What's the deal with Bullet Journaling?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

All of a sudden I’m seeing and hearing this phrase pop up—bullet journaling. To be honest, I haven’t done a very deep dive, but from skimming, I take it that it’s basically a daily diary/appointment book that you design yourself on blank pages with multiple-colored ink?

Is that right? What’s the deal? Is it a general concept or is it something specific? Is it a proprietary method of some kind?

Do you keep a bullet journal? Why? What’s so special about it? What breakthrough in understanding of the human mind does it represent? What does it entail?

What’s the straight dope?

#2

My wife bullet journals and largely it seems to function as a planner. Its real appeal seems to be that it’s obviously customizable and more importantly serves as a creative outlet to make something pretty and useful. I’m not sure that it makes her more productive or anything like that.

#3

Yeah and also you get nifty little stencils that you can use to spiff up your pages with sharply drawn arrows and highlights. And there’s stickers, too.

I get the appeal but I think it’s a trap. In my life it would function mostly as a procrastination device.

#4

There is a pretty sharp divide in the bujo community between decorative and functional bullet journaling. My gf is militantly on the functional side; no artwork for her Hobonichi!!