A lot of people swear by the bullet journal. Half appointment book, half sketchbook, and all-analog. No laptop, tablet, app, or software needed. All one needs is a pen and a pad. I tried it out and I’ll tell you what I think of it.
Bullet journal intro
If you’re not aware of what a bullet journal is, it first emerged in 2013. Designer Ryder Carroll reportedly developed the concept to help manage his attention deficit disorder. The concept went viral unexpectedly, creating an explosion of social media revolving around the concept.
The idea of the bullet journal is to use pages successively, rather than being limited to a predefined layout. Page 14 might be a schedule for the week, page 15 might be a habit tracker or notes from a phone call. Regardless of the content of each page, Page 1 is almost always the index. The index tells you where things are, and when new pages are added, new entries are added to the index. This makes the journal almost infinitely expandable compared to a printed planner.
The “bullets” that Carroll used were simple symbols: a dot is a task, when completed, the dot is marked with an “X.” If a task is moved (let’s say to a new date), it’s turned into a right-pointing arrow, and a page number to reference its new location. There is more to it, but that is the gist of it. Each entry tells you its status or is helps you to find more information elsewhere in the notebook.
What worked, what didn’t
The thing I liked most about the bullet journal method was that it was very loose and open. If a new thought or a new project springs to mind, or you need to take notes in a meeting, simply open to the first empty page and start writing. Make a note of the new page in the index, and then carry on from there.
A notebook with blank or lined pages is fine, but I found I liked a dot-grid journal the most. Unsurprisingly, these are also the most expensive option if you’re looking at a selection. Most often you’ll see people recommend a Moleskine (which I have not used) or Leuchtturm (which I have used). The reason is that the notebook will see hard use. A simple spiral-bound notepad is just as effective and much cheaper, but will probably fall apart quickly.
As a side note, I shared the bullet journal method with my wife, who has almost always had a date planner since I’ve known her. She did not like the openness of the method, but much preferred the pre-formatted calendar pages she always bought. To each her own, I supposed. She’s allowed to be wrong. (just kidding)
I used the bullet journal for about 2 years. I fell off the wagon during the Pandemic. Why use a daily logbook when every day is just: “woke up, worked, ate dinner, went to bed”? I think my life is probably too structured to need it. I honestly have such a boring life: my work is predictable requires little scheduling or management. If I owned a business or was going to school I absolutely would use it.
I never really started using it as a sketchbook, maybe dropping in an idea for a project here or there. But even though it was a constant companion that went everywhere with me, it just wasn’t where I wanted to put the occasional random sketch or drawing. It always felt unnatural to me.
My main benefit from the bullet journal was setting up a habit tracker. When I was feeling down about losing the habit of drawing in my free time, I set up a goal to draw every day. Since I’m very
oriented toward technology and science fiction, the idea was to draw a robot every day. I had decent success with the habit, and was able to stretch my imagination too. Some were even inspired by real life
situations.
When the “stock” bullet journal didn’t work out for me, I tried adjusting the method, keeping a monthly page, but no daily logs. But I felt like it was now too constrictive. Other than tracking, it wasn’t really working for me because I either needed to feed it way more in order to have enough tasks to fulfill (which involves turning everything into a highly-detailed project), or it was really just a mostly-empty DIY datebook, with appointments, special days, and home maintenance items scattered around. A tragic waste of a good Leuchtturm.
As I said, I gave it up during the pandemic. I’ll have later posts about other methods I tried.
A word to the wise
If you search for material on bullet journals, you will see a lot of social media content that is all about decorating your journal. Artful layouts, pen-and-ink drawings, even full watercolor landscapes. Conveniently enough, a lot of people just happen to also sell colorful washi tape, notebooks, ink stamps, art materials, etc. ad nauseam to help you make your “bujo” really pop! It might be unfair, but I mentally categorize most of them as hustle, not help.
I personally didn’t use my journal itself as a creative outlet. I’m not judging, but what I wanted was a method to make other creative pursuits more seamless or effortless. Unfortunately, I had a hard time making it work that way for me.
Bottom line
If you’re in education or operating a business, or a person with a very busy schedule that changes a lot, a bullet journal is probably super useful to keep track of to-do items, appointments, and goals. To me, it was most useful as a habit tracker, but a lot of the planning was overkill. If you’re not busy, but like the idea of an open creative journal, it can serve as a creative outlet with a side gig as a planner/tracker.
Pros:
- excellent for detailed planning: tasks, habits, projects, special dates, appointments can be tracked in one place
- planning can be months or years in the future
- can serve as a creative outlet: the rules are – there are no rules
- has a loose, open arrangement that is not confining (btw, my wife hated this about it, she likes her boxes)
- extremely low cost (no need to buy pre-formatted calendar sheets or fancy binders)
Cons:
- best for reining in busy schedules, I think it’s less conducive to consistent routines
- needs constant maintenance
- related to above: requires vigilant indexing to allow search-ability
Those are my thoughts. I like the bullet journal as a planner, but it wasn’t the creativity organizer I was hoping for.