1-Sentence-Summary: The Bullet Journal Method introduces a unique system for organizing you can use to be more productive, improve your mindfulness, prioritize tasks, schedule appointments, solidify ideas, as well as set goals, make plans for them, and track their progress.
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What if I told you there was a planner that also could be used as a to-do list, journal, calendar, and mindfulness tool? Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, buckle up, my organized friend, because such a thing already exists: It’s called the Bullet Journal — a surprisingly simple way to track your experiences, organize tasks, and store information. It also serves as a way to track goals and reflect on your progress.
The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll breaks down the method. You’ll find it’s easy and powerful. Maybe, it’ll change your life forever.
Here’s the book summarized in just 3 lessons:
- To get started, edit down your to-dos and get your ideas on paper.
- Start filling your journal with important things by learning how to rapid log.
- Bullet journaling allows you to reflect on the big picture by migrating tasks month to month and year to year.
Let’s dive right into these ideas!
The Bullet Journal Method Summary
Lesson 1: To start, narrow down your ideas and grab your notebook.
It’s important to organize your thoughts before you begin writing. Your bullet journal, affectionately known as a “BuJo”, shouldn’t be full of random ideas you never revisit. It should be a tool to help you focus on the most important things in your life.
Grab a sheet of paper and divide it into three columns. In the first column, list the things you are doing right now at work and in your personal life. In the next column, list what you should be doing, and in the last column, list what you want to be doing. Go as long as it takes until your mind is emptied.
Next, look at each task and ask yourself, is this task necessary or important to me? If not, cross it off. Soon you’ll have what you really want to go into your journal. This is the first lesson of your BuJo: what you leave out is just as important as what you put into it.
Next, grab a physical notebook and something to write with. Leverage the focus of offline writing.
The BuJo has four sections or collections: the index, daily log, monthly log, and future log.
The index tells you where everything in your journal is and makes sure you never forget an idea or appointment again. The daily log is where you keep all the thoughts and reminders of the day. And the monthly log is an overview of your month and helps you see what’s done and what needs to be done.
Lastly, the future log is where you place the ideas that you won’t get to this month and save them for the future. These are the core collections of your BuJo, but you can also add personalized collections after the core collections. These can be things like tracking fertility or meal planning.
Lesson 2: Fill the pages of your bullet journal with the most important things by using rapid logging.
Whatever collection you are writing in, the content should fall into one of three sections: tasks, events, and notes. Each of these has its own signifier. Your tasks, or your to-do items, should be denoted with a solid bullet. Once it’s completed, cross it over with an “x.” To reschedule tasks in the month, convert the bullet into a right-facing arrow. To move them into the future log, use a left-facing arrow. You can show urgency by adding an asterisk.
Events are denoted by an unfilled bullet. Record important events neutrally, whether they are good or bad, because they will help you understand key habits and trends over time.
Mark notes with a dash. Anything that captures your attention, jot it down. Notes are useful to elaborate on tasks and events of the day.
In your daily log, write a page number and write what you see fit for the day. You don’t need to allocate a set number of pages since some days you’ll have more to write, and some days you’ll have less.
Your monthly log should take up a double-page spread. On the left, you should see the calendar and leave space to write events or memorable notes for each day. On the right, list all of the important tasks and things you want to do during the month.
Use your future log as a place to queue your ideas and scan it over each month to move important ideas from the future log to your new month.
Lesson 3: Migrating tasks will help you get the big picture and change for the better.
One of the best benefits of bullet journaling is that it allows us to reflect on the big picture, thanks to the monthly migration. This is where you sift through and evaluate everything you logged in a month.
It works like this: to set up your new month log, scan through all of your current collections. You’ll probably come across some unfinished tasks, which is totally fine. Then ask yourself if it is meaningful or still vital. If it is, move it on to your next month’s log or your future log. If it doesn’t feel necessary anymore, just cross it off and move on.
At the end of the year, you also have a yearly migration. For this, you will migrate to a new notebook. Yearly migration is a time to reflect on the past 12 months and see where you put your time and energy.
Now it’s time to think: how does the life snapshot you find in your old journal compare to what you want your life to be like? Did you find yourself spending too much time on things that didn’t really bring you closer to the person you want to be? Think hard about the habits, tasks, and experiences you want to have this year and what ones you want to leave behind.
When you discover what brings you meaning in life, you can throw out what doesn’t. Soon enough, you’ll be able to create the life you’ve always wanted.
The Bullet Journal Method Review
I’m happy to finally have learned about The Bullet Journal in detail. I’ve always loved lists and planning to begin with, but I have a feeling this technique will bring some great changes to my productivity system!
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Who would I recommend The Bullet Journal Method summary to?
The 43-year-old who aspires to great things but can’t seem to get concrete plans, the 58-year-old that’s constantly writing lists but can’t complete them, and anyone who is curious to learn one of the best productivity systems out there.
Last Updated on June 15, 2023
