If you have tired of using dozens of apps and do not finish finding what you are looking for or if you just want to keep producing in any scenario and not have to rely on technology, maybe you should give a chance to Bullet Journal, a new method of personal organization that combines in the simplicity of a notebook the organization of tasks, notes, events and projects.
Bullet Journal bets for the return to the analogical world, allowing that as we work with its method we have an own space to reflect, that moves away of the restrictions that impose the majority of Apps. The method that is quite simple to implement but can become as complex as we want requires, like almost all, a certain discipline, but it has the advantage that it offers us at all times a much more global vision of what we do and how we have done.
If you want to start it, take out one of your notebooks in white, take a thin-tipped pen and follow the instructions that we give below. As noted on PrizedReviews website, the best black pen for the bullet journal is Micron Sakura Pigma.
Launching our Bullet Journal
1. Choose The Ideal Notebook
As we are going to create a notebook that reflects our tasks, projects, and events, the idea is to have a notebook that we can always carry with us. If possible, it is a grid pattern. The first thing we will do to start working will be to number each of the pages.2. Symbols
In our Bullet Journal, different symbols will coexist, which will tell us what each of our entries represents.
- We will point out that we are talking about a task that we must carry out accompanying the entry with a square, under which we can, in the same way, add subtasks.
- If what interests us instead is to indicate that an event occurs, we will start the entry with a blank circle
- If what we want is to collect a note, we will indicate it with a full point.
In addition to these basic symbols, we can use others to give more meaning to each of our entries. If we accompany the entry with the drawing of a star, for example, we will indicate that the task or event in question has priority. If we do it with the symbol of an eye, we will be affirming that it is a matter that we want to investigate more closely.
If we add an exclamation symbol, we can be talking about an idea that we do not want to forget. In the imagination is the limit, although it is advisable to work with a small number of symbols that we can remember.
3. Index
As we want to be better organized and not get lost in our tasks, notes, and events, the first thing we will do after numbering the pages, will be to create an index. It will not take us too long since we will be completing it as we introduce new elements in our notebook.
In principle, the index will be used to indicate where each month begins, but as we will see it will also serve to indicate collections and other types of elements.
4. Month view
After the Index we will create our month view, using two facing pages. On the left page, we will write every day of the month, next to the first letter of the corresponding day of the week, which will be useful when planning. If we know in advance some of the events of that month, we will write them down next to the corresponding day.
On the right page, we will write down those key tasks that we know we have to carry out in the current month. In principle and unless it is very important, we will not use this page to include notes.
5. Daily
In the following pages we will create spaces for each of the days, either as they happen, or with some anticipation, if we anticipate certain events. In these spaces, we will reflect our notes, tasks, and events. Of course, the new events that arise will not only be reflected on the page of the corresponding day, but also on the first page, which included every day of the month.
After the current month, we will start with the new month, repeating the operation. We will include the page number in the index and create the new template.
At the time of filling the page on the right, we will review all the tasks of the previous month, cross out the ones that are complete and we will migrate to the new page those that we have left unfilled. If we want, we can distinguish these “old tasks” from the new ones by putting a special symbol.
6. Collections
As we progress in the days of the month, we can discover that many elements that we are introducing, are related (For example, the preparations for a summer trip). If we want to group all these elements, we can “migrate” them in a new page and create a “Collection of elements” that will allow us to consult our projects at a glance. Migrated the elements we will introduce its location in our general index.
These collections can be placed well at the end of a day, either on the last page of a month, etc. The order in this sense is the least whenever we remember after correctly reflecting them in the general index.
Repeating this method over and over again we will discover how easy it is to keep organized, without needing to depend on apps, smartphones or tablets, redefining our productivity with the only help of pen and paper.
