Still haven’t set up your planner for 2019? It’s not too late to plan your way through the (relatively) new year. If you haven’t purchased your perfect paper planner, consider using the popular Bullet Journal method to turn any empty notebook into your life’s command center.
Meet the Bullet Journal method
Analog planning is decidedly not dead. While digital tools have replaced our physical tools with breakneck speed, there’s nothing quite like planning life on paper. Bullet Journal creator Ryder Carroll, who’s a digital product designer by trade, knew this feeling all too well.
Carroll spent years toting around a black Moleskine, perfecting his note-taking and planning system to fit the demands of his personal life and career. Over those years, he found an organized yet efficient way to input his most random notes, projects, errands, and appointments into a single binder. The final form of his personal journal is what we now know to be the Bullet Journal—a simple and flexible tool for capturing and planning your life as it happens, in a single notebook.
Watch the video below for a quick, 5-minute introduction to the planning system that just might change your life:
Capture and plan your life as it happens
The reason why so many people love and use the Bullet Journal method is simply because it works. Touted as the “analog method for the digital age that will help you track the past, order the present, and design your future,” it does exactly what it says it does—if you’re diligent enough to set it up and use it as needed.
A Bullet Journal works like your usual paper planner in that you can input data such as tasks, projects, and scheduled events, but you can also use it draft any dreams you may have on the back burner as well jot down important events that may unexpectedly happen on any given day. Capturing and referencing data will also be simpler and quicker than ever, once you implement the practice of “rapid logging” and keeping an index page at the start of your journal.
And thanks to its flexible nature, you can freely use your Bullet Journal whenever you want to and put it down whenever you want to, without worrying that you’ll leave ten pages of emptiness in the wake of an emergency or a much needed vacation from constant productivity. The Bullet Journal method was specifically designed and refined to adjust to ever-shifting priorities of human life, and it truly shows.
Customize your journal to your liking
The BulletJournal isn’t just a tool for getting things done—it’s also a tool for knowing ourselves better. Chances are the way you use your journal will morph over time. You might add features like habit trackers, budgeting plans, or grocery lists. Or you might not. You might use it for long-form essays and journaling, or strictly use it for project planning and scheduling purposes.
The ideal Bullet Journal will look different for everyone. That’s why entire online communities have popped up over the years, dedicated to sharing the particular ways people set up and tweak their own personal journals. (Check out the hashtags #BulletJournal and #BuJo, for short, for some amazing planning templates and inspiration.)
That said, perhaps the best thing about Bullet Journaling is that you get to decide how it works for you. Use it the way you want to, in the way the motivates you most. This might mean being as crafty or creative as possible, or keeping things simple and straight-to-the-point as Ryder himself does. Just be patient, keep experimenting, and learn to find your rhythm as you go.
If you’re not in the mood to set up a planner from scratch, consider using our printable planning templates which you can download for free and use any time of the year. Just visit our Resources page to learn more.
