Bullet Journaling

I've had a love/hate relationship with pen and paper. I love to write on paper and in notebooks. I love the feel of fountain pens and the bleeding of the ink. I start a new notebook here for a project, or my job, then I minimize to a sheet of blank paper for a task list, and then, and then and then...I lose touch with reality. The mess gets too much, so I go find digital tools and then quickly lose interest because there is no tactile experience. I end up ping-ponging between the analog and the digital. I always come back to my first love of handwriting.

In my quest for clarity on the matter, I have tried countless methods and formulae. None have worked for me. This year (2025), I found the Bullet Journal Method, and it's changed the way that I think. Before you Google it, just know that the results are polluted by artsy Pinterest doodlers who have grifted the namespace. It's off-putting, which is why I never looked into it after years of hearing about it on blogs and in books. I never wanted anything to do with the sketchy chaos I saw all over the internet.

But recently, I found The Bullet Journal Method book in a second-hand bookstore. I picked it up and immediately imagined being sucked into a world of adult coloring books masquerading as productive journaling. I put it down without giving it a critical thought. Surely the fancy gold foil imprinting and a neat design symmetry on the cover was a tell-tale sign of what would be my demise. I feared peering inside would initiate me into the cult of Eternal Scribbling. But, that analog nag inside of me made me pick it up again and peek at table of contents. I'm so glad I did. (You should always judge a book by it's ToC)

I read the book and the concepts are so simple and minimalist. There was no doodling, but rather the opposite. It was clean and organized at a fundamental level. The ideas of indexing, rapid journaling, daily reflection and migrations turned a light on and finally brought the clarity I needed. I've been looking this method my entire adult life.

More than just organizing my analog paper mess, Bullet Journaling has helped me clear my mind of clutter. I can think clearer because my brain is not tracking all of the contexts, ideas, tasks, questions, lists, events, notes, etc that I was trying to remember. Knowing I can find my thoughts on paper frees my brain energy to be more present, plan for the future, and connect with others around me.

I encourage you to read the book if you're overwhelmed with inputs and outputs and you don't know where to capture any of it. There is an official notebook but it's not necessary. The beauty of it is you can use any notebook. I hope it helps you like it did for me.