Today I attended a workshop on bullet journaling. I’ve heard about this technique before as a planning tool, but never really understood the details. Fortunately, I saw a flyer at my local library last weekend and had the chance to learn more. Read below for more details!
What is bullet journaling? Bullet journaling is a customizable hand-written organization system. This planning tool is intended to be used with a physical notebook where you have complete freedom to decide how your journal is used. You can use it to plan your days, weeks, months, and years. You can also use it for project, goal, and habit tracking. Additionally, your bullet journal can be used for meal planning, chores, budgeting money, and travel lists. It’s totally up to you.
The bullet journal format uses a specific symbol system to help keep track of your entries. Below are the symbols you can use at the beginning of each new line entry:
- Task (·)
- Event (o)
- Note (-)
- Completed (X)
- Scheduled (<)
- Migrated (>)
- Canceled (/)
The key is to organize your journal so the bullets are easy to read, understand, and organize. If done right, you’ll have a visual system that allows you to quickly review your plan at a glance.
What do you need to start your bullet journal? All you need to get started are a notebook, pen, and ruler. If you want to get fancy, you can also use colored pens, stickers, and sticky notes.
Is bullet journaling right for you? In short, a bullet journal is a system for organizing whatever areas of your life you want to track in a hand written-format with visual symbols to organize your thoughts. For more information you can check out http://bulletjournal.com/get-started/. I also recommend checking out #bujo on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/bujo/) or Pinterest to get a better visual understanding.
As for me, I know that there are benefits to keeping a physical planner (e.g. tangible, less distractions, ultimately more portable than digital, etc.), however, I’ve experimented with this in the past and haven’t incorporated the daily habit of using a physical planner.
Just like with everything else in my life, my aim is to pick, choose, and apply the right knowledge that works for me. Currently, I’m using a combination of iOS Calendar, Reminders, and Notes. I’m still fine-tuning my system and I’m eager to explore how I can incorporate aspects of bullet journaling into my own digital planning system.
In the end, there is no one-size-fits all planning method. The important thing is that you find a planning system that works for you. Also, keep in mind that you will need the flexibility for your planning system to change and grow as you do.
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