In grade school (and all the way through post-secondary, really), my planner was my lifeline. All my to-dos and deadlines were pleasingly colour-coded so that I wouldn’t lose track of any assignments, exams, or appointments.
But there was something missing in the whole planner experience.
Some weeks, I’d find myself cramming words into the margins, while other weeks would be left disappointingly bare.
My planner kept me moving, but it lacked that big-picture perspective for where I was going. (Perhaps in school, I didn’t need one as much!)
Naturally I would decorate mine so that they were a bit more “me”, but only within the confines of what was already laid out for me.
This is how you should organize your life, the planner says.
And then I found bullet journaling, which balanced organization and structure with spontaneity and creativity. It became a reflection of how I thought and what really mattered. When I sit down to start a new spread, the bullet journal doesn’t give orders.
How would you like to organize your life?, the bullet journal asks.
If you’re wondering about how a bullet journal is different from a traditional planner (and whether it might serve you better), read on!
1. Predetermined structure vs. freedom of the blank page
Planners come with a layout: neat little boxes for your days, weeks, and months. They’re ready to go right when you open them, and all you have to do is fill them in. Each page may come with a little box for general notes. At the end of the planner you might find a contact page and a few lined pages for extra notes. This worked for me for many years!
But it was far from a perfect solution. It lacked the flexibility I wanted. I’d feel guilty bypassing blank days or weeks when I didn’t have the energy to use them, and I was often frustrated by the confines of the space (I mentioned filling the margins, but I would also sprawl additional information onto post-its in there, too).
A bullet journal starts with an entire notebook of blank pages. (Artist’s nightmare, right? Not when you have a system!)
You essentially build your journal, including the portions that fulfill the purpose of a planner, as you go. That means you can try things! Skip the monthly spread. Use up two pages for a mind map. Drop in a spread for all of the book recommendations you’ve been collecting lately. Take a break, then when you’re ready to come back, start writing in the next available space – no need to ration white space “just in case”.
This is what makes the bullet journal customizable and responsive to your daily life.
2. Planning vs. orientation
The purpose of the planner is of course to plan. It’s future-oriented and it keeps you moving forward toward your goals (whether immediate tasks or long-term dreams). But it does lack a bit of substance and forces you to dream in the margins, if you will.
A bullet journal includes planning as well, but it intends for you to mindfully select what’s coming up next. Here’s what makes it orienting:
- The way that bullet journaling works, you’re actually flipping through the next 6-12 months of events, tasks and goals, and even beyond that if you wish, on a monthly basis – orienting you to the future you want.
- Part of your daily journaling routine is to rapidly write out any thoughts, notable events, ideas, inspirations, recommendations, and any other bits of life that are noteworthy to you – keeping you present while freeing up mental space.
- Some of bullet journaling is reflection – taking those bits you noted (whether today or weeks ago) and deciding where they belong. It’s helping you synthesize the past. Are those notes important enough to create a spread for them? Do they belong in your future log? Are they part of a collection?
There’s space in there, and that space will end up being whatever you need in the moment. Mine has been a calendar, a taskmaster, a space for reflection, a habit tracker, a lightening rod for inspiration, a space to record memories, and a space to dream in.
Sometimes all in the same week!
While planners help you move forward, I think that bullet journaling helps you move forward with intention, in the context of your past, all while staying grounded in the present.
3. Done-for-you vs. made-by-you
I alluded to this in the beginning, but I’ve grown weary of trying to fit my life into someone else’s system. Especially when that system can’t evolve with me.
Maybe I see the planner as a microcosm of that. It’s someone else’s system, and for the sheer convenience of not having to think about it, I just try to cram everything I need into it (while trying not to feel guilty when I don’t).
Bullet journaling flips that. Yes, the methodology is made by someone else, but even that is customizable. Why? Because you start with a blank notebook! There’s magic to be found here. You start by learning the basic system, but it will evolve with you.
Part of the bullet journaling method is to reflect on what is working, what is relevant, what is important – and what is not. So if part of the system doesn’t work for you, you simply stop doing it and try something else.
Notably, we are not the same person in the same headspace year-round. Our needs change over time. We may work in creative seasons. Perfect. Your bullet journal is right there with you – incredibly minimal when you need it to be, and robust and exploratory when that serves you best.
Sure, setting up your bullet journal takes more time than diving into a premade planner – but I see this as part of the built-in mindfulness practice.
4. Aesthetics vs.… Aesthetics?
Because let’s face it – this is important!
A lot of the appeal of planners is that they’re already lovely and pleasing to look at and work in with their clean, welcoming layouts and calming colour palettes. I love the ones that come with inspiring quotes or interesting facts and illustrative designs around the edges.
So one downside, especially if you’re not artistically inclined (or don’t have time to be), is that your bullet journal might not be as aesthetically pleasing.
Well, first of all – beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My handwriting is not great. But there’s something pleasing and real to me about my minimal black pen on dot grid paper.
Maybe you lean more maximalist. Amazing! Even if you don’t feel artistic, you can plaster in washi tape, stickers, other random hand-drawn designs (experiment with lines and line weights, even!). Then it’s not only aesthetically pleasing, but it captures your unique aesthetic.
Which, like the rest of your bullet journal, will develop over time.
One last thought, though: Sometimes a scribbled, smudged, blotchy, random-looking daily log is exactly the medicine we need to release our perfectionism. That thing is not for the world to ogle at – it is for you. It’s a tool that you created to work with your brain and it helps ground you in your life.
There’s a deeper beauty to be found in the potential mess of pen on paper.
5. Compartmentalizing versus harmonizing
I think that part of the “rigidity” I get from planners is that they facilitating going from “one thing to the next”. They are more focused on tasks, events and appointments rather than ideas and brainstorming and reflecting. And in a sense, that can be refreshing, because everything is somewhat compartmentalized.
My worry (especially after having written so much about burnout) is that it encourages going into autopilot mode and lets you skip the part where you think about why you do what you do, and where you’re trying to go with it.
Bullet journaling sort-of forces you to harmonize the things that you must do, like the appointments and daily tasks, with the bigger picture. The feelings of the day, your goals, what inspires you, what you’ve been reading lately. It creates a space to capture all of it.
And then it all coalesces into a greater, more grounded version of your life.
So, which one is better?
That’s sort-of a misnomer (but it felt catchy!) – the real question is which one is better for you.
If you love structure, you want a system that is “plug-and-play”, and you like consistency, a planner might work wonderfully for you. Especially if you really do just need to make sure you don’t forget your upcoming tasks and appointments!
But if the freedom of the blank page is calling to you, or if you’re curious about what might work best for you, and if you want to have everything that matters all in one place, you might want to give bullet journaling a shot!
Need help getting started? Check out Bullet Journaling Basics: What It Is & What You Really Need to Start One
Or head to The Busy Creative’s Guide to Bullet Journaling (Start Here!) for more!
