6 years of (bullet) journaling
As you may know or not: I love journals. I started my very first bullet journal on April 7th, 2017… Which was six years ago. For the first months, it was a lot of trial and error. As I sit here and reflect, I notice how much bullet journaling has changed me. I thought of it as a productivity tool, but over the years it became more and more of a mindfulness tool. Ryder, the inventor of bullet journaling, has mentioned that in this podcast episode as well.
But what is bullet journaling? In short, it is a collection of paper sheets (usually a physical notebook) where you have certain elements. For this list, I put the elements which weren´t part of the original system in brackets. Ryder always encourages people to modify the system to their own needs, so I encourage you to see these elements more like a toolbox. I won´t explain them in detail here, so please check the official website if you want to learn more.
- future log
- monthly log
- daily log
- custom collections
- (weekly log)
- (trackers)
- (custom collections)
- Dedicated symbols for To Dos, notes, etc.
- Rapid logging: a shortened way to jot things down to save time and space
As bullet journaling became more and more popular, all kinds of fancy art spreads appeared online. To be blunt: if you get value out of decorating your pages: feel free to do so. Otherwise: just don´t do it and use it as minimally as possible.
The same is with the journal. The majority of people use either the official bullet journal notebook or the same brand: a dot grid A5 hardcover journal from Leuchtturm. I like these journals, but I use whatever journal feels right whenever I need a new one. I´ve used all kinds of grids and every size from A6 to A4+. I´ve used ring binders, disc-bound systems, and simple folders with ruled paper in them. Just trust your intuition and what is accessible or affordable in your situation.
The intention of bullet journaling is a mix of planning ahead (future log) and checking in with yourself to reflect on different reflection cycles: daily, (weekly), monthly, whenever you switch to a new journal, and yearly. So you plan your day in your daily (either the night before or in the morning), write down whatever sparks your interest through the day (potential to do´s, journaling entries, braindumps…), and reflect on that stuff in the evening to get useful insights about yourself and your life. And then putting these insights into action.
One side effect of diving into the rabbit hole of bullet journaling was that I learned about all kinds of journaling techniques, planning techniques, and habits… basically, it was the beginning of my personal development and productivity journey. I joined many online communities and collected and experimented with various spreads. I experimented with every kind of paper journal in all sizes I could afford.
It was a lot of trial and error on the go. And since the beginning of this year, I am not been bullet journaling in a normal sense anymore. Like Ryder, I use a digital calendar for planning stuff ahead. But I found out that I prefer to have a separate daily planner where I am using the BuJo symbols, and a different notebook for all kinds of reflections, braindumps, finance tracking, etc to see my plans and my (bullet) journal at the same time.
It might not be close to the original BuJo system, at all, but I don´t care anymore. To paraphrase Ryder “Use the elements you need and get rid of the rest”. And this is what I do. So I call myself a (bullet) journalist. It´s in brackets because I usually only use the symbols (and try to get into rapid logging finally), but I follow the reflection cycles mentioned above. When I feel the need I use a few of the Bujo elements over time. Even after all these years I still struggle with the evening review. I know it could be only 5 mins, but somehow… you know, life and laziness happen^^
During the last month, I´ve started journaling in a foreign language as well to get more out of my journaling routine. This language is English for me. I use a different colored pen than in my other notes and that´s it. Usually, I do it as a reflection of the lectures I had that day and interesting ideas that came up during the day so far. It takes approx. 10 mins usually. I get a lot of insights from that, which is why I highly recommend trying this out.
As you can see, journaling means a lot to me. I am doing morning journaling for at least 20 mins since September 4th, 2020, and have skipped approx. ten days since then. Now I am feeling like I am overwhelmed with my thoughts when I can´t journal in the morning for whatever reason.
Overall I fell in love with journaling as a reflection tool. It helps me to calm down, observe my monkey mind and just relax my mind. I know that the tools for journaling might change over the years, but I am sure that I´ll still do some kind of journaling in 20 years. Because it changed my life for the better and has helped me to go through all kinds of tough situations in life, such as
- ending an engagement
- move halfway across the country
- losing a job
- getting a new job
- quitting a toxic relationship
I never get tired of how journaling helps me to calm down my mind and find solutions to the smaller and larger problems in life. For me, it´s the most essential healthcare tool you can have. And also one of the most affordable one you can get. You can use voice-to-text on your phone with almost every note-taking app available. So if you journal digitally all it takes is time and a bit of electricity. Or you choose to go offline and grab a notebook and a pen. It doesn´t matter how you journal. The tools don´t matter. The time you spend journaling doesn´t matter. All that matters is THAT you are journaling.
