A friend told me my bullet journal was 'too messy' to be useful

We were at a coffee shop in Denver, and she flipped through my journal from the last six months. She pointed at a weekly spread with some scribbled-out tasks and said, 'This looks chaotic, how do you find anything?' I explained that the mess is part of my process, and crossing things out helps me see my progress. She just shook her head and said a clean layout was the only proper way. Has anyone else had someone criticize how your bujo actually looks?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nancy23h ago

My own bullet journal looks like a raccoon got into some ink and had a panic attack. The scribbles are a feature, not a bug, because I need to see the chaos to feel like I've done something. If it was clean, I'd assume I hadn't actually lived my life.

tessaperry20h ago

Messy notes are proof of work. A perfect page looks like you were too scared to start. The real stuff happens in the scribbles.

quinn60620h ago

Honestly, my grocery lists are the same way. The coffee stains and crossed out items prove I actually went to the store. A clean list would feel like a lie.