empty corner, etc to cool down from a long day. So while it may seem that your bullet journal is taking up too much of your time, maybe it's worth it for not only productivity it's known for but the extra inspiration.
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