Bullet Journal: Notebook Trick Finally Brings Order into Your Life

Do you know the satisfying feeling of ticking off points on a to-do list? Then you’re gonna love The Bullet Journal. This technique finally makes you more productive!

There is a fundamental difference between “being busy” and “being productive”. I’m sure you’re familiar with it: You can run around all day – without getting anything done. Instead of doing less, the tasks you want to do just keep getting more and more, and everything threatens to get out of hand. This is because you have always misspelled your to-do lists. No more post-its, scattered notes and chaotic time planners, because the “Bullet Journal” finally puts your planning in order!

For 20 years the US-American designer Ryder Carroll has been working on a system that is currently becoming a worldwide phenomenon: The “Bullet Journal” is a coded agenda system that helps you to bring order and structure to your many tasks, or in short: to plan your day, your week, your month. The genius of it: Once set up, your Bullet Journal works all year round and supports you in everything you do.

How to create your Bullet Journal

Granted: it takes a moment to access this ingenious system. But the effort is worth it. Because once you understand how it works, you can easily modify the concept for yourself and tailor your Bullet Journal to your needs and those of your family and household. After all, it’s not about doing something right or following the instructions exactly, but about creating a tool that will help you be as productive as possible!

All you need to get started is a pen, a ruler and a notebook. It doesn’t matter what the book looks like or whether you prefer to work with lines, boxes or white pages. The only thing you need is empty and numbered pages. You can let off steam on them. Design your journal artistically and use elaborate fonts and small picture elements, or keep it simple and practical. Again, this is entirely up to you.

The index and the annual calendar

The heart of the Bullet Journal is the index, or table of contents. It is the lynchpin of the system and goes straight to the first page. This is the classic approach: on the left, the page numbers and on the right, the content of the respective page. Naturally, the table of contents is empty at first. Therefore, turn to the next free page and start there with an annual calendar. How you divide it up is irrelevant. The important thing is that all months are listed on the next two to six pages (as it suits you best). Each month has free lines, which you will later fill with life and tasks. Until then set up your monthly calendar.

The monthly and weekly overview

The monthly calendar follows the annual calendar and shows you the complete month at a glance. Important: Leave plenty of space for notes so that you can enter and note down everything that is due for this month. Ideally you should split a double page: Dates and weekdays on the left and space for your notes, upcoming tasks, appointments and plans on the right. Then turn to the next empty double page and either divide the month into weeks or start with the days.

This is of course entirely up to you and depends on how much clarity you need. Many people find it helps to keep track of the whole week, others love to go into detail and break down the days by the hour.

For the weekly overview, it’s best to use a double page again, fill the left side with the days of the week and some space for notes on the individual days, and leave the right side free for your tasks and notes. At the end of the weekly overview, leave a little space for tasks that are due soon.

Get started with the Bullet Journal

It is best to start with the week that lies directly in front of you. Enter appointments and tasks for each day with Bullet Points. At the end of each day, check out the tasks that you have completed or that you no longer need to complete. You do the same with appointments that are cancelled.

If you are unable to complete a task and want to postpone it, you can mark it with a small “>” and postpone it to the next day, the day after next, the next week or the next month. Ideally, you should not postpone a task more than three times. That way you stay productive and manage the unpleasant items on the list.

Tasks that you would like to postpone to the coming week are marked with the “>” and then you write them in the small section at the bottom, which is reserved for tasks and appointments that are due soon. When you then plan the coming week, you transfer all items from this overview into the week. Tasks that you want to postpone to the coming month are entered further ahead in the overview for that month, so that you can bring them up when you plan for that month. This is your own individual and almost infallible resubmission system.

Too complicated? Then check out how American vlogger Carrie Crista designs her Bullet Journal. Her video takes you through the first steps:

Always keep the overview with the index

Now return to the index and make sure you find everything again. List the page numbers and write next to them what is behind each of them: Year overview on pages 2-6, Monthly overview January on pages 7-8, Weekly overview on pages 9-10 and so on. In between, if you want to write down shopping lists, training plans, birthday planners, wish lists, holiday plans, recipes for the week or a brainstorming session – you can do that at any time. Note the page in the index and then simply turn to the next empty page for the next weekly schedule. Your Bullet Journal is what you do with it.

The same goes for the many blank pages you leave for notes. Here you can simply write down anything you can think of. Many Bullet Journal fans use the blank page next to the weekly overview for scribbles or a retrospective review of the week. What was good, what was bad? Highlights? What do you definitely want to remember? Did you gain an important insight? Were there life-changing events? You can write them down here.

Trial and error

If you find that Bullet Journaling does not work for you in this way, don’t worry. Just turn to the next free page in your notebook and start over. It is a living system that you can adapt to your needs over and over again, and its only function is to support you. If it doesn’t, then discard the system and start all over again. Until you have found your individual best practice, which will not only make you much more productive, but also much more relaxed. Because you know that nothing gets lost in your Bullet Journal. It’s a great feeling, isn’t it?

Here are a few more practical examples:

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