I’ve been bullet journaling for several years now.
Its use and effectiveness has enabled a client to transform their way of working and increased their productivity and confidence.
I love
the simple bullet journal approach to planning, scheduling and organising and the pen and paper approach to planning and listing, so it's a system that works well for me.
As Ryder Carroll, the inventor of
Bullet Journaling says - it’s to track the past, organise the present and plan for the future.
Keep it really simple. Find what works for you and adapt it to your daily needs. Include whatever you want without
the restriction of a pre-printed journal or scheduler that might not suit the way you work.
Although it takes a little longer to create each page if you're not using a specific bullet journal, it becomes part
of your planning and review process.
Start with a plain or dotted notebook (or buy their recommendation).
The main components of a bullet journal are a series of pages starting
with:
The Key
What each task symbol means. Use
the standard ones, or create your own. Some of these are my personal preference.
- 🔲 or O - Task - use a dot, circle or square
- ✖️ or ✔️ - completed task
- ✖️ or
Task - cancelled - > = migrate/move task forward
- \ = task started
- ‼️ or ✳️ - Important/Priority
Put this at the front of your notebook for reference when you need to.
Index
Your table of contents that you complete from the numbered pages as you go. Keep the first 2-4 pages in your notebook free for this. As you add the following pages, add them to the Index.
Future Log
Next the Future Log page(s) for events, appointments or tasks you need to schedule in the future - projects, birthdays etc. Either a page a quarter or a page spread for six months or a year- depending on personal preference and how much you need to keep
track of.
Month Log
A page a month or a two page spread. Include each day of the month and fixed events and appointments. Add goals and objectives, habits, key focus or anything you want to track or note each month.
Weekly/Daily Log
Depending on how busy you are and how much space you need you can have a Weekly Page and or a Daily Page.
The Weekly Page - list out your goals and tasks for the week.
The Daily Page starts with
the Day and then the list of tasks for that day. Add each new day below the one above until the page is full, then continue for each day in the month.
Keep this simple - just day/tasks or your can include habits,
gratitude, wins, learnings for the day.
Collections
You can add more pages for anything else you want to keep track of in your bullet journal.
- Reading List
- Shopping/Gift List
- Habit Tracker
- Notes - between Weekly/Daily logs as a separate page or as part of your daily log.
Include a page(s) for these at the beginning, after the Future Log or at the back.
Build A Bullet Journaling Habit
Create a habit to use your bullet journal every day. Jot down your day’s actions and review at the end of the
day.
Each month review the previous days, your Month Log and update any tasks, carry any forward that need to be placed into the following month. Use this review time to re-assess your priorities and focus on
what's important.
Use bullet journaling as a process to organise your life.
More Info
The BulletJournal site gives you a template and basic structure to get you started - then get creative!
Use colour, drawings,
symbols to make your Bullet Journal yours.
Take a look at the many YouTube videos on how to set up and use your bullet journal. Get inspired by the variety of uses and styles from enthusiastic
bullet-journallers.
