Bujo Basics: Back to Daily Logs

For the past year, I’ve been using weekly layouts. They’ve been highly functional and helped me organize my week (especially my work week). However, after major changes in my personal and professional life, the weekly log system did not serve its purpose anymore. Since then, I started to go back to basics of the Bullet Journal – the daily logs.

The Bullet Journal Daily Logs are simple and effective but, just like anything else, there are also a few drawbacks to strictly using daily logs.

Advantages of Daily Logs

Daily logs are designed for day-to-day use. 

– Ryder Carroll, bulletjournal.com

#1 Flexibility

The primary advantage of daily logging is the flexibility. Without creating the dates ahead of time, you are not bound by dates, borders, or spaces. You can have one line of text in one day or ten in the next day – it will depend

#2 You can skip a day

You don’t need to write on your bullet journal every day. If there’s nothing going on for a day, you can leave it!

 #3 It’s quick and it saves time

Daily logging works best for those who are on-the-go or who are too busy to create layouts. For those types of people, creating layouts (even a minimalist layout) is too time-consuming an unnecessary. With daily logs, all you need to do is to write down today’s date and rapid log your tasks, notes, and memories. 

Read: How to Succeed at Bullet Journaling When You Live a Fast Paced Life

Drawbacks of Daily Logs

#1 There is no weekly pre-planning

There are some people who can’t seem to organize their thoughts without having a preset layout and I think it’s because with the dates already planned out, they are able to assign tasks and events on the spot. While here’s a monthly log for that but unfortunately, the monthly log just isn’t enough for some people – especially those who have too many appointments in a day/week.

#2 You might forget to use your bullet journal after a long time

Since there are no layouts or dates, you might not feel obliged to use your bullet journal. When I used to use weekly logs, I was more motivated to write and organize tasks because there was an existing layout.

#3 No “at a glance”

One advantage of weekly spreads is that you have a quick glance of what has happened or what is currently happening in the week. 

#4 It can be disorganized sometimes

If you’re someone who uses the bullet journal for just about anything, you most likely have collections or notes between daily logs. That’s really not bad – because that’s really why and how the bullet journal was designed. Then again, there are some people who find more comfort in having pre-made weekly layouts so that the collections can be placed either after the current week or before the next monthly log.

Daily logging isn’t for everyone. I’ve asked my bullet journal friends why they use or don’t use a daily log and the reasons depend on what you do and what you need. I even remember doing a fair amount of research to figure out if it was the style for me.

If you’re just beginning in the bullet journal process, I suggest you try the basics and then try to experiment weekly. If you’ve been bullet journaling for quite a while and are still deciding, think about the pros and cons and ask yourself why you are currently using a weekly layout (or monthly) – then you can decide if it will for you.