Finally compared my monthly vs weekly spreads after 8 months of journaling

I've been doing bullet journals since last March and always did monthly spreads with all the bells and whistles. Took me like 2 hours each month to draw out habit trackers, mood charts, and a big calendar. Last week I tried a pure weekly spread instead with just 7 boxes and a tiny task list. Literally saved me an hour and a half of setup time and I actually used it every day instead of ignoring it after week 1. The monthly spread felt pretty but the weekly one actually helped me get stuff done. Has anyone else switched formats and found a big difference in how much you actually use it?

3 comments

3 Comments

wells.christopher8d ago

Honestly @charles_baker28 reminded me I should try blank notebooks too.

simonk988d ago

my buddy sarah went through the exact same thing. she had this giant monthly spread with a color coded mood tracker and a section for her water intake and it took her forever to set up. then she switched to a weekly notebook where she just writes down the top 3 things she needs to do each day. she told me she actually started finishing stuff instead of just looking at her pretty pages and feeling guilty about not using them. i think we all like the idea of being super organized more than we like actually doing it.

charles_baker288d ago

I switched from a full monthly to a rolling weekly format around the same time you did. My old monthly had a habit tracker for drinking water, reading, and exercise, plus a mood chart with 30 tiny squares to fill in. I stopped using it by day 5 every single month. Now I use a simple weekly layout on a blank notebook where I just list my daily tasks on the left and a tiny gratitude note on the right. It takes me maybe 10 minutes on Sunday night and I have actually kept up with it for four months straight. The blank space means I can change it up when I want without that pressure to fill in a perfect grid.