Three mistakes to avoid in bullet journaling

Bullet journaling, due to its organisational benefits, is essential to planning your day ahead of time, and to have a clear idea of how you need to prepare yourself. However, the process sometimes becomes overwhelming, where it might feel like a hassle instead of a helping tool. There are some tricks to combat this problem. Below are three bullet journaling mistakes followed by solutions to get past them to help you maintain bullet journal effectively:

1. Choose a method that caters to your individuality

When it comes to bullet journaling, you have multiple options to choose from. There are some who are writers and some who are typers, but all are trying to master productivity. You can either use pen and paper or ditch them completely and opt for the digital system. Both the methods offer tons of options, that can work according to your preferences to help you stay on track. You should reach for whichever method suits you well or you find more efficient. You should also set the layout according to your lifestyle and interests.

In the long term, copying someone else's bullet journaling techniques does not work. Instead, it eventually makes bullet journaling feel like a burden. You should set a system for yourself after trying out different methods. What works for someone else, might not work for you and interesting enough, that is the beauty of bullet journaling. So, decide on a personalised style that works the best for you, and stick to it.

2. Avoid trying to make it "perfect"

You need to remember that, your bullet journal is for you, and not for impressing others. So, stop comparing it to others' and obsessively trying to make it look "Instagram-worthy". If you want to practice your creative skills on it, do so for yourself and not for validation. Prioritising tasks is also a very important aspect of bullet journaling. It is common among newbies, as well as, longtime bullet journalists to end up bullet journaling excessively. Often, one suffers creating a long list that appears never-ending and impossible to achieve. It can be demotivating and disrupt the productive pace, even before they can start being productive. It can even cause frustration and lead to the abandonment of this unique system.

Hence, you should list your tasks on the basis of their urgency and start with the easiest one to kick-start a productive flow at the very beginning of your day. Moreover, it can be even more peaceful for you if you can narrow down your list to 3 to 5 tasks and mark your day successful if you can get them done and in terms of any other completion of tasks, count them as bonuses. Meanwhile, if there remain some extra unfinished ones, simply just move them to the next day's schedule. This way, you can get the most important ones done without feeling burnt out or fatigued.

3. Be realistic while bullet journaling

It is possible that, your days might not always go as per your plans, so refrain from being way too detailed when planning, for being extremely specific leaves no room for flexibility. Fixing the time for completing tasks meticulously can make you feel intimidated and make approaching the tasks harder. Also, it hinders you from completing the more important tasks at hand. Planning every second and every minute of your days does very little good. So, schedule them thoroughly and correctly, but at the same time, be prepared to change the plannings, if needed. You can indeed be descriptive and add details but do not be fixated on that to help yourself bullet journal right.

Moreover, adding in sections after sections to jot down and keep track of everything, more often than not, increases only your chore. Hence, avoid doing this unless it specifically works for you. Keeping your bullet journal minimal and building up or customising spreads as you go is the key because bullet journaling should help you stay proactive and not add to your problems.