The Bullet Journal Method: Track Your Past, Order Your Present, Plan Your Future

by Ryder Carroll

To begin, sit down with that sheet of paper I mentioned you’d be needing. Orient it horizontally and divide it into three columns (you can either fold it twice or draw the lines like in the Mental Inventory on this page). In the first column, list all the things you are presently working on. In the second, list all the things you should be working on. In the last column, list the things you want to be working on. Keep your entries short and in list form. If one task sparks a stream of others, go with it. Give yourself some time with this exercise, and dig deep. Be honest. Get it out of your head (and your heart) and lay it out on the page. Take a deep breath and begin.

Go ahead, ask why for each item on your list. You don’t need to dive down an existential rabbit hole. Simply ask yourself two questions: Does this matter? (To you or to someone you love) Is this vital? (Think rent, taxes, student loans, your job, etc.) TIP: If you struggle to answer these questions about a given item, ask yourself what would happen if said item just didn’t get done. Ever. Would there be any real repercussions? Any item that doesn’t pass this test is a distraction. It adds little to no value to your life. Cross it off.

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.

Topics actually serve three functions: They identify and describe content. They serve as an opportunity for you to clarify your intention. They set the agenda for the content.

“Oct 13, Meeting 4 notes” says little, whereas “10.13.TH (month/date/day) / Acme Co. (client name) / Website Relaunch (project name) / User Feedback (meeting priority)” provides you with a useful description.

Tasks: Entries that require you to take action. Completed Tasks: Action has been completed. Migrated Tasks: Tasks that have been moved forward (hence the right arrow) into your next Monthly Log (this page) or into a specific Collection (this page). Scheduled Tasks: A Task tied to a date that falls outside of the current month and is therefore moved backward (hence the left arrow) into the Future Log (this page) at the front of your book. Irrelevant Tasks: Sometimes the things we task ourselves with end up not mattering anymore. Their meaning simply expires or circumstances change. If it no longer matters, then it’s a distraction. Strike it off your list. One less thing to worry about.

TIP: I recommend unpacking experiences as soon as possible after the Event, so the details are fresh and accurate. The Daily Reflection (this page) works well toward this end. TIP: Events that need to be scheduled on specific dates that fall outside of the current month are added to the Future Log (this page). Like birthdays, meetings, and dinners. TIP: For those of you who enjoy writing, long-form or expressive journaling (this page), you can nest Note bullets (this page) under an Event bullet if there are important/interesting details that you want to capture about an experience for later use. Again, keep it brief:

Priority: Represented by “*” asterisk. Used to mark a bullet as important and is most commonly paired with the Task Bullet. Use this sparingly. If everything is a priority, nothing is. Inspiration: Represented by “!” exclamation point. Most commonly paired with a Note. Great ideas, personal mantras, and genius insights will never be misplaced again!

For example, people who delegate a lot of Tasks can add another state to the Task Bullet by turning it into a forward slash, indicating that it was assigned to someone else: Presentation. @KevinB pulling numbers When Kevin pulls the numbers, you can then just turn the “/” forward slash into an “X” to mark it as complete.

TIP: Keep Custom Bullets and Signifiers to an absolute minimum. Rapid Logging tries to remove as much friction as possible from capturing information. The more you invent, the more complex it is, and the slower you will become.

TIP: Keep your entries as short as possible, as the Monthly Log is designed for reference only.

TIP: For some added clarity, you can add lines dividing the weeks.

The Tasks page of your Monthly Log will serve as your ongoing Mental Inventory page.

When you’re done capturing your thoughts, go through the previous month and see what Tasks remain open. Transfer any important items into the new Monthly Log’s Tasks page.

Some Bullet Journals focus on very specific subject matter. If you’re a student, it could be your current curriculum. If you’re a project manager, it could be for keeping track of all the different parts of your project(s). In these cases, you can use an alternate approach known as the Dedicated Index. It works much the same way as the standard Index, except that each Index page is dedicated to one subject only. So if you were taking classes in science, English, math, and history, you would set up an Index page for each.

So let’s say you have a Collection (instance 1) that you started on this page. Time goes by, and you have to shift your focus to other things. You use up pages in your notebook. When you want to resume your previous Collection, you create another instance (instance 2) on this page. You shift gears again for a while, and then you continue the Collection on this page (instance 3). To thread these instances together, all you have to do is add the page number of one instance next to the page numbers of the other instances. So if you’re at the start of instance 2, you would write “10” next to this page (threading back to instance 1, which is on this page). At the end of instance 2, next to this page, you would write “160,” threading forward to instance 3 (on these pages). Now you can quickly flip between instances without using your Index. THREADING

Over time your Index will double as a “table of context.” It provides you with a bird’s-eye view of how you’re investing your time and energy. It’s a map of all the things you’re saying yes to.

TIP: Weekly Log (#bulletjournalweeklylog): Some Bullet Journalists like to migrate Bullets on a weekly rather than a monthly cycle. I use Weekly Logs only when I have a lot on my plate. I’m not wild about rewriting things either, so I only do it when it helps me stay on top of my game. Others find weekly migration useful when they don’t have a lot going on, and they can fit a whole week’s worth of Tasks on a page or two. Again, it always depends on what suits your needs. I like to keep my Weekly Log simple, so I repurpose the Daily Log template, except the Topic is the week’s date range—say, “June 14–21.”

SET UP YOUR BULLET JOURNAL 1: SET UP THE INDEX* Number pages 1–4 Title page “Index” – Only add things to the Index that have content! No empty Collections! 2: SET UP THE FUTURE LOG* Number pages 5–8 Divide page into 6 cells Label cells with next months Add Future Tasks and Events Add it to your Index 3: SET UP THE MONTHLY LOG Number pages 9–10 Title pages with current month List dates and monthly tasks Add “9–” to your Index 4: SET UP THE DAILY LOG Add page number Add today’s date as the Topic Write down today’s Tasks – Daily Logs don’t get Indexed USING YOUR MENTAL INVENTORY (OPTIONAL) 5: REVIEW MENTAL INVENTORY Cross out anything that isn’t vital or important. Identify related content (i.e., goals, projects, shopping lists, etc.) to create Custom Collections.** 6: MIGRATE MENTAL INVENTORY Move Future items into the Future Log Migrate Items into Monthly Log Prioritize Monthly Log Migrate Priorities into your Daily Log Migrate any additional items into Custom Collections ** **CUSTOM COLLECTIONS We’ll cover these at length in Part IV, but they’re used to store related content like goals, projects, or Focused lists. Set them up the same way (with topics and page numbers) to add them to your Index. Examples Include:

Dedicate specific times for reflecting on the contents of your notebook. Prioritize what matters, discard what doesn’t.

AM Reflection: A Time to Plan In the morning, or before you dive into your day, take a few moments to sit down with your Bullet Journal.

Offload anything that’s bubbled up overnight. Clear your mind to make room for the day ahead.

Next, review all the pages of the current month to remind yourself of any open Tasks.

PM Reflection: A Time to Review

Before you go to bed, sit down with your Bullet Journal and scan what you’ve logged throughout the day. Mark completed Tasks with an “X.” If a Task is missing, write it down. Again, you’re unburdening your mind. Once your journal is updated, bring your attention to each item individually. Here’s where you begin to ask: Why is this important? Why am I doing this? Why is this a priority? And so on. This will help you surface distractions. Strike out the Tasks you’ve deemed to be irrelevant. Finally, take a moment to appreciate your progress. Acknowledge the simple ways in which you’ve won the day.

TIP: You can use your Daily Reflection as your daily digital detox window. After your PM Reflection, implement a “screens off” policy that lasts until you’ve completed your AM Reflection the following morning. It’s a simple way to get yourself into the habit of unplugging.

You don’t really need to understand all the miraculous tech that allows that hot cheesy goodness to appear out of thin air at your doorstep.

On average, I usually devote 5 to 15 minutes per session.

You might be thinking that getting fit and taking night classes are totally worthwhile goals. Maybe, but the impact of what you’re doing is contingent on why you’re doing it.

In the bad old days, when we spent most of our time, you know, trying not to die, pleasure was limited and practical. Nowadays it’s a commodity, marketed as a substitute for happiness, and it’s on demand.

What does feeling have to do with meaning? Arguably everything. There is no intellectualizing what resonates with you, and that’s why it’s so hard to define.

It is a continuation of your current life.

I know I shouldn't, but I find this assumption so irritating. At this point, the only thing keeping me reading is that I just need one more book to reach my end of year goal on goodreads. Otherwise I'd drop it here, as I'm mostly here for the system, which he seems to have covered and dropped at this point.

How do we best harness our curiosity while reducing the risk of failure? We set goals.

In an “all-or-nothing” world, we tend to forget the power of something.

If you haven’t done so already, create a Goals Collection in your Bullet Journal on the next blank spread. Big or small, just write them down here so you have them clearly contained in one reusable place. In doing so you’ve already taken the first important step to realizing them.

First, turn to your next blank spread. The Topic for this new Collection will be “5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” Divide the spread into five rows on each page (this page). The left page will be for your personal goals; the right page will be for your professional goals. The top cell will store the goals you want to accomplish in 5 years. In the next cell you’ll have goals you want to achieve in 4 months; the next cell will be for goals to achieve in 3 weeks; the next cell will be for goals to attain in 2 days; and the final cell will be for goals you intend to accomplish in the next 1 hour. Now turn back to your “Goals” Collection and migrate your goals into their appropriate cells. It does not have to line up exactly, but the idea is to start the process by defining the amount of time and energy (perseverance and passion) your goals require, both individually and as a whole. It will provide some much needed context.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 —PERSONAL LONG-TERM GOALS 5 YEARS Start a family Own a property Fluency in another language MID-TERM GOALS 4 MONTHS Travel to Hawaii Lose 10 pounds Visit Niclas MID-TERM GOALS 3 WEEKS Donate clothes Volunteer SHORT-TERM GOALS 2 DAYS Clean out closet Clean kitchen Get driver’s license renewed SHORT-TERM GOALS 1 HOUR Clean fridge Call parents Make reservation for Leah dinner

PRIORITIZE YOUR GOALS Once you’ve plotted out your goals, consider them individually. Are they worth the amount of time you think they will take? If not, cross them off. Prioritize the remaining items. Which ones really resonate with your experience? Which ones shine forth brighter than the others? Mark them with the priority Signifier “*”. If you’re implementing the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 exercise, you may only prioritize one goal in each cell (this page). Personal and professional pages should be graded separately, leaving you with ten priorities total. Add your four short-term goals (those in the hour and day cells) to your Daily Log and set them as priorities with a “*” Signifier. Knock them out first to build the momentum you need to tackle your bigger goals. That takes care of four of your ten goals! The remaining goals all get their own separate Collection; for example, “Travel to Hawaii” or “Gain fluency in another language.” If you hesitate to create six new Collections (three personal, three professional), perhaps it’s an indicator that some of your goals aren’t as important as you thought. That’s okay, strike them out. It’s not about how many goals you have. It’s about working on what matters.

FOCUS ON YOUR PRIORITIES Once your Collections are set up, take a moment to promise yourself not to revisit your “Goals” or “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” Collections until the ones you picked are either complete or have become irrelevant.

Not all things we’re into are meant to be our occupation.

Not every hobby or curiosity is a calling, but some are.

GOAL ↓ SPRINT ↓ TASK

How are Sprints different from just dividing a goal into phases? Unlike phases, which are not ends in themselves, Sprints are independent, self-contained projects—thus the outcome is, let’s hope, a source of satisfaction, information, and motivation to keep going (or, as happened with my stop-motion animation project, a helpful cue to let this particular goal go).

SPRINT REQUIREMENTS: Have no major barriers to entry (nothing preventing you from starting). For example, to learn knife skills, you don’t have to purchase an entire expensive set of chef’s knives. You just need a basic kitchen utility knife that you may already own or can buy with minimal investment. Consist of very clearly defined, actionable Tasks. Your knife skills might be broken down into holding a knife properly, sharpening, peeling, slicing, dicing, cubing, mincing, and so on. Have a fixed, relatively short time frame for completion (should take less than a month to complete, ideally a week or two). Just making a salad several days a week and mastering a simple vegetable soup recipe would get your knife skills up to speed pretty quickly.

BRAIN STORM Before we can break down our goal, we have to wrap our head around it. Now that you’ve picked your goal and created a Collection for it in your Bullet Journal, use the first spread to brainstorm the what and the why. Dig in and explore. Write down whatever comes to mind. This process gets your gears turning. Suppose your “Learn to Cook” goal brainstorming page looks like this: What about this goal sparked my curiosity? I’ve always wondered how foods go from just sitting in the store to being a beautiful, nutritious meal on a plate. What happens, exactly? What motivated me to want to invest my time and energy here? I’m spending a lot on take-out and prepared foods, and I know it’s not the healthiest way to eat. I’ve gained a little weight lately and want to watch my calories. What am I trying to accomplish? By learning to cook, I can save money and eat more healthfully, and I hope to lose a few pounds. I also want to be able to invite friends or a date over for a meal and not worry about screwing things up. What will it require? Learning basic food-prep skills, basic cooking skills, and some easy go-to recipes for my own meals and a few crowd-pleasers like chili, soup, or burgers. What is my definition of success with this goal? Spending less on take-out and prepared foods, healthier diet, and having friends over for dinner.

Now break it up into Sprints. Each Sprint can be laid out in another Subcollection (this page) in your Bullet Journal. Next, you’ll break each sprint down even further into Tasks.

Once you’ve listed out your Tasks, start figuring out how much time each Sprint would take. If you’ve ever had the privilege of working with a contractor, the same adage applies here: Take the time estimate and triple it.

What we want to avoid is falling behind.

Once you have your Sprints planned, block them out on the Calendar of your choice. Lock in a dedicated time to work through your Tasks.