The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future

You want to bullet journal? Ignore social media and read this book
If you search “bullet journal” online, you will find millions of journal pages with artistic spreads, month covers, trackers, etc. But these don’t represent THE Bullet Journal Method.The Bullet Journal was created by Ryder Carroll to help him order his life and help him manage his ADHD. He spent years refining it until he started to share it with the world. The Bullet Journal Method just uses dots for tasks, circles for events, and hyphens for notes; these lists shouldn’t even be full sentences! Through a combination of key logs (future, monthly, daily), the index, collections (only when necessary), and reflections, the Bullet Journal user is able to capture a large amount of data in a small space, and use that data to prioritize, adjust, and focus their lives.This book walks you through the whole process, providing you with a powerful, life-changing tool… as long as you don’t get distracted by the Instagram spreads you will find online that often deviate from the core method and are more like a custom planner. Remember: function over beauty.Every November through January, I pull out this book and reread it, complete various exercises, and basically reset. This book is how you truly learn to Bullet Journal.If you are still undecided, check out the Official Bullet Journal YouTube channel (its icon is a black circle with a white lightning bolt) and the playlist I posted as an image (I can’t post the link or my comment will be taken down). Just the first 2 videos will give you basics and show you how simple the Bullet Journal Method truly is. I started using the method just by watching those 2 videos; however, I didn’t really understand how to leverage its full power until I read this book. Understanding the full method, as well as purpose of each aspect of the method, is what really moves you forward. One of the strengths of the method is how you can adjust your Bullet Journal to meet your unique needs (the inability to do this with pre-made planners like Franklin Covey or Dayrunner is why many of us have given up on planners).Now, what if you are wondering, “But I like those pretty pictures, why can’t I use them?” The answer is simple… your Bullet Journal can range anywhere from completely ugly (no art, no color, tons of mistakes and scratchouts, crumpled water-logged pages smeared with grease, etc.) to absolutely stunning; however, the true Bullet Journal Method focuses on function instead of beauty. As long as your focus is on what you want to accomplish with your life, how to get there, and your progress, additional aesthetic flourishes aren’t a problem. (confession: my BuJo has color and flourishes that I add AFTER I have recorded my data. Adding pretty flourishes is my reward for completing the functional aspects.)

Organize your chaos in your own way!
Awork colleague recently tipped me off to bullet journaling. Ok, truth be told, she tipped me off to it a year ago when it transformed her life. My work environment was pretty well organized at the time and remains so; thus, I passed on her tip. About one year later, she brought it up in another context, but this time I bit the bait because I have felt the need to get my personal life in better order. Therefore, I bought this book along with one bullet journal to get started. Ryder Carroll’s book gives any reader the tools and inspiration to get started for whatever purpose they need to bullet journal.I’m a writer by nature, but journaling has never played a huge place in my life. At times, I’d write my emotional thoughts down just to get them expressed, but it’s never been a daily discipline. Now, however, I find that many lives depend on mine, whether at work, in my family, or in charitable opportunities. Being organized so that things aren’t dropped has become crucial. Electronic planners don’t work as well outside of work because I want to get away from screens on weekends.Enter bullet journaling. I’ve started to keep a list of big tasks that I want to get done in the next three months and divided them up in achievable chunks. Not only will this give me a running log of my life, something Carroll highlights, but it also allows my mind to become unburdened by repetitive items. Thus, my energy can be freed up to approach new tasks instead of remembering older ones. Carroll explains all such potential benefits in the book.Carroll doesn’t just explain how he personally uses it; rather, he explains how all sorts of people have been using it through seminars he’s led. Thus, the message isn’t just from one person’s brain but from a chorus of people gaining benefit. Befitting today’s world, bullet journaling is highly customizable and personalizable. It also expedites entries so that those journaling don’t have to write expansive prose to register their thoughts. In fact, I found the myriad of shorthand techniques one of the most helpful parts of the book!Almost anyone has some domain in their life that they can improve. Most of the time, no one book, class, or expert can fill in all the gaps for a given task. Life is complicated and requires a customized approach from each individual. Bullet journaling offers a method to begin to prevail over complex problems. In our age of too much information, overcoming complexity is something we all need. I certainly do. That’s why I’ve started to record my diverse but rich life in my own journal.As an postscript, the official bullet journal (a separate item) isn’t required for Carroll’s work. It’s nice but much more expensive than generic options. Other bullet journals fit the bill for a much lower price. Carroll himself admits such in the Frequently Asked Questions. Save yourself a few bucks, and buy someone else’s version.

📝it’s interesting that I read this book right after reading “Make Time.” The Bullet Journal Method points out that we can’t make time—we can only take it. Although we can’t create more time, we can improve the quality of the time we use.This book not only teaches you how to bullet journal but, more importantly, provides insights into why you should do it and how it will benefit you.It will teach you about setting goals, focusing not on pursuing happiness but rather on meaningful tasks and objectives.A must read for those struggling with time management and consistency.✍️ My Top 3 QuotesIn the end it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years. – Abraham LincolnWe must take it upon ourselves to grow. We grow by learning. And we learn by daring to take action. There will always be risk because we can’t control the outcome. This is the way of life and it’s unavoidable. What is avoidable however is being perpetually haunted by all the things that could have been if you have only dared. Begin by giving yourself permission to believe you’re worth the risk. – p.129f Happiness is the result of our actions then we need to stop asking ourselves how to be happy. Rather we should be asking ourselves, How to be. – p.141

Fantastic book. Found it useful and easy to adopt the principles shared.