Bullet Journal Vs Planner: Which Is Right for You?

Welcome, Amanda Warfield to the blog today! She's bringing a topic today about what kind of planner is good for you! I'm so glad Amanda stopped by to help you!

Between, a bullet journal or a traditional planner, what do you think is your best fit?

A Guest Post by Amanda Warfield, of Live Organized, Live Simple

I am a planner freak. I’ve spent countless hours researching to make sure I find the “best” one each year. Even in middle school, I carried my planner everywhere— you know, that one they gave you at registration at the beginning of the year with the school logo on the front? The one that most people “lost”?

Yeah, I was the kid that pulled hers out at the beginning of every class, and then didn’t put it away until the bell rang— just in case I needed to write something down.

I had the bell schedule, the assembly bell schedule, and the early release bell schedule written in the front of my planner so I always knew when the bell would ring for class to end.

My love for planners carried on throughout my entire life. Planner shopping is always an exciting time of year, and Staples is one of my favorite stores.

But, in 2017, I was feeling really overwhelmed by everything I needed to keep track of. I had a lot of lists in my mind that I was attempting to remember, but not really being able to hang on to. And there wasn’t room in my planner to write them all down.

I did some research, and I decided to start using a bullet journal instead of a typical planner. I did bullet journaling for about a year and then ended up going back to a regular planner. So, today, I want to talk you through whether a bullet journal or a typical planner is the right option for you. (Not sure if a planner OR bullet journal is right for you at all? Check out my post on why even Type B personalities should use planners.)

Are you struggling to keep track of everything?

My recommendation: Bullet Journal

This was my issue, and why I decided to switch to a bullet journal originally. The beauty of a bullet journal is that it can be literally anything you need it to be. I used mine as both a planner, but also a place to keep lists. I had lists of birthdays to remember, fall activities we wanted to do, Christmas movies we wanted to watch, books I had read, meals listed out for meal planning purposes, etc. It housed everything I needed it to, and this was my number one favorite thing about having it.

Are you looking for a creative outlet? 

My recommendation: Bullet Journal

A fun benefit of using a bullet journal was how creative it allowed me to be. The beauty of a bullet journal is that it’s literally a blank slate. It’s just page after page of grid dots waiting for you to do your thing with them.

One of my absolute favorite spreads that I did. The left is full of fun memories from that month, and the right is a mood tracker for the new month. 

Are you short on time?

My recommendation: Typical Planner

Ultimately, I decided to put aside my bullet journal after a year. As much as I loved it, it was very time-consuming. Even my most minimal layouts took at least an hour each week to set up between creating and then planning out my week—and if I didn’t get the week set up, then I wasn’t using my bullet journal. Defeating the entire purpose of having a planner.

 My very minimalist layout still took me time to put together—and if I needed to write something down a month in advance, I likely didn’t have it set up yet, making it hard to use.


A bullet journal is going to give you a lot of creative freedom, and the ability to make it exactly what you need. However, it’s also going to take up a lot of your time to set up. If you’re short on time or are more than happy to let a printer do the set-up work for you, then you might want to stick to a typical planner. After all, you can get creative within those as well. I still use stickers and color coding in my planner each week!

My current weekly planner. I still love to use color coding and stickers to make it fun without spending hours and hours on it!

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Amanda Warfield is the owner and creator of Live Organized, Live Simple. She’s a recovering perfectionist turned simplicity lover, routines enthusiast, and capsule wardrobe expert. Her mission is to use her passion for teaching and her love of minimalism, organization, and productivity to help every overwhelmed woman find rest through simplicity.

Amanda is married to Russell, the funniest guy she knows. They are South Carolina natives living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and enjoy traveling, reading, and all things Disney (okay, maybe that one is just Amanda).

Did this article help you decide which to use? Or did it sway you to try out the opposite of what you’re doing now? Leave a comment below and let us know!