Published: 2019-11-02 16:17
Edited: 2025-02-24 18:39
Status: 🌲evergreen

How the Bullet Journal Changed My Life For the Better

Reading time: 9 minutes

In my previous post on the bullet journal, I talked about what the bullet journal has done for me. No less than change my life.

Now I want to talk about how it’s done that. The things I’ve found that worked, the things that haven’t.

This isn’t a full tutorial on the bullet journal system and assumes you’re at least a little familiar with the core terms. For more information, visit bulletjournal.com

A change in focus

Traditionally a bullet journal is a series of monthly, weekly and daily to do lists. The idea being that writing the same items out over and over again will force you either complete it or remove it from your to do list.

I've found that that doesn't quite work for me. Rewriting the same item for the sixteenth time doesn't really get me to stop procrastinating, it just makes me feel guilty. And the thing still doesn't get done.

Inspired by a post by Coach Tony here on Medium, I stopped using my bullet journal as a list of things I needed to do and started using it to record the things I had done.

My productivity soared, and the guilt went away.

Now I use my bullet journal to record as much data as I can about my life in order to help me make better judgements and decisions about it.

I highly recommend trying this switch. Instead of focusing on the things you haven't done at the end of the day, focus on the things you did get done. It's a much more positive way of thinking and it makes all the difference to my mental health.

My bullet is now entirely geared towards recording things I've done, and the examples below reflect that. However, there's no reason you wouldn't be able to use my spreads in the traditional way, just be aware that your mileage may vary

So, what do I actually have in my bullet journal? Let's take a look.

Bullet journal basics

While I've definitely changed up a few things when it comes to the the core bullet journal principles, a lot things have remained the same. These are the things I've kept the same.

Future log

This particular spread is pretty much unchanged from the original bullet journal. This is where I write down anything that's happening within the next six months or so so I don't forget it. It's the part of the bullet journal that most resembles a traditional diary, and that's how it gets used.

Birthdays, appointments, wedding dates; the future log is where all these things live until it's time to put them in the current monthly spread. Speaking of which...

Monthly Spread

Again this is pretty much unchanged from Ryder Carrol's original concept. It has a simple list of dates and events on one page so I know what's happening in my month at a glance.

The opposite page is where I deviate from Carrol's version. Instead of a list of tasks I need to do in that month, I tend to set myself a couple of goals. Yes, these are different.

Where a task might be something like "write bullet journal post for medium," my goals tend to be more along the lines of "write on at least 15 days during the month."

They're not single tasks that will get migrated to the next month if I don't do it, they're things that require me to stick to my habits to complete. No guilt, just a sense of accomplishment,

Dailies

This is probably the core bullet journal concept that I've changed the most since it's meant to be used as a daily to do list and I really don't do that.

Instead of keeping a list of things I need to do, I write down a list of things I've done. Anything that requires time or energy to complete is eligible. to get written down in my daily.

I made this switch partly to exchange the guilt I felt at not tackling my to do list for a sense of momentum and satisfaction at getting things done. On that front this switch has been a roaring success. Instead of rewriting my undone tasks the next morning, I can look at a list of things I got done the previous day and feel good about myself.

The other main effect of this change is that I have a better idea of how I'm spending my time and what I'm getting done. Where before I might work all day and only tick off one or two things on my to do list, by recording the things I've done broken down into their smallest steps, I get a better idea of what I've done.

Gone are the days of feeling like I've got nothing done. Now I know exactly what I've spent my time and energy on.

Interesting additions

I started using many of these additions after I switched to tracking completed tasks in my dailies. I realised that my bullet journal would serve me best if I used it to record as much information about what was happening in my life as possible. For that most of these spread ideas are about tracking one aspect of my life or another.

Sleep tracker

I don't know about you, but I feel like read a million articles about how none of us get enough hours sleep. And I've read only slightly fewer about how my life will be transformed by somehow making myself get up at 5am.

Whatever your stance on hours of sleep and sensible times to get up, tracking your sleep is a worthwhile thing to do. Especially if you also record a note or two about the quality of your sleep as you do.

I find my sleep habits are very variable, despite my best efforts to change that. I have been trying to get into the habit of going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time every day and tracking how often I do that has led to much better habits.

Sometimes I just don't feel like going to bed on time and lo and behold the next day I feel like shit because I've not had enough good quality sleep. And I have the data to back that up. Sometimes my brain needs a kick in the pants before it'll behave and solid data definitely does that for me.

Recording my sleep goes some way towards kicking my brain into shape.

Habit and mood tracker

Again, many of us have habits we want to pick up but often struggle to keep up with. That's because change is scary and our brains will resist it as hard as possible.

But recording new habits when we do them not only lets us know when we last did them, but also gives our brains little dopamine hit every time we extend the chain of the new habit. Breaking the chain does the opposite; it makes us feel bad so we're less likely to want to do it.

We all have habits that are worth tracking; whether that's the meditation or journaling you want to pick up or something as simple as tracking your personal hygiene. I know my depression has been more manageable since I started tracking mine; fewer days go by without so much as brushing my teeth and that's good for preventing spirals.

Tracking my mood has also become an essential part of managing my mental health. When I look back I can see where I had peaks in mood and where I had troughs and whether those are correlated with things happening in my life or not. That's all useful information when trying to manage long term mental health conditions.

Chore tracker

This is another way I use my bullet journal to manage my mental health and the effect it has on my life. Housework is one of the things that slips down the list of priorities when you spend your days trying to stop your brain from killing you and it often leads to a house that is less clean and today than your mother would approve of.

Knowing exactly when the last time I cleaned the toilet or washed my bedding is super helpful. Partly because after a certain amount of time I start to feel a bit grim and disgusting if I know exactly how long it's been and that's good motivation for getting it done.

Even if this isn't a problem for you because your brain works just fine on its factory settings, knowing when you last did particular chore is helpful for prioritising your tasks whenever you have some time and energy to spare.

I started tracking my housework and chores and my house is pretty much cleaner than it's ever been.

Well, the robot vacuum cleaner helped as well.

10 blocks

I got this idea from Matt Ragland after watching a few of his YouTube videos.

The basic idea is that you draw out ten blocks, each of which represents a four hour period of time. This is your average 40 hour work week. Each of those ten blocks can be divided down into 16 squares, each of which represents a 15 minute block of time.

Now, Matt tends to use these blocks to plan out his week, to make sure he's not spending too much time on one particular aspect of his job.

I tend to use it as a visual record of what I've done in a particular week. It helps me manage not only my time but my mental health. For example, I know that if between writing, housework, socialising and caring for my partner I've put in more than 40 hours of work, then I've done too much that week and will have to deal with the ramifications for my health.

Likewise, it lets me see if I've done too much of a particular thing that week. A couple of weeks back I racked up more than 16 hours of socialising, which is way too much for this socially anxious bean. Because of my 10 blocks I could easily see that I'd focused too much on socialising and was likely to be worn out and jittery because of it.

Having a record of my week that's visually appealing and easy to understand at a glance has been super useful for me.

Weekly and monthly reviews

Like many bullet journalers, I am forever mixing things up and trying new things. I've just about locked down my ideal layout but that doesn't stop me from trying to incorporate the latest shiny thing I've seen on Instagram.

As a side note: if you ever want to feel woefully inadequate when it comes to your artistic skills and the aesthetics of your journal, do check out the bullet journal tags on Instagram. Every single post will make you feel like you don't put enough effort in.

The constant changing and tweaking is one of the reasons I like to check in with myself every now and again. The weekly and monthly reviews give me a chance to go over things that aren't quite working and think about how I can improve them.

Of course it's not just bullet journal related things that get mentioned in my reviews. Pretty much any aspect of my life has potential for review, especially things like trying new bedtime routines or a new way of managing my time.

If it's not actually helping then there's no point in continuing to do it, and regular reviews mean I can spot problems before I've wasted months of my time trying to get something to work.

Monthly cover page

I'm not really into the high effort, highly creative and decorative bullet journals that get a lot of attention, but I did borrow the concept of the cover page from them.

Having a cover page for each month makes it much easier for me to find what I'm looking for in my journal, and having it be pretty much blank felt like a waste of paper. So I started doing a drawing on each one.

I find it quite soothing to do my drawing every month, and I know that no matter what else happens, I'll always do at least one drawing every month. Even just doing that has seen noticeable improvements in my art.

I generally can't be fucked with watercolours or any of the other fancy stuff you see in a lot of bullet journal posts. Just a simple line drawing, perhaps with a few colourful accents, is enough for me.

And it brightens up my bullet journal and makes it a nice place to spend my time. Which encourages me to keep all the records I want to keep.

In absentia

You'll notice that I haven't listed an index as part of my bullet journal, despite it being one of the most important parts of Ryder Carroll's original system.

Why?

Simply because I wasn't using it.

In my last notebook I dutifully wrote every single spread down on the index and then promptly ignored it. Every time I wanted to find something I just flicked through the journal to find it instead of using the index.

The bullet journal is all about making things as simple and easy as possible, so if I find myself not using part of it, I axe it.

There's no index in my current set up and I haven't missed it. A couple of sturdy plastic tags is all I need for navigating my journal.

Maybe that's all you'll need too?

My current bullet journal kit

This section contains affiliate links, so if you click through and purchase any of the kit I recommend I might get a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Everyone has their own opinions on what the best notebook for bullet journalling is and, to be honest, it depends on what you want out of it.

Generally it's considered best to opt for dot grid paper, as that has the greatest flexibility when it comes to layout, but it's not mandatory. Plenty of people are happily bullet journaling on plain, lined or grid notebooks. Beyond that it depends entirely how you want to bullet journal.

Gonna be using a lot of watercolour or inks? Opt for some thicker paper.

Planning on getting your fountain pen out? Make sure the paper can cope with your favourite ink.

For my part I tend to stick to black fine liners with the odd bit of colour thrown in.

One of my favourite journals was a Rhodiarama soft back notebook. The paper is so smooth and nice to use that I honestly might never use any other paper again. The biggest disadvantage is the lack of numbered pages if you want to use an index, but that's easily fixed. My only other issue is that the soft back can't quite stand up to daily use in my hands, but I knew that might be a risk when I ordered it.

I really really wanted the purple notebook you guys.

My first bullet journal was one of the official LEUCHTTERM1917 bullet journal and it stood up to almost a year of use. The paper isn't quite as nice as in the Rhodias but it does come with a guide on the basic bullet journal so it's great for beginners.

I'm back using a LEUCHTTERM1917 journal again and one of the best things I did for it was get a cover. Seriously, this one has stood up so much better than even my first LEUCHTTERM1917 because it has protection. Also the cover has glow in the dark stars on it.

Pen-wise I mostly stick with the Uniball Uni Pins in 0.5 for most of the heavy lifting. I also have a few of the Bic intensity fine liners to add a bit of colour. Generally I try to keep the amount of kit I carry around with me to a minimum so I only use one-four coloured pens besides the black.

Plus a pen loop to keep everything together.

That's literally it.

Who said you had to shell out a load of money for fancy shit when bullet journaling?

No one. No one said that.

Summary

There are a lot of different ways to bullet journal. That's the real beauty of it; it's a system not a pre-made planner, so you can change any part of it that doesn't work for you.

Between part one and two of this post I've given you not only a bunch of reasons to try the bullet journal but the resources to get started. It's been one of the best things I've ever done, and hope the same is true for you.

Let me know how you get on.

Originally published at medium.com