My BuJo Method Experiment: The Table of Chaos
Ryder Carroll (RC), author of The Bullet Journal Method, says to use an Index at the beginning of your bullet journal. Only it’s not an index in the classic sense.
An index is in alphabetical order and usually found at the end of a book; whereas a table of contents is a list of what’s in a book in the order it appears, and it comes at the beginning of a book.
In the past I found RC’s way of creating an Index in the front of the journal to be just a messy Table of Contents, which I renamed Table of Chaos. The last thing I wanted was a jumbled list of contents that I had to trace down to find what I was looking for.
I saw that some BuJo enthusiasts had created a true Index at the beginning of their journals instead of a Table of Chaos. I copied that idea, feeling like I’d melded the two concepts together to create something my librarian-like brain could get behind.
But it didn’t take long to notice that my tidy Index made the journal too clinical and less personal. Still I wasn’t willing to have a messy Table of Chaos.
When I decided to try The Bullet Journal Method for 90 days, I knew I would have to give the Table of Chaos a try. So far I am okay with the Table of Chaos. I actually like it at this point. It makes the journal more of a journal than a planner.
At the end of my 90 day experiment, I hope to look at the Table of Chaos and see my life as it unfolded by the Collections I created and how many I created in each month’s time. And if instead it’s driving me crazy, I can create an actual Index in the back of the journal to make the tidy side of my mind settle down.
What do you think about a Table of Chaos vs. a classic Index for your BuJo? Have you even thought about it before now? Comment below. I’d like to know.
note: this article contains affiliate links
