Bullet Journaling
Your Entire Life in One Book
Key Highlights:
Bullet journaling helps to organize your thoughts and tasks in a simple and flexible way.
Bullet journals are created by using a notebook and a system to organize your tasks, events, and notes.
You can customize your bullet journal to fit your life and your needs.
“I have lists and notes lying around everywhere... on post-its, scraps of paper, a notebook in my car... I just wish I had everything in one place!”
If you can relate, then the Bullet Journal method could be the solution you are looking for. It provides a great framework for organizing by:
• Keeping all notes, ideas and to-do lists in one place
• Including an index to easily track and quickly refer back to your notes
• Easily adapting to accommodate your style
Bullet Journaling is a convenient, useful way to keep track of your busy life, but it also creates freedom and encourages creativity by providing one safe place to dump everything you’ve got rattling around in that amazing mind.
The general idea is simple: everything you need to write down for yourself goes in one book.
No more to-do lists on the backs of envelopes, no more notes scrawled on stray scraps of paper.
You can put anything in your Bullet Journal—lists, doodles, charts, maps, research, and on and on.
Here’s the key to Bullet Journals:
You keep an index in the front that tracks the topics of each page.
The index transforms your journal from a place where your thoughts disappear into a place where your ideas are logged, which allows you to easily find them again when you need them!
No more flipping through pages of a notebook trying to find that one vital piece of information.
No more great ideas lost, no more hard work wasted.
It’s all in one place, organized and accessible.
The Bullet Journal system was created by Ryder Carroll, who developed this productivity method to help him cope with his learning disabilities; he now shares his system with the world.
I encourage you to check out Carroll’s website or even buy his book, but I’ve boiled his method down to the fundamentals here:
Buy a notebook (Carroll sells his own Bullet Journal, but any old notebook will do.)
Title the first page “Index.”
From now on, if you need to write something down, write it in your Bullet Journal.
Make sure to number your pages as you go.
Whenever you write in your Bullet Journal, keep track of it with an index entry.
Bullet Journaling is totally adaptable to your needs.
I have seen people use Bullet Journals to track their moods, exercise, sleep, and water intake.
I’ve seen people keep lists of books they want to read or movies they’ve seen or vacations they want to take.
I’ve seen Bullet Journals with holiday menus, screenplay ideas, and job search brainstorms.
The most useful page I ever wrote in a Bullet Journal was a standard packing list for trips. Now whenever I travel, I pull out that bullet journal, look up the page, and I’m ready to go. No more racking my brain wondering if I forgot something.
My Bullet Journal is also great for keeping track of research. I often spend several days researching a topic, and I won’t necessarily need that information immediately. Keeping it in my bullet journal means that I have easy access whenever I do need it.
Sometimes that means taping or stapling printouts or brochures into my journal, and it often means that I’ll have multiple entries in my index on a given topic.
For example: “New Car Research 1 - p.10” and “New Car Research 2 - p. 15.”
The internet offers endless Bullet Journal rabbit holes for those who want to dig deeper.
As with all internet rabbit holes, I suggest giving yourself a time limit before you dive in. Set a timer so you remember to surface!
There are more YouTube videos than you could ever watch, websites, apps, Pinterest boards, Facebook and Instagram groups, and even TikTok videos.
There are many examples of elaborate, gorgeous, artistic Bullet Journals that look to me more like time-consuming art projects than time-saving tools.
My Bullet Journals definitely aren’t beautiful.
You can make yours beautiful if you want, but the Bullet Journal’s first and foremost job is to help you organize your thoughts and get rid of all those floating bits of paper! Beauty is a distant second.
I like to keep my Bullet Journals simple, but while I was researching this blog post, a new strategy caught my eye—a shorthand of bullet “codes” for your lists:
! (Inspiration)
x (Task Complete)
< Task scheduled into Future Log
> Task migrated into collection
• (Task)
o (Note)
- (Event)
* (Priority)
I always appreciate simple notations that allow me to scan through my lists and glean as much information as quickly as possible.
This is why I typically “code” my to-do lists with their “locations” in the margins: Ph - phone, C - computer, E - Errand, A - anywhere, and so on. That way when I have a few minutes in the car with my phone I can search for those “Ph” notations and get to work. I plan to give this new Bullet Journal shorthand a try.
The Bullet Journal is flexible and meant to serve your needs. Use what works, ignore the rest.
Starting a new system like this can feel a little overwhelming at first, but stick with it for a few weeks, and I think you’ll be amazed at how much more organized and efficient you are and how much more calm and uncluttered your mind (and your dining room table!) will be.
Let me know how it goes! And if you’re already a Bullet Journaler, please share your best tips below!
A few helpful links for Bullet Journaling:
Lots of tips, ideas, and articles about organization and creativity
A variety of ways people use their Bullet Journals
A not-so-perfect Bullet Journal (more what mine looks like, but this one is still tidier!)
Proof you really can use Bullet Journals for ANYTHING and (most importantly) have fun with them
I would love to offer you a complimentary 90-minute session with me so we can discuss tools that could best help you in your life and how to implement them, schedule your session at the link below.