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The other great thing is that you start fresh each day. With digital trackers, you step onto their track—somewhere in the middle of the endless race that started when you set up the tracker and ends . . . ? Your notebook greets you each morning with the pure, blank slate of an empty page. It serves as a small reminder that the day is as yet unwritten. It will become what you make of it. As Bullet Journalist Kevin D. notes: “I used to feel bad about items undone at the end of the day, but with the Bullet Journal I feel empowered to move yesterday’s open bullets forward to a new page, because I see each day as a fresh start.”
Finally, your notebook evolves as you do. You might say that you co-iterate. It will conform to your ever-changing needs. The lovely side effect is that as the years pass, you’re creating a record of your choices, and the ensuing experiences. As Bullet Journalist Kim Alvarez once put it, “Each Bullet Journal contributes another volume to a library of your life.” In the pursuit of meaning, this library becomes a powerful resource to have at your disposal.
By recording our lives, we’re simultaneously creating a rich archive of our choices and our actions for future reference. We can study our mistakes and learn from them. It’s equally instructive to note our successes, our breakthroughs. When something works professionally or personally, it helps to know what our circumstances were at the time and what choices we made. Studying our failures and our victories can provide tremendous insight, guidance, and motivation as we plot our way forward.
So are the Bullet Journal method and apps mutually exclusive? Of course not. There are many apps that make my life easier in ways that a notebook never could. All tools, whether digital or analog, are only as valuable as their ability to help you accomplish the task at hand. The goal of this book is to introduce you to a new tool kit for your workshop—one that has proven effective at helping countless others tackle the often ungainly project called life.
HANDWRITING (#ulink_90f33ba0-057b-54b9-9559-e184dc1efb55)
The palest ink is better than the best memory.
—CHINESE PROVERB
We breathe life into our thoughts by committing them to paper. Be they words, images, or notes, few tools facilitate the transition between the inner and outer worlds as seamlessly as the tip of a pen. In a world moving toward untextured interfaces, it may seem like an awkward step backward to implement a methodology that requires you to write things out the old-fashioned way. But a growing body of research points to the continued practicality of the handwritten word in our digital age.
A University of Washington study demonstrated that elementary school students who wrote essays by hand were far more likely to write in fully formed sentences and learn how to read faster. Much of this is due to how handwriting accelerates and deepens our ability to form—and therefore recognize—characters.
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The complex tactile movement of writing by hand stimulates our mind more effectively than typing. It activates multiple regions of the brain simultaneously, thereby imprinting what we learn on a deeper level. As a result, we retain information longer than we would by tapping it into an app.
(#litres_trial_promo) In one study, college students who were asked to take lecture notes by hand tested better on average than those who had typed out their notes. They were also able to better retain this information long after the exam.
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When we put pen to paper, we’re not just turning on the lights; we’re also turning up the heat. Writing by hand helps us think and feel simultaneously.
These studies and many like them indicate that the benefits of writing by hand stem from the very complaint consistently leveraged against it: inefficiency. That’s right: The fact that it takes longer to write things out by hand gives handwriting its cognitive edge.
It’s pretty much impossible to hand-transcribe lectures or meeting conversations verbatim. When we write by hand, we’re forced to be more economical and strategic with our use of language, crafting notes in our own words. To do that, we have to listen more closely, think about the information, and essentially distill others’ words and thoughts through our own neurological filtration system and onto the page. Typing notes, in contrast, can quickly become rote: a frictionless highway where information freely passes in one ear and right out the other.
Why is it so important to craft notes in your own words? The science suggests that writing by hand enhances the way we engage with information, strengthening our associative thinking. It allows us to form new connections that can yield unconventional solutions and insights. We’re simultaneously expanding our awareness and deepening our understanding.
How we synthesize our experiences shapes the way we perceive and interact with the world. This is why journaling has proven to be a powerful therapeutic tool in treating people who suffer from trauma or mental illness. Expressive writing, for example, helps us process painful experiences by externalizing them through long-form journaling. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) uses scripts to treat people obsessing over intrusive thoughts. A distressing thought is detailed in a short paragraph. This script is then written over and over again until the thought begins to lose its death grip on the person’s mind, granting some much-needed perspective and distance—something we all struggle to find when dealing with challenging situations.
Toward our latter days, writing can help preserve our most cherished memories. Studies suggest that the act of writing keeps our minds sharper for longer. I’ve received many emails over the years praising Bullet Journal for helping those with poor memories stay organized, regardless of age. For instance, Bridget Bradley, a fifty-one-year-old Bullet Journalist, now remembers “what the weather was like three months ago, how many times I went to the gym last month, that I have made a reservation (by email) for that restaurant table, that I am going on holiday in July, and that I have already worked out what I need to take with me (six months in advance!) so that I have time to buy and prepare for it.” Similarly, I’ve heard from numerous people who found that Bullet Journaling helped their memory improve after being compromised by trauma or medical procedures.
A dear friend of mine once told me, “The long way is the short way.” In a cut-and-paste world that celebrates speed, we often mistake convenience for efficiency. When we take shortcuts, we forfeit opportunities to slow down and think. Writing by hand, as nostalgic and antiquated as it may seem, allows us to reclaim that opportunity. As we craft our letters, we automatically start filtering the signal from the noise. True efficiency is not about speed; it’s about spending more time with what truly matters. In the end, that’s what the Bullet Journal method is all about.
II (#ulink_5f33aad4-b7a0-5db0-84ee-0471f19b40e2)
THE SYSTEM (#ulink_5f33aad4-b7a0-5db0-84ee-0471f19b40e2)
THE SYSTEM (#ulink_5f33aad4-b7a0-5db0-84ee-0471f19b40e2)
Your Bullet Journal can be your to-do list, journal, planner, sketchbook, or all of the above, all in one place. This flexibility stems from its modular structure. An easy way to conceptualize the system is to imagine the pieces of a Lego set. Each piece of the Bullet Journal’s system serves a specific function, be it ordering your day, planning your month, or tackling a goal. You’re free to mix and match the pieces to customize the system to meet your needs. As those needs inevitably change over time, this flexibility allows the system to adapt and remain relevant through the different seasons of your life. As you evolve, so will the function and structure of your Bullet Journal.
In this part of the book, we’ll examine the core building blocks that lay the foundation of the system. You’ll learn how they work, why they work, and how they snap into the larger framework. If you’re following along in sequence, here’s where you’ll learn how to set up your own Bullet Journal and migrate the content from your Mental Inventory.
If you’re an old hand at this, Part II aims to take your BuJoJitsu to the next level. We’ll delve into the tools and techniques you’ve been using and explore the reasoning behind their design. This section functions both as a reference and a guide to help answer any questions that may have bubbled up during your time Bullet Journaling.
If you’re new to the Bullet Journal, I suggest reading through all the chapters in this part before setting pen to paper. Each method and technique is effective on its own, but the true power of the Bullet Journal is found in the sum of its parts. To get the most out of your BuJo experience, it’s important to understand how these parts interact and influence each other. This part will walk you through each step, how it works, and how to set up your own Bullet Journal step by step.
Before We Dive In . . .
Most of the organizational methods people tried to shove down my throat didn’t make sense, felt impractical, and left me feeling frustrated and/or demoralized. Those are the last things I want you to feel!
I’ve done my best to avoid making this part read like stereo instructions, but it’s unavoidably technical. At first glance, it may look like there are a lot of moving parts. As you read through the following chapters, I invite you to consider each component individually. Hold it up to the light; examine it. Ask yourself: Would this help me?
If at some point you feel overwhelmed, take a step back and start by implementing only the pieces that make sense. Most components are self-contained by design, so you can effectively use them even if you don’t use the rest. Start with what speaks to you—even if it’s just one piece—and build from there. This is also the way the Bullet Journal was born: one workable piece at a time.
KEY CONCEPTS
INDEX
Used to locate your content in your Bullet Journal using Topics and page numbers.
FUTURE LOG
Used to store Future Tasks and Events that fall outside the current month.
MONTHLY LOG
Provides an overview of time and tasks for the current month. Also functions as your monthly mental inventory.
DAILY LOG
Serves as your catchall for Rapid Logging your thoughts throughout each day
RAPID LOGGING
Using short-form notation paired with symbols to quickly capture, categorize, and prioritize your thoughts into Notes, Events, and Tasks.
Note
Event
Task
Task Complete
Task Migrated
Task Scheduled
Task Irrelevant
COLLECTIONS
The modular building blocks of BuJo, used to store related content. The core collections are the Index, Future Log, Monthly Log, and Daily Log, but you can create one for anything you want to keep track of.
MIGRATION
The monthly process of filtering out meaningless content from your notebook.
RAPID LOGGING (#ulink_6d601798-66c8-57cf-b482-2ec917954c69)
Quick—what was the last meaningful thing someone said to you? Okay, let’s try an easier category: What did you eat for lunch two days ago? If you’re drawing a blank, you’re not alone. It goes to show that we can’t rely on memory to accurately capture our experience.
Our experiences—both sweet and sour—are lessons. We honor these lessons by writing them down so we can study them and see what they have to teach us. This is how we learn, this is how we grow. If we forfeit the opportunity to learn from our experiences, as the saying (sort of) goes, we condemn ourselves to repeat our mistakes.
Journaling provides a powerful way of facilitating this path of self-learning. The problem with traditional journaling is that it is loosely structured and time-intensive. Rapid Logging leverages the best aspects of journaling by stripping away everything that’s not essential. It’s the language the Bullet Journal is written in. In short, Rapid Logging helps us capture and organize our thoughts as living lists.
Rapid Logging will help you efficiently capture your life as it happens so that you may begin to study it.
On the following pages you’ll find visual examples illustrating the difference between content captured in a more traditional way and the same information organized with Rapid Logging. We’ll break down the symbols and structure in detail later, but it’s easy to see how succinct and clear the Rapid Log is. This streamlined approach to recording our thoughts saves a lot of time, allowing it to easily fit into our busy lives.
As Bullet Journalist Ray Cheshire describes: “I’m a high school science teacher at a big inner-city school in the UK. Things can get a little hectic at times as we try to cram ever more stuff into our days. This is where Rapid Logging comes in. For example, we were told that an inspection was going to happen at very short notice, but thanks to Bullet Journaling, I quickly knew what I still had to do before the inspectors arrived.”
Be it at home, school, or the workplace, Rapid Logging will help you organize the dizzying array of things you have to contend with on a daily basis.
TRADITIONAL
☑ Call Keith back to figure out where we should eat this weekend.
☐ Email Heather again regarding the Acme Co release forms for project participants. Need to send out the forms to them and have their signatures before we proceed.
The Acme Co UX presentation is due February 12.
☐ Email Leigh about her party that she’s having on April 21.
The office will be closed on the 13th.
I was happily surprised that Margaret seems to have taken her feedback to heart. She volunteered to help manage the assets for the project and has become a more engaged part of the team. Her work is also showing progress.
☐ Call to cancel yoga orientation.
☐ Order Kim a birthday cake for next week on Thursday. It has to be gluten-free because she is celiac.
☐ Add hours for Acme Co project to the time tracker.
Broadway was blocked on my way to work this morning, so I had to take a detour. On the way I spotted a new coffee shop I have to try. It’s also a lot more scenic a route. I put the windows down and just enjoyed the ride. I get so caught up in rushing to work that I totally forgot about this route. By the time I got to work, I was feeling pretty good even though I was a little late.
☐ Plan trip
225 words
RAPID LOGGING
04.01.TH
Keith: Call re: Saturday dinner
Acme Co: Release forms
Heather: Email to get forms
Email forms to participants
Get signatures
Acme Co: UX presentation Feb 12
Leigh: Reply Apr 21 party
Office closed Apr 13
Margaret: Volunteered to help with assets
Showing more incentive and engagement
Increased participation effort
04.02.FR
Cancel yoga
Kim: Get birthday cake
Celiac: Needs to be gluten-free
The party’s on Thursday
Acme Co: Log hours
Broadway blocked, had to take long way
Found new coffee place
Much prettier drive
Felt more relaxed when I arrived
Plan trip
89 words
(About 60% less!)
