Getting your life together (or trying to) does not necessarily mean implementing 1000 different time management methods and organizational techniques. Sometimes it’s just about writing down things, and with things I don’t only mean stuff we need to get done. It could be feelings, emotions. It could be moments. It could be memories. It could be dreams, future plans and goals.
Technology these days allows us to work and study without even touching a pen or a piece of paper, but sometimes what I need is to grab my real notebook (not the notes on my phone) and jot down what goes through my mind. I genuinely find it therapeutic and allows me to see things rationally (well, most of the time).
Apart from the evergreen to-do lists with the checkmarks on the side, there are some other tech-free ways to stay inspired and motivated. The most popular one, which got quite famous a couple of years ago, is called Bullet Journal (or BuJo).
The Bullet Journal is not only a notebook nor a planner, but rather a method or even a philosophy and lifestyle for some people. The BuJo was developed by Ryder Carroll, a digital product designer and author who was diagnosed with learning disabilities when he was younger. For this reason, he had to find his own ways to remain productive and focused. The main goal of the BuJo is not to be perfectly organized, but to live an intentional, productive and meaningful life. As mentioned on the official website www.bulletjournal.com, the Bullet Journal is “designed to help you organize your what while you remain midnful of your why”. Your BuJo can contain everything that’s important to you: work tasks, hobbies, to-do lists, short and long-term goal, dreams. Whatever you feel like doing, the BuJo is the right place to making it real.
First thing to do: get a notebook. You can choose whether to purchase the official BuJo available on the e-shop or to use one of your choice.
What the BuJo should include and look like (follow the order):
- Index: as the name suggests, this section is at the beginning of your notebook and will help you to locate and interpret the content, thanks to page numbers and symbols keys.
- Future Log: it gives an overview of the year ahead of you. In this section of the journal you can include longterm goals, future events and plans, birthdays and other special occasions.
- Monthly Log: these pages include the plans and tasks for the current month; do you want to follow a vegetarian diet for 30 days? Are you trying to read one book per week? The monthly log is where you can track these things.
- Daily Log: this section is about what you want to achieve on a daily basis. It can be a simple to-do list or you can elaborate it a little more.
Once these sections of your journal are ready to go, it’s finally time to start journaling! How you want to proceed from now on, it’s up to you. You can decorate your notebook the way you want, you can use symbols to identify categories (e.g “O” for events, “•” for tasks or “–” for “notes) and you are free to write in bullet points only or to elaborate longer sentences.
On the official website you can find a quick tutorial that shows you how to build your BuJo.
I’m pretty sure that now you’re asking yourself “Why Should I Start a Bullet Journal?!”
I have an answer for you! Watch the video below and discover the 7 reasons why starting a BuJo is a great idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6NBKr6Necg
Are you ready to start your new, organized and meaningful life? Have you ever tried journaling? Did you know what a Bullet Journal is? Would you consider giving it a try? Let me know in the comments!
Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash
Video Tool: flexclip.com
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Such a cool blog post and video!! I have never heard of the brand Bullet Journal before but I really like how they show you to organize your journal in a very simple way. What I did so far was to write down my thoughts into a little notebook form time to time but without a certain order. That is I guess the reason why I didn’t do it consistently. Thank you for this recommendation because it is really satisfying if you can track you progress and see what you have achieved so far. Keep up the good work!
Thank you Stella for your comment! What you do is definitely a good start 🙂 Sometimes what we need is to just go back to the “old” ways of doing things. I’m happy that you found my article useful!
Hi Veronica, very insightful blog post. I really tried keeping a journal but sometimes the day gets into my way so now I only write something down whenever I feel like it. If you check Pinterest & Co some journals are true pieces of art – must be amazing to look back at old journals and remember certain moments. I will definitely try to gain more consistency in journaling. 🙂
Yes! It’s a really creative process. I love the ones on Pinterest, some people create amazing things!!!
I like the idea, thanks for sharing!
Thank you Rebecca!
I really enjoyed reading the blog and very helpful!
Thanks Victoria, I’m glad you liked it 🙂
Such a really useful blog!! I definitely need to do my BJ and stop writing down post-it notes, it is easier to lose smalls paper with notes than a BJ.
Thanks Veronica for share this idea. 😊
Hi Karen! On the long run the BJ is definitely a more organized solution 🙂
I have already tried to start with it several times and already wasted a few notebooks on it. But I never had a proper approach, it was always chaotic. But your post has now motivated me to do it properly. Thank you very much!
Hi Anja, maybe it was just the wrong moment to start! Let me know if you try again.
Hi Veronica. I really like the concept of BJ. Unfortunately, I’m not so consistent but as soon as I write something down I realize that it helps me a lot clearing my mind or getting things done. After watching your video I feel inspired to grab it and write or draw something down 🙂
Hey Margherita, I’m really happy that my post inspired you. I also have a problem with consistency, I start so many things but never finish them all. I think (and hope) that it’s a skill that can be trained 🙂