My Experience with Bullet Journal

My thoughts and tips about all things organisation, but mostly Bullet Journal

Where to start, where to start… I first heard about Bullet Journal through Lifehacker, and looked into it straight away. A couple of days later, I grabbed an empty, crappy notebook lying in my cupboard, and started writing. At the time, I was excited to try this new method that would supposedly fix all my productivity problems. Much to my disappointment, it didn’t work. I had no will to sit down and constantly update my journal, and other options started to look more and more appealing. My first attempt had unfortunately been unsuccessful.

After my first experience, I went back to all the different apps I had previously been using, such as Evernote and Wunderlist. My problem was that I was always switching between services. I spent most of my time looking for the best ways to manage my time, instead managing my time well. There was always a new ‘revolutionary’ app that would supposedly save my life, but none of these worked, and I always switched from one to another, almost bi-daily. I knew I had a problem, but I didn’t know how to fix it. So I went out, purchased a larger, spiral notebook, and tried Bullet Journal again.

This time, my attempt was even less successful. I didn’t enjoy writing in a big spiral notebook, which was better for actual notes. Again, I kept storing things in my head, and never wrote in this clunky notebook regularly. I then decided to try my own method, organising the blank page in a way that I thought would suit me. Again, nothing. I kept up this inefficient method for a while, but then something changed. OneNote for Mac was announced.

I sat down, and downloaded OneNote onto my mac. Finally I thought I might reach the perfect cross between digital and analogue. One of the issues that often arose when using digital services, was the lack of flexibility to use them how I wanted to use them, and I thought that OneNote might fix those problems. Again, no change. I was still as unorganised as ever. OneNote didn’t solve my problems, it only created more. I stuck with OneNote for a while, but then I kept looking at reviews of the Bullet Journal system. These reviewers were giving it great credit for fixing their unorganised lives, and I thought, that sounds just like me. The one thing that I had always missed with the Bullet Journal system was a nice notebook. So I decided to try it again.

A couple of days later, I went to my local bookstore and bought a Large Squared Classic Moleskine notebook. I had never owned a Moleskine before, let alone a notebook with at least half decent paper. I sat down, and started another Bullet Journal. I also made the effort to find a decent pen in my cluttered draw that I really enjoyed writing with. After that day, I was the most organised I have been in a long time.

What I have found, is that organisation needs to be something you enjoy. I never enjoyed typing up things in apps, or writing in a crappy notebook. I never enjoyed using services like OneNote or Wunderlist. What I really enjoyed was sitting down with a nice pen, a nice, decent notebook, and organising my day. So my recommendation for you. If you can’t decide what service to use, try to find something you enjoy. If you are using the Bullet Journal method, but without a decent notebook, try using a better one. The most important thing is that you enjoy it, and that you want to do it, but also that you don’t spend all your time on it.

Bullet Journal method — www.bulletjournal.com or youtu.be/GfRf43JTqY4 Moleskine notebook that I used — http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8883701135/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=8883701135
Lifehacker — http://www.lifehacker.com