45 days with the Bullet Journal
Above is my current desk at work. It’s a standing desk, and on the left is my notepad complete with some of my favorite black-and-white stickers.
I’ve spent the last 45 days using the Bullet Journal method for task management and daily organization. The Bullet Journal – described on its site as an analog system for the digital age – is essentially a way to organize your notes, tasks, and priorities the old fashioned way (pen and paper.)
You can customize the Bullet Journal setup however you want, but the main usage for me is to keep my task list in my notepad and “refresh” it every day. Every morning, I look back at yesterday’s tasks and I re-write any that I didn’t get to into the current day’s list. There are many times where I write a task 4-5 times, day after day, until I realize a) I gotta get this thing done, or b) I don’t really need to get this thing done. I find that digital task management apps are too easy to just move tasks to the next day. This manual process forces me to make choices.
I do still use OK Google/Reminders (I was using iOS reminders, but I just switched back to Android) to quickly capture tasks if I can’t write them down at that moment, but I’ll eventually transition them to my notepad.
I also take photos of the notes I want to keep and put them into Google Keep, my current digital note-storage app of choice.
Verdict: I’m going to keep using the Bullet Journal system for the foreseeable future. I do have a friend that gave me a Life Planner journal that I want her to show me to how to use, and I’ll test that for a while. As digitally oriented as I am, I like having this part of my life be analog…for now.
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Hi, I’m Jeff. I’ve founded a few companies – including Spunlogic, 48in48, and my current company, Dragon Army. If you enjoyed this post, please consider signing up for my email list. And of course, you can reach me on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Thanks for sharing. Been carrying the moleskin and looking to make it more effective.
Uh, … why? As in, “What was good / bad about Bullet Journaling, for you?” What would like to see instead? You say you like an ‘analog’ system, but can you conceive of an App configuration that would actually be an improvement?
I’ve switched up my process for note-taking and will be posting about it soon. Everyone has their own preferences and I think bullet journaling is a fine enough way to go. The main benefit of a digital experience, in my opinion, is that its always with you and you can never lose it, whereas if your notes are in a physical notebook you can forget that or lose it. Also the ability to search and find notes is much more difficult.
Seems like you are referring to a “cloud experience”. It is pretty easy to lose a digital device, and everything contained within. On the other hand, nothing in the cloud can be truly secure, and a device can be used without a web connection. Yes, there are plenty of us out here who are that paranoid, Been at it a lonf time, seen lot’s of horror stories. USB or SD card backup is your friend.