One of the hottest “apps” right now is not a technology app at all; it’s a bullet journal. Yep, it’s not done on an iPad or your phone using some complicated program — it’s all written down on paper, which is why a lot of us who are paper and pen, old -school fanatics, love this.
Called “the analog system for the digital age” by its creator, Ryder Carroll, (who started the ball rolling) it has fast become the way millennials and a lot of others are keeping on top of their lives. In this day and age when we constantly use our phones and have all sorts of apps on them to keep us organized like Any Do and Sunrise, to name a few, the truth is, no app can contain everything in one visual place. Plus, you can’t save the information on your phone the way you can within a book.
So, what do you put in a bullet journal?
Whatever you want. The point of a bullet journal is to have one notebook, of some sort, that contains everything you need to keep track of your life in a concise, structured way using, well, bullet points: short, simple statements. It can have whatever bits and pieces you want, but it should include a log section with daily, weekly, or monthly spreads, so that you can plan and schedule what you need to do, or record what you’ve already done. How you structure this, what you keep track of, any additional pages, charts, or sections are all up to you. And it should always include a key, so you remember what all your symbols mean.
You can start with contacts, then your calendar. Add to-do lists, budget goals, projects, all those things you write on those post-it notes stuck around your desk and home; movies you want to see, books to read, friends to contact, bucket lists, medicines you take and how often. This is a self-driven, entirely evolving and adaptable to you alone, project. Your journal can be as complex or as simple as you want.
There is a lot of information and guidance online on just how to set up the journal, and of course some people get very creative using colored pens, washi tape, stickers and pre-made pages. It’s all out there. Make it what works for you. With all the ready –made planners on the market that never seem to be “just right” this one works the way your brain works.
The best intro to Bullet Journaling is obviously the one done by its original creator, Ryder Carroll.
Here is a link to his site: http://bulletjournal.com
And, separately, his intro video: https://youtu.be/fm15cmYU0IM
