Update: tried a single notebook index page instead of color coding every entry, game changer
I spent maybe 20 minutes a night for a month trying to match 6 different highlighters to different life areas and it was a mess by week two. Switched to one plain index page at the front with page numbers written in black pen, and now I actually find stuff instead of flipping through 40 pages of rainbow chaos. Anyone else ditch the color system after realizing it was slowing them down?
Matching highlighters to life areas for 20 minutes a night sounds like a hobby you accidentally turned into a chore. Six colors is basically a second job you're not getting paid for. The real question is whether the color thing ever worked for you at all, because if it did and you just didn't stick with it long enough, the index page is a band-aid, not a fix. And if it never worked, then it's not some big realization, you just tried something and it didn't pan out like most things people try. People act like dropping a system is a life lesson when usually it just means the system was more work than it was worth from day one.