Dear Diary,
As you probably know by now, I love to Bullet Journal. My love for my BUJO, though, came from my former planner obsession.
I used to have a collection of different planners because I loved to plan, but I also would get sick of having the same layout week after week. When I discovered the art of Bullet Journaling, I thought I would give it a shot since you can customize it to your wants + needs!
Now that I’ve been using my BUJO for a year, I thought I would do a comparison of the two. I did a poll on my Instagram story to see if my followers would be interested in a blog about my experiment and I received a roaring “YES!”
I really wanted to test this out, so about 2 weeks ago, I drove to Michael’s and picked up a cheap planner that would fit my needs. I used the planner and my BUJO these last few weeks and kept track of my thoughts and opinions on the two.
With anything in life, there is going to be Pros and Cons, so that’s where we will begin!
[Obviously, these are my personal opinion, but I think they will transfer well to you, too.]
BUJO PROS + CONS:
PROS:
- Stress reliever
- Can be used as a planner + so much more
- Easily can switch up theme/layout when you’re not feeling it
- So much room for creativity
CONS:
- Can be time consuming
- Confusing to begin
- Can be overwhelming
PLANNER PROS + CONS:
PROS:
- Stress reliever
- Time efficient
- More structured
- Space to plan your day
CONS:
- Not as much of a creative outlet
- Not very rewarding
- ONLY a planner
- Can’t switch up the theme/layout
As I tracked these Pros and Cons, I found myself confused because they seemed to line up pretty closely. I realized that both books are extremely effective! So which one is “better”?
MY THOUGHTS:
I was surprised to find that while I was doing this experiment, I was leaning more towards my planner. I found it easy to pick up in a busy day and fill it out. I realized I did miss that structure….but this only lasted about 4 days.
Once I started to use my planner more, I suddenly missed the creativity aspect of my BUJO. I wanted to draw or hand letter in the worst way. I also already felt a wanted to switch up the layout of this planner and was looking up different ones to purchase!
Here I was doing an experiment for a week and already was researching to buy another $40 planner…for what?
While the planners I was looking to purchase were appealing, I still found something I didn’t like about all of them…the layout, the space for writing my plans out, the amount of note space, ect.
This is when I decided to start planning for the month of October in my BUJO. I laid it out the way I was picking apart the planner I wanted to buy.
I spent some time creating my October theme and layout. As I was working, I looked at the clock and realized an hour went by before I even knew it. I fell in love with what I created one those pages and remembered why Bullet Journaling is so special to me.
Why I love Bullet Journaling:
I am an extremely creative person. My brain thinks in words and designs. I need to see things visually to understand and feel comfortable.
That’s why I love my BUJO! I didn’t even notice an hour went by because I was enjoying creating this space just for me! I felt my stress melt away as I put my thoughts and creativity onto these pages.
My BUJO isn’t just a planner.
It’s a planner + a journal + a tracker life + a wedding planner + a memory log + a brain dump + an outlet.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a regular planner! I think planners are amazing, especially for someone that just likes to have things structured and write down their life events. That’s where I started with this obsession!
But a BUJO is so much more. If you have a creative mind like I do and you haven’t tried Bullet Journaling, I encourage you to attempt this experiment!
Though I realized I missed my planner, I missed my BUJO even more in just those 4-5 days I held onto the planner. I’m glad I did this experiment to find my love and passion for this hobby again!
Which do you think you’d enjoy more?
Make sure you follow my Instagram @bethsnot_so_secretdiary so you don’t miss out on future polls and blog ideas!
Thanks so much for stopping by to read my Not-So-Secret Diary!
Beth's Not-So-Secret Diary 