The Bullet Journal vs. the Planner: Which is BEST for You?

Is a bullet journal the best choice of planner for you? Or should you stick to a traditional planner, or even go paperless with an app? There are many different ways of organising your life and each has its own benefits. In this blog post we will explore bullet journals vs planners to help you decide which one is right for you!

What are Planners?

Planners come in a variety of sizes and with pre-designed layouts. They are most often published at the start of a calendar year and are available in daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly views. They can be found at office supply shops, stationery stores, bookstores, craft chains, and of course Amazon. It is dependent on the brand or the style of planner as to what’s included inside.

Planner Size Options

There are a variety of planners available, ranging from small pocket versions to bigger desktop editions. It’s critical to consider how you’ll use it before buying one.

When selecting a size, consider the following points:

1. Do you want something light and transportable that you can use anywhere?
2. Do you work most of your planning at your desk and don’t want to take it anywhere else?
3. Do you like to use your planner only for appointments, or do you prefer a lot of room to write down all of your details?

Consider the following questions while selecting a planner.

Planner Binding Variations

It’s also vital to think about how planners are constrained: book bound, spiral bound, ring bound, and disc bound. Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages.

Book bound

The paper is beautiful, and the book makes a lovely quality volume that you’ll want to keep for years; nevertheless, unless it’s a Moleskine, most book-bound planners do not lie flat. Before purchasing a book-bound planner, I always perform a “layflat” test.

The Moleskine style of planner is another popular kind, such as the weekly planner. On one side of each spread was a weekly layout, with space on the right for notes, tasks, thoughts, and other items. This was a fantastic planner for a basic appointment style but when taking on more responsibilities (like running a business) bigger area was needed to keep it all together.

Spiral bound

Because you can turn the pages all the way around, spiral bound planners are pleasant and simple to use. The only disadvantage of spiral bound planners is that they aren’t customizable. You must adhere to the confines of the pages.

Ring bound

The is a style that has been around for decades. Filofax, for example, popularized them as the go-to planner for professional individuals. This design is preferred because pages can be added or deleted conveniently. You may make your planner lighter by removing all but a few months if you don’t want to track the entire year.

Many firms that make ring-bound books also offer a variety of extras to the end user in order to personalize it. You can choose from daily, weekly, or monthly layouts, sections for setting objectives, expense trackers, and plain pages.

It’s critical to double-check the ring format since there are various types of rings. One firm may produce a planner with 6 rings, while another makes one with 8 rings. Before using inserts from other businesses, make sure they’re using the same ring system.

Disc bound

The popularity of disc bound bookkeeping systems is on the rise. They’re a hybrid of spiral and ring binders, which is why they’re so popular.

The pages in this system are bound together on individual discs. The pages may be turned around the ring in the same way as a spiral planner’s, but they can also be added or removed as you see fit.

The discs in most calendar binders are small, so you might choose little ones if you want a slim organizer. Choose larger discs if you prefer having the whole year or extra sections.

Disc bound is the most adaptable and configurable of all the systems I mentioned.

Planner things to Consider

Now that you’ve gotten an overview of planners, it’s time to figure out how you’ll use them. Before buying a planner, consider your requirements:

• Do you enjoy seeing a year in review?
• Is it important to you to have a monthly overview?
• Do you want to view a weekly schedule so you can know what events are scheduled for the week ahead?
• Do you have a lot of daily to-do lists and need somewhere to jot things down?
• Do you run a large household with numerous outside activities to plan?
• Do you have a lot of deadlines to meet at your current job?
• Do you enjoy establishing personal objectives and being held accountable for them?
• Do you simply need to remember the next test and homework deadlines?
• Do you require a meal plan and grocery list section?
• Do you prefer a planner that is both a memory and a paper planner?
• Do you want your planner to inspire you every day?
• Do you require a task planner that helps you stay focused on just a few key activities?

Make a list of EVERYTHING you want your planner to include as well as how you want to view your calendar, and bring it with you when purchasing one.

Planner Pros and Cons

What are Bullet Journals?

The Bullet Journal was created by Ryder Carroll, who was frustrated with notes, chores, and memos cluttering his mind. He believed that everything should be recorded in one notebook, which he called the “bullet journal.”

Whatever you do, it’s all recorded in one book. Your schedule, duties, objectives, to-do lists, journaling, meeting notes, gratitude logs, project plans, grocery lists, books to read and meal plans are a few of the things that will go in this book.

The goal is to get your life in gear so you can accomplish what you want to do. The system helps you distinguish events, chores, and other items because it uses a simple coded method (known as a bullet journal key) to identify them at a glance. It also makes use of a future log so that you may keep track of upcoming occurrences.

If you’re using a bullet journal, it’s likely that you’ve filled up the previous one. Some users only create one bullet journal per year, while others may do so once every five. It all comes down to how much you utilize it and the amount of information you have to record.

The A5 (5.8 x 8.3 inches) is the most popular bullet journal size because it’s compact and easy to carry about. Use any notebook, but I like the Leuchtturm Dot Journal because it comes in multiple colors, has a back pocket, and includes ribbon book markers.

Carroll has also released his own Bullet Journal. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve heard very good things about it on Amazon. He’s also written a book to walk you through the bullet journal process step-by-step.

Bullet diaries, sometimes known as “bujo” for short, are becoming increasingly popular since they are so adaptable. If you’re searching for a flexible, free-form approach to record everything in your life, a bullet journal is an excellent option.

Bullet journal vs planner: which one is right for you?

When it comes to selecting an organizational method that’s appropriate for you and your life stage, there’s a bit of trial and error involved.

To assist you in making a selection, if you want to create your own organizational structure from scratch rather than being restricted by a pre-installed layout, I recommend beginning with a bullet journal.

If you prefer structure and want to get started right away without having to think about how to set up an organizational system, try a planner first.