I had a whole drawer of washi tape and mildliners that just sat there after my third attempt. Ended up spending maybe eighty bucks on tools for a system that's supposed to be simple. The whole point gets lost when your pens cost more than your peace of mind.

You saying you're not cut out for the pretty spreads hits home. I see this all the time where people, me included, get sucked into making things look perfect for social media instead of just doing the work. Like @mason.charlie pointed out, those spreads set a bar that's just not realistic for daily life. It turns tools that should help us into sources of stress and guilt. We buy into the idea that we need the right gear to be productive, but then we never use it. It's a cycle that wastes money and makes us feel bad about ourselves.