Random musings: Finally Understand How to Keep a Bullet Journal #TBT

Today's blog post was originally published two years ago:

Today's blog post is from an article in The Art of Manliness. I wrote about bullet journaling a couple of weeks ago.

Do you have aspirations of journaling more? Me too. Of getting more organized and being able to cross more to-dos off your list? Ditto.

While finding just the right journal or system isn’t always the answer, sometimes it can give you the nudge you need.

That’s where the Bullet Journal comes in. If you’re a web surfer in any regard, you’ve likely seen that term pop up now and again as a new method of journaling that combines a traditional diary with calendaring, to-dos, capturing ideas, etc. While you can buy an official branded Bullet Journal, you can also create the template yourself using just about any notebook. Many people prefer a dot grid layout to lined (for doodling and adding more creative flare), but it’s certainly not a requirement.

While there’s an entire book on how to “properly” use the Bullet Journal methodology, it’s an easy system to learn with just a few pointers.

Below you’ll find why I enjoy it and some fundamental tips that make the Bullet Journal a uniquely useful tool.

As I said before, I'm just using an 89 cent spiral bound notebook.

So, what is a bullet journal? (This is AoM's take on the subject).

Here are a few features that make the Bullet Journal unique among other journaling systems (plenty more on all of these below):

Starts with an index. At the very start of the journal is a detailed index with page numbers so that everything in the journal is easily findable.
Includes monthly/daily logs for planning, productivity, note-taking, and journaling.
Makes use of various bullet points within those logs in order to signify tasks (and if those tasks are done, delegated, incomplete, etc.), events, ideas, and more. Hence the name “Bullet Journal.”
Includes any number of “Collections” — pages that center on various subjects and which function for any purpose you’d like, from book lists to workout/food tracking to idea capture and more.

That’s a rough idea of what comprises a Bullet Journal. Next, a few reasons why I and many others utilize this system.

I also wrote about how to use BuJo specifically for journaling here.

Here are some benefits of bullet journaling:

Works with other journaling/to-do systems.
Combines lists/notebooks into a single “file.”
Organizes your jottings.
Totally customizable.

AoM then goes into the above items in much more detail. I highly recommend that you read the article here.

I know this may seem like a lot of organizational ideas thrown your way at once, so here’s a quick recap:

Put an index at the start of your notebook or journal which captures the page numbers for everything being written down.
Create a monthly log to get a broad overview of the big events/to-dos/goals for each month.
Create a daily log to do the same thing on a smaller scale.
Use the various bullets and signifiers to jot down to-dos, events, notes, etc.
Use short daily planning and review sessions to migrate notes, to-dos, and ideas so that they don’t get lost in the jungle of a well-filled notebook.

One thing that I noticed that isn't included in this article are future logs. The video in my blog post shows how to use them.

Go ahead and check it out.