Bullet Journaling

[Shave_Rat]

So apparently this has become a huge trend now. Anyone else look into this, or given it a try? I was intrigued, so I'll be messing around with the method, see if it helps me get a bit more task orientated, and hopefully more productive and organized as well.

Any trend that encourages larges groups of people to explore pens, writing, and good stationary tho is a plus, I'd say.

 

[John Rose]

It appears to be a clever system for pen and paper, but if I really needed to be task orientated, productive, and organized, I'd use a smartphone or similar device.
Taking out the SIM chip and turning off the WIFI would probably double productivity.

 

[Shave_Rat]

The system is pretty well thought out, for sure. Going through and looking at how so many have adapted it, you realize really quickly how extremely flexible it is as well. I am one of those types that the device app thing doesn't work for. I can make lists and such all day long in some app or text file, and will easily forget what is on the list shortly after I stop looking at it. lol

 

[Tiny_MN]

I thought there was a thread that covered this fairly in depth here. But, looking a couple of pages back couldn't find it. Might be blended in with a more generic journaling thread?

The person who came up with it wrote a book about it. I've looked at it. But, I'm one of those who tries to carry as little as possible in my day to day life. So, google tasks or MS tasks works best for me.

I know a couple of people who swear by bullet journaling. If one can make it work, more power to you.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I went back a bit as well and didn't see anything obvious topic wise on it. At the least, my pens will see more use while I'm giving it a shot to see how well it works for me.

 

[Slivovitz]

I'd never heard of this, so I searched a little until I found an article explaining it in some detail.

There's no wrong way to keep a journal, if it works for you. I already have my own notions of what I want my journals to be, and a productivity tool or planning system isn't it. This doesn't appeal to me. But I did start keeping index pages in them a couple of volumes back, just to make it easier to find things that I might want to read again.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I usually have an A4 pad kicking around for scribbling thoughts and lists, but don't consider it a journal. Once the pad is full, I throw it away and get another. I have tried "journalling" once or twice, but it seemed a totally pointless endeavour to me. It seems that others get something from the activity that I don't.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I think the name of the method is off/misleading, since it's not really "journaling", and more of "life organizing". If I was a journal keeping type, I'd have a total separate book for that vs the one for the organizing and planning.

 

[David John]

There is literally a ton of YouTubes on Bullet Journaling. A real popular one to watch is Amanda Rach Lee's Channel but there are dozens of good channels to watch. Yea, I am into Bullet Journaling, personally I enjoy trying the multitude of different pens, brush pens and what have ya. In a nutshell it's your life in a book. You name it, it goes in...

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I think the name of the method is off/misleading, since it's not really "journaling", and more of "life organizing". If I was a journal keeping type, I'd have a total separate book for that vs the one for the organizing and planning.

I just watched a video on it. It's basically. a convoluted to do list isn't it. The same can be achieved more efficiently with a page a day diary and a pack of post-it notes.

At the least, my pens will see more use while I'm giving it a shot to see how well it works for me.

... and I think this is what it all boils down to, an excuse to use pens more.

A diary would be more efficient, but the less efficient bullet journal means more time playing with pens and writing stuff down that you're going to do, and less time getting of your arse and actually doing it.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I just watched a video on it. It's basically. a convoluted to do list isn't it. The same can be achieved more efficiently with a page a day diary and a pack of post-it notes.

I'm not sure how adding in a pack of post-it notes is more efficient than just the diary/journal by itself. My take is that anytime you add on more pieces like that, you are making it more complex, not less. Just put the note into the diary itself, add to an index what page the note is on, and done.

I wouldn't call it convoluted for a method, it's really very organized and pretty straightforward at the base concept. If you add an index to reference easily the varies things you want to go back to, with blank pages for just misc. things into a daily diary, you have basically started a bullet journal at that point. Short hand notation for the to-do type lists may or may not be relevant to some, course that applies to the whole concept/idea.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

The post-it notes just help move something from one page to another without writing it all out again. Useful for multi-stage tasks that don't all get done in a day, or ones that need reviewing later according to the original checklist, just take it from today's page, and move it forward two weeks or whatever. No having to rewrite or refer back.

To me it seems convoluted, but if others like it and benefit from it, that's great.

 

[Shave_Rat]

The post-it notes just help move something from one page to another without writing it all out again. Useful for multi-stage tasks that don't all get done in a day, or ones that need reviewing later according to the original checklist, just take it from today's page, and move it forward two weeks or whatever. No having to rewrite or refer back.

To me it seems convoluted, but if others like it and benefit from it, that's great.

There is definitely no "one system to fix them all" sort of solution. Like anything else, this won't work for some in the same way apps on my phone don't really help me resolve any of my disorganization and productivity tracking issues.

Part of what impressed me as I dug into how others are doing theirs is the extreme flexibility of the base concepts to this one. There is almost too many ideas and suggestions out there it would be so easy to get bogged down and have it make things worse instead of better out of the gate. To anyone just starting out (like I will be), keep it super simple for the first couple months, don't setup page layouts too far in advance. Grow into adding things in and tweaking them for your preference as you start to use it.

 

[Tiny_MN]

There is definitely no "one system to fix them all" sort of solution. Like anything else, this won't work for some in the same way apps on my phone don't really help me resolve any of my disorganization and productivity tracking issues.

Part of what impressed me as I dug into how others are doing theirs is the extreme flexibility of the base concepts to this one. There is almost too many ideas and suggestions out there it would be so easy to get bogged down and have it make things worse instead of better out of the gate. To anyone just starting out (like I will be), keep it super simple for the first couple months, don't setup page layouts too far in advance. Grow into adding things in and tweaking them for your preference as you start to use it.

Simplicity is key. Also, what I've learned from various readings, as well as applied in the workplace is having the right mindset. Much of what we do in the workplace is affected by our home and personal life. A few different books out there on decluttering our lives (personal, professional as well as the mental aspect) as well.

We're always a work in motion.

 

[StuMcB]

I just watched a video on it. It's basically. a convoluted to do list isn't it. The same can be achieved more efficiently with a page a day diary and a pack of post-it notes

Just what I do. Page a day diary and the occasoinal post it note, sometimes I even fold it over the the page so it covers two pages. For me the page a day diary is lists, diary, notes, dont dont forgets and everything else that I need to remeber or have had a thought on. No system just how it is.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Thinking on it a little, I came to the conclusion that the biggest reason it all is so popular is that for a lot of us, the idea of using a journal/diary in that manner wasn't evident. We took the purpose of a journal/diary too literally, and couldn't think outside that box. Pre-made daily planners work for many, but they are pretty rigidly structured, and often their format doesn't leave room to change them around much. Having someone show the idea, and give the basic framework on how to make it work seems to have been a pretty big game changer for a lot out there.

 

[KW Driver]

I’ve been doing this for years in an A5 book. I like it. Take what you need, discard what you don’t. I can do my entire life in it, or skip days if I don’t need them. Work tasks, travel locations, whatever, and journal the day below all task lists, whatever. The flexibility of it is what I like.

In the front, I’ll run a music/book/webpage page to jot things into to research/whatever later. behind those I do a monthly page and a monthly task page beside it, and daily entries from there until that month is over. If I don’t complete a task I transfer (rewrite) the task, or a new task status in the new day. Or list a task and sub actions to check off below it. And I’ll run projects on a page as nessisary. I don’t mind rewriting tasks across days for the reinforcement of them.

I run a table of contents with month/daily page numbers, specific project pages numbered... it’s easy and it works for me.

I usually have my A5 with or near me. I have a pocket moleskine otherwise, and will transfer to the A5. I will transfer travel locations/events into my digital calender for backups.

I’ve never been a fan of digital systems after palm pilots stopped being supported. I was never quite happy with pre-formatted systems either.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I do miss the Palm Pilots and the Handspring I had after that.

 

[bray144k]

I use the BuJo Method periodically. Whenever my life gets hectic, I find it's a good method to map out everything I need to get done. After that period of time, it goes back to sitting on my desk. I like that it's not a time limited journal/planner, as most are, and that I'm able to use it when needed.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Well, got a notebook, got it setup to go starting in Dec..