How Many Journals/Planners do You Need to be Organized?

by - March 05, 2022

 Imagine this. You just found the perfect planner to organize your whole life! At least that is what it feels like for the first few weeks. Then it dawns on you... maybe since your life is so complicated, you should have more than one bullet journal/planner to organize your life. It would be easier to stay organized if you had a separate planner for housekeeping and a separate journal for personal development, right?

How Many Journals/Planners do You Need to be Organized?


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Updated for 2024

It can be so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you will be more organized once you have a journal/planner for every area of your life.

If you have read some of my other articles, it may appear that I only have one journal, but that is incorrect. I actually have three! *surprise, surprise* I will get more into my reasons for having three separate journals later in this post.

You are probably here because you have fallen in love with bullet journaling or your current planner, but you can't decide whether you will be able to organize your entire life with just one notebook. You are probably in that planning phase it is so easy to get stuck in where you keep researching, and you can't decide how many planners you should have.

Well, today I'm going to help you out by giving you some key reasons why you should be and shouldn't be using multiple planners. Some people claim that using multiple planners is the key to organizing your whole life, but is it really?

Let's jump right in!

How Many Journals/Planners do You Need to be Organized?


6 Reasons You May Want to Use More Than One Journal

1. You Want to Keep Areas of Your Life Separate

This is probably the most obvious benefit of using multiple journals. You can potentially be more organized when you have different areas of your life in different journals. Notice though that I say "potentially".

I already mentioned above that I use three journals. It is for this reason. I have my bullet journal strictly for planning and being organized, my diary for writing about my life, and a faith journal. Each one of these notebooks has a different format.

At one point, I considered having a separate bullet journal for collection layouts, or a separate bullet journal for my blog (oh hey, it's the one you are reading right now), but I decided that it didn't make sense for me.

2. You Want More Convenient Planning Tools

One large catch-all planner for your desk, a small planner in your purse, and a medium-sized one for everything in between. If this sounds like your thing, then great! Multiple journals might be perfect for you!

If you don't want to carry your main planner around because it is large, then having a smaller planner you carry around with you is a viable option. Keep in mind though, that you would have to spend extra time transferring information from one planner to the other one.

How Many Journals/Planners do You Need to be Organized?

3. You Don't Want to Carry Around Private Information

You know that "password" layout in your bullet journal? Or what about your "when did I last..." bullet journal layout? Your journal might contain information that you don't want other people to see. Especially if, you do have a "when did I last..." layout, and the last time you changed your toothbrush was over a year ago...

The obvious solution is to not carry around that information (and to change your toothbrush more often)! 😂 Instead, you might use a digital planner on your phone, or a small notebook you can fit in a pocket.

4. You Want Planners for Different Activities (Different Formats Too!)

When it comes to planners there are so many options! You might want certain layouts for writing down your daily thoughts, and a separate one for keeping your workout calendar. You might want one notebook with lines, and another one with dots.

In this case, it is time to start looking for another planner, unless you can insert pages into your planner.

5. You Need More Room in Your Journal

This is one reason I considered buying a second bullet journal. This is also why some people have separate bullet journals for their collection layouts. It may save you more time in the long run, if you don't have to keep making the same bullet journal layouts over and over again.

6. You are a Stationery Addict!

I had to add this one to the list! You might just want another planner, so you are looking for excuses to splurge on that cute planner you don't really need. If you were looking for justification in this post, I'm sorry you aren't going to find it.

How Many Journals/Planners do You Need to be Organized?



The Cons of Having More Than One Journal

1. You Have to Spend Extra Time Maintaining Your Planners

If you have trouble keeping up with one planner, how in the world do you think you are going to keep up with three?

The answer to becoming organized in your case is to make the planner you already have work for you, or buy a new planner to use instead of your current one.

If you have three planners, you are going to have to spend extra time sitting down reviewing, and keeping up with all of those planners.

On the flip side, maybe you just want a creative planner that you can use for hobbies (like storing knitting patterns). In this case, you won't need to keep up with it as often, and it might make sense to have a separate planner!

2. It's More Expensive

It's going to be expensive to buy those extra planners unless you are a stationery addict, and you already have bought them!

Planners are not cheap, especially ones that are ring-bound. On the other hand, if it helps you become more organized, it will be a good investment.

3. You May Have to Carry All of Them Around

If each planner covers a separate area of your life, you may need to have them all with you. If you remember something you need to add to your grocery list while you are at work, you will need to have your personal planner and your work planner with you.

4. Pages May Overlap

Should you add your to-do list to your work planner or your personal planner? Yep, it will probably end up in both!

Pages in one planner may also be necessary for your other planner, so you will have to keep up with two sets of pages instead of just one set. Your planners may end up being a hassle and consume more time than they are worth.

How Many Journals/Planners do You Need to be Organized?



How Many Journals/Planners do You Need to be Organized?

So after all of that, what is my ultimate answer? Do you need to run out and buy some more planners and journals?

No, I think that having and using just one planner is very effective.

You are probably thinking, "Wait... didn't you say you use three journals?"

Well yes, I did, but I only use one journal for planning my week. Each of my journals has a very distinct purpose, and none of them overlap. My main bullet journal is for organizing and planning my entire life. My second journal is for writing about my daily life, and my third journal is for taking notes in church.

I don't only use one journal, because I want to be able to use my two other journals for longer than a year, and I only use my main journal for a year.

What is my advice if you do want to use multiple journals?

  1. Keep your journals as separate as possible (if you have a notebook for your health, it is only for health, and none of your other journals contain health-related content)
  2. Set up a schedule for when you use your journals (I use two of my journals daily, and the last one I use weekly)
  3. Pick formats that make sense (If you want to carry it around with you all of the time, maybe you should try digital)
  4. Keep these journals where you use them, and make it very easy to access them. (Keeping your main journal in the center of your desk along with your favorite pen)
  5. Before buying another planner, try using your phone as the second planner first to see if another planner will actually be a worthwhile purchase.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! If you did, you can read the below articles as well...

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How Many Journals/Planners do You Need to be Organized?
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