Why didn't bullet journalling work for me?
June 22, 2021 8:24 AM Subscribe
"At the beginning of a traditional planner, there’s usually an overview of the current year, and sometimes there’s an overview of the next. Looking at these grids, seeing today in the context of many days, I am soothed; looking at the future log of a bullet journal, in which all but the most important dates are unrepresented, I am at sea. Bullet journals work when you don’t feel the need to construct a clear vision of what’s ahead."
I stumbled upon this article while trying to find someone, anyone, whose experiences with bullet journalling mirrored mine. Everywhere I looked, I was being evangelised about not using my bujo correctly, not being productive enough, or not being consistent enough with my planning.
That contributed, to some degree, to my burnout - the constant nagging thought of "should I try bullet journalling again?" was not easy to shake, and I kept wondering WHY GOD WHY CAN'T I JUST FUCKING KEEP A JOURNAL THAT THE ENTIRE INTERNET CAN?
Well, because, "turns out trying to completely deconstruct your life can backfire in a way that sends you sprinting in the other direction."
I stumbled upon this article while trying to find someone, anyone, whose experiences with bullet journalling mirrored mine. Everywhere I looked, I was being evangelised about not using my bujo correctly, not being productive enough, or not being consistent enough with my planning.
That contributed, to some degree, to my burnout - the constant nagging thought of "should I try bullet journalling again?" was not easy to shake, and I kept wondering WHY GOD WHY CAN'T I JUST FUCKING KEEP A JOURNAL THAT THE ENTIRE INTERNET CAN?
Well, because, "turns out trying to completely deconstruct your life can backfire in a way that sends you sprinting in the other direction."
The thing that really killed Bullet Journal for me, along with most other forms of paper planning, was the repetition and excessive metawork. Oh, this thing didn't get done today? Now I have to copy it over to the next day. First of the month? Gotta write out my calendar again. Oh, I have multiple things this day? Now I gotta wedge them in. I really despise doing repetitious busywork, and so much of Bullet Journaling felt like repetitious busywork. I think it's an ADHD thing. It seems most Bullet Journal people love the meditative aspect of writing out the dates and copying things over, but for me the thought of doing that again gives me hives.
posted by SansPoint at 8:54 AM on June 22, 2021 [49 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 8:54 AM on June 22, 2021 [49 favorites]
Having tried again and again to organize my time in a way that lets me actually accomplish things and not let uninteresting tasks slip my mind, I took a look at bullet journalling a few years ago.
From the outside, it seems like more of a diary than an organizational tool. And very much its own whole task.
There are other ways to make your own planner that are a lot more... planner-ish. Increased initial set up time, but better results.
Did keep the pretty pens, though. No regrets there.
posted by Adridne at 8:57 AM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
From the outside, it seems like more of a diary than an organizational tool. And very much its own whole task.
There are other ways to make your own planner that are a lot more... planner-ish. Increased initial set up time, but better results.
Did keep the pretty pens, though. No regrets there.
posted by Adridne at 8:57 AM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
"Metawork" is a perfect term for that, and basically the problem I had with bullet journaling. Instead of it being about getting work done, it's about ME getting work done. It feels like it isn't about being productive, it's about centering yourself to show yourself how productive you are. Which, fine, if that's what you need, but those are two different things. Planner vs diary.
posted by nushustu at 8:59 AM on June 22, 2021 [16 favorites]
posted by nushustu at 8:59 AM on June 22, 2021 [16 favorites]
Daily journals always stare at me like a failure (I go through times when I write a lot and go through times when I don't journal for months). And I'm talking like free form "I had this weird dream and here's this thing that I probably won't post social media because it sounds so ridiculous and maybe I should quit my job and try to develop a children's book series about a sentient cardigan sweater named Terry who dreams being a deep sea diver even though he knows it will cause him to shrink and what does it say about me as a person that I spend so much time worrying about the fact that I half of my left eyebrow is just gone now for good and that was a pretty sunset I sure wish I could get a raise oh look a heron! Do I still remember any poetry from high school? Let's see if I can quote it" kind of journal.
Every time I see my dad he lectures me on my failure to abide to the tenets of The Artists Way (including morning pages) and how that means I'll probably never find any success and fufillment in life, which usually just ends with him giving me a nice notebook and some pens and me feeling like I am definitely going to end up disappointing someone.
posted by thivaia at 9:01 AM on June 22, 2021 [34 favorites]
Every time I see my dad he lectures me on my failure to abide to the tenets of The Artists Way (including morning pages) and how that means I'll probably never find any success and fufillment in life, which usually just ends with him giving me a nice notebook and some pens and me feeling like I am definitely going to end up disappointing someone.
posted by thivaia at 9:01 AM on June 22, 2021 [34 favorites]
As a result, Bullet Journals have always just felt like an expressway to self-flagellation for me.
posted by thivaia at 9:02 AM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 9:02 AM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
I guess I'm just a rebel, since I've taken what I like from bullet journaling and left the rest? It's nice to have a checklist, plus a convenient symbol for things that I need to talk to other people about. Once my to do list fills up a page, I go to the next page, and rewrite the tasks I hadn't done from the previous time.
There seem to be two categories of bullet journals: scrapbooks, and to-do lists with a few extra squiggles next to them.
posted by sagc at 9:03 AM on June 22, 2021 [24 favorites]
There seem to be two categories of bullet journals: scrapbooks, and to-do lists with a few extra squiggles next to them.
posted by sagc at 9:03 AM on June 22, 2021 [24 favorites]
sagc: The original Bullet Journal was, essentially, a set of "to-do lists with a few extra squiggles next to them" until it caught on among the Influencer Crowd, and Ryder Carroll decided to roll with it because capitalism I guess. You can see the original Bullet Journal site from 2013 on archive.org and it's quite a different vibe than the way Bullet Journal gets promoted now.
posted by SansPoint at 9:14 AM on June 22, 2021 [19 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 9:14 AM on June 22, 2021 [19 favorites]
Personally, I find logging what I do of much higher value. Future tasks work for me much more naturally in a typical calendar event/due date system/app.
I still log on paper---phones suck at that---but I use tech to manage my calendars, both personal and public, as the ability of others to interact with them too is a huge win.
My wife and I share a notes stream too, but for the past couple of years we've taken to simply photographing papers or whatnot and sharing that: task lists on paper, ideas, shopping lists written on the fridge, doodles, and little notes taken during meetings. Works for us. We both write cursive a lot faster and more accurately than we can thumb type on a phone. That's how we "scrapbook" random bits of stuff, through our shared photostream.
Analog for note taking, digital for time management. The 2020s are a hybrid time.
posted by bonehead at 9:15 AM on June 22, 2021 [6 favorites]
I still log on paper---phones suck at that---but I use tech to manage my calendars, both personal and public, as the ability of others to interact with them too is a huge win.
My wife and I share a notes stream too, but for the past couple of years we've taken to simply photographing papers or whatnot and sharing that: task lists on paper, ideas, shopping lists written on the fridge, doodles, and little notes taken during meetings. Works for us. We both write cursive a lot faster and more accurately than we can thumb type on a phone. That's how we "scrapbook" random bits of stuff, through our shared photostream.
Analog for note taking, digital for time management. The 2020s are a hybrid time.
posted by bonehead at 9:15 AM on June 22, 2021 [6 favorites]
Huh. I somehow understood bullet journaling as "do whatever you like" - so I use my so-called "bullet" journal (it contains ZERO bulleted lists) as a way to keep all my scraps in one place. I write down whatever I need to write down, then write the page number in the appropriate category (or categories) in the index page, and that's it, done. Next time I'm looking for the phone number of the landscaper that I KNOW I wrote down *some*place, I look in the bujo index under either "fucking yardwork" or "helpful people" and boom, there it is.
I no longer have 50 separate notebooks to keep track of fucking yardwork, helpful people, essay ideas, drawing fragments, cute things my kids said, angsty thoughts I had on any particular day, etc. (Those 50 notebooks used to stay pristine and empty for years because I could never remember to write in them, and meanwhile I was also drowning in random scraps of paper.)
Anyway. That's one way to use a bujo, not all of us have pretty monthly and weekly layouts hand drawn with glitter pens. Mine just has scribbles all the way through and a kickass index which makes my scribbles useful.
posted by MiraK at 9:17 AM on June 22, 2021 [29 favorites]
I no longer have 50 separate notebooks to keep track of fucking yardwork, helpful people, essay ideas, drawing fragments, cute things my kids said, angsty thoughts I had on any particular day, etc. (Those 50 notebooks used to stay pristine and empty for years because I could never remember to write in them, and meanwhile I was also drowning in random scraps of paper.)
Anyway. That's one way to use a bujo, not all of us have pretty monthly and weekly layouts hand drawn with glitter pens. Mine just has scribbles all the way through and a kickass index which makes my scribbles useful.
posted by MiraK at 9:17 AM on June 22, 2021 [29 favorites]
The thing that really killed Bullet Journal for me, along with most other forms of paper planning, was the repetition and excessive metawork. Oh, this thing didn't get done today? Now I have to copy it over to the next day. First of the month? Gotta write out my calendar again. Oh, I have multiple things this day? Now I gotta wedge them in.
From what I understand, this isn't a bug, it's a feature - if you're prone to forgetting things, having to re-enter it on your bullet journal every day until you finally do it is a protection against forgetting.
However, what most people now think of when they say "bullet journal" is probably best re-named "bujo", which is the cutesy name that the influencer/Pinterest crowd has come up with for it, and most people aren't only re-copying their task list to a new day each page, they are also illustrating it with banners and doodles and hand-lettering and washi tape and suchlike. Which - okay, if that gives you a creative outlet and the focus spurs you on to actually remember to drink more water as opposed to just drawing a little water bottle, then fair enough.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:23 AM on June 22, 2021 [7 favorites]
From what I understand, this isn't a bug, it's a feature - if you're prone to forgetting things, having to re-enter it on your bullet journal every day until you finally do it is a protection against forgetting.
However, what most people now think of when they say "bullet journal" is probably best re-named "bujo", which is the cutesy name that the influencer/Pinterest crowd has come up with for it, and most people aren't only re-copying their task list to a new day each page, they are also illustrating it with banners and doodles and hand-lettering and washi tape and suchlike. Which - okay, if that gives you a creative outlet and the focus spurs you on to actually remember to drink more water as opposed to just drawing a little water bottle, then fair enough.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:23 AM on June 22, 2021 [7 favorites]
EmpressCallipygos: I'm aware of the evolution of the concept, thanks to the Influencers. I'm far too lazy to bother with any of that, much in the same way that I am far too lazy to recopy stuff from day to day/month to month.
For the folks it works for, I'm glad for them. It absolutely does not work for me.
posted by SansPoint at 9:25 AM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
For the folks it works for, I'm glad for them. It absolutely does not work for me.
posted by SansPoint at 9:25 AM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
People really need to stop thinking any kind of tool will change your life and make you into a better person. There is no such thing, no matter what anyone tells you.
If you fall for this lie it's not the fault of the tool or the fault of whoever lied to you.
posted by bleep at 9:27 AM on June 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
If you fall for this lie it's not the fault of the tool or the fault of whoever lied to you.
posted by bleep at 9:27 AM on June 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
If your problem is that you're slightly disorganized and occasionally forgetful, throw a to-do list and a few notes pages together and call it a bullet journal. If you want to become a better person, try going through a terrible experience, lots of people say it worked for them.
posted by echo target at 9:32 AM on June 22, 2021 [16 favorites]
posted by echo target at 9:32 AM on June 22, 2021 [16 favorites]
bleep: As MeFi's own Merlin Mann said, "Joining a Facebook group about creative productivity is like buying a chair about jogging."
posted by SansPoint at 9:33 AM on June 22, 2021 [43 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 9:33 AM on June 22, 2021 [43 favorites]
OG Bullet Journaling was actually created as a tool to help with the effects of ADHD. But that still doesn’t mean it’s going to work for every PWADHD (especially once you get into the version that’s been taken over by aesthetics).
posted by verbminx at 9:33 AM on June 22, 2021 [15 favorites]
posted by verbminx at 9:33 AM on June 22, 2021 [15 favorites]
For the folks it works for, I'm glad for them. It absolutely does not work for me.
Oh, same. I think I was able to stop myself before trying to do a layout (I cannot draw for SHIT and the more traditional to-do list works better by far).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:41 AM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
Oh, same. I think I was able to stop myself before trying to do a layout (I cannot draw for SHIT and the more traditional to-do list works better by far).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:41 AM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
Obverse side: if I can't remember to do it, then it wasn't important enough to bother with in the first place.
posted by aramaic at 9:42 AM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by aramaic at 9:42 AM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
The article is such a mess, but criticising it feels like breaking a butterfly upon a wheel because it is really just a 23-year-old looking back at being 22. The post-school malaise can't be cured by to do lists.
Not every tool works for every person. I switch between paper and apps depending on how I'm feeling and what needs to get done, other people can do whatever makes them happy.
posted by betweenthebars at 9:52 AM on June 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
Not every tool works for every person. I switch between paper and apps depending on how I'm feeling and what needs to get done, other people can do whatever makes them happy.
posted by betweenthebars at 9:52 AM on June 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
FWIW I am a person with ADHD and this is the only tool that's worked for me to eliminate my random scraps of paper. Still in search of an actual organizational tool that helps me stick to any kind of actual plan... but eliminating scraps isn't nothing. It's huge!
posted by MiraK at 9:53 AM on June 22, 2021 [21 favorites]
posted by MiraK at 9:53 AM on June 22, 2021 [21 favorites]
bujo sounds bougie
posted by Kabanos at 9:54 AM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Kabanos at 9:54 AM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
If you fall for this lie it's not the fault of the tool or the fault of whoever lied to you.
I'm going to assume you don't mean this: only fraudsters believe that gullibility is more culpable than dishonesty.
posted by howfar at 9:56 AM on June 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
I'm going to assume you don't mean this: only fraudsters believe that gullibility is more culpable than dishonesty.
posted by howfar at 9:56 AM on June 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
Pretty sure they meant "don't pin your hopes for everything on a pretty journal".
posted by sagc at 9:57 AM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by sagc at 9:57 AM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
That's a sensible statement, but we live in a world structured to make people feel desperately inadequate in ways specifically designed to make it easy to sell us solutions. Blaming people for being victims of capitalism is precisely how those doing the victimisation justify their bullshit.
posted by howfar at 10:02 AM on June 22, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by howfar at 10:02 AM on June 22, 2021 [8 favorites]
Yeah but if you think about it for a second, what mechanism is there for a method for writing things down to have the kind of effects attributed to it here?
The official website of bullet journalists states that the ‘practice’ allows you ‘to go from passenger to pilot of your life through intentional living.’
Wow, I thought when I first read this, it’s like they know exactly what I want to do.
People should be taught how to think about things better than this. You can't turn around and say "This method is bad because I was promised a flying carpet and didn't get one". You can't make any judgement about the method because some huckster promised you something that didn't make any sense if you thought about it for one second.
Yeah I tried bullet journaling too back in 2013 and I thought "Hm, I don't like this." so I stopped. I didn't get paid $200 for writing a novel about it.
posted by bleep at 10:09 AM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
The official website of bullet journalists states that the ‘practice’ allows you ‘to go from passenger to pilot of your life through intentional living.’
Wow, I thought when I first read this, it’s like they know exactly what I want to do.
People should be taught how to think about things better than this. You can't turn around and say "This method is bad because I was promised a flying carpet and didn't get one". You can't make any judgement about the method because some huckster promised you something that didn't make any sense if you thought about it for one second.
Yeah I tried bullet journaling too back in 2013 and I thought "Hm, I don't like this." so I stopped. I didn't get paid $200 for writing a novel about it.
posted by bleep at 10:09 AM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Thank you, betweenthebars, for putting the proper perspective on this. I'll be anxious to read just how much 24 year old her enjoys finally being "productive", and whether she anticipates enjoying that state of being for the next 40-odd years /s.
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:10 AM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:10 AM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
The official website of bullet journalists states that the ‘practice’ allows you ‘to go from passenger to pilot of your life through intentional living.’
To me it seems like there's nothing inherently wrong with bullet journals and other time management tools (my wife swears by her day planner; I don't know what "kind" it is), but I still regard them with suspicion because they seem like a physical manifestation of the steady erosion of work/life balance, the gig economy, #HUSTLE, etc.. I did my best to become "pilot of my life" by intentionally aiming my life in a direction where neither the journey nor the destination require complex time management tools or skills, or what I consider undue demands on my free time, but in many ways I am extraordinarily fortunate and privileged and not everyone has the options I've had and still have. On the other hand, when my sister in law recently expressed envy that I had the option to not check my email (like, at all) when I was on vacation last week I told her "Well, that's why they pay me the small bucks."
I have a very simple day planner in which I mark the dates and times of my various appointments, and that's about it. If I have a particularly busy day, I write a list of everything I'd like to get done on a piece of paper and stick it in my pocket. At the end of the day I throw it in the recycling bin.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:12 AM on June 22, 2021 [14 favorites]
To me it seems like there's nothing inherently wrong with bullet journals and other time management tools (my wife swears by her day planner; I don't know what "kind" it is), but I still regard them with suspicion because they seem like a physical manifestation of the steady erosion of work/life balance, the gig economy, #HUSTLE, etc.. I did my best to become "pilot of my life" by intentionally aiming my life in a direction where neither the journey nor the destination require complex time management tools or skills, or what I consider undue demands on my free time, but in many ways I am extraordinarily fortunate and privileged and not everyone has the options I've had and still have. On the other hand, when my sister in law recently expressed envy that I had the option to not check my email (like, at all) when I was on vacation last week I told her "Well, that's why they pay me the small bucks."
I have a very simple day planner in which I mark the dates and times of my various appointments, and that's about it. If I have a particularly busy day, I write a list of everything I'd like to get done on a piece of paper and stick it in my pocket. At the end of the day I throw it in the recycling bin.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:12 AM on June 22, 2021 [14 favorites]
i just want an A E S T H E T I C journal, is that too much to ask?
posted by kaibutsu at 10:16 AM on June 22, 2021
posted by kaibutsu at 10:16 AM on June 22, 2021
You can't make any judgement about the method because some huckster promised you something that didn't make any sense if you thought about it for one second.
This, unfortunately, is exactly how I feel about psychotherapy, and yet I doubt my judgement because so many other people describe how it has allowed them to go from passenger to pilot of their life...
posted by heatherlogan at 10:31 AM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
This, unfortunately, is exactly how I feel about psychotherapy, and yet I doubt my judgement because so many other people describe how it has allowed them to go from passenger to pilot of their life...
posted by heatherlogan at 10:31 AM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
That's what I mean. It's crazy for anyone to think a tool or method will have 100% efficacy wielded by anyone in any situation and it's the tool's fault if it doesn't work and you need to go around telling everyone it doesn't work. They're just there for you to try and if you like using it then you like using it. By all means do go around telling everyone that the fraudster who sold it to you was lying. That is what people do need to hear. But it doesn't help anyone to spread falsehoods around the tool itself.
posted by bleep at 10:36 AM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by bleep at 10:36 AM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Well, you know what they say: Everyone's a pilot until they get punched in the face.
But to be a little more serious. Isn't one of the ways to procrastinate actually doing too much planning? Because the act of planning both delays what need to be done and fools your brain into thinking that you're actually doing something, I think.
posted by FJT at 10:45 AM on June 22, 2021 [11 favorites]
But to be a little more serious. Isn't one of the ways to procrastinate actually doing too much planning? Because the act of planning both delays what need to be done and fools your brain into thinking that you're actually doing something, I think.
posted by FJT at 10:45 AM on June 22, 2021 [11 favorites]
I once saw a #bujo spread with progress bars for exercise, staying hydrated, and... spirituality.
Yes, I know it probably just tracked days meditated or whatever, but it was such an illustration of the absurdity of trying to quantify your entire life.
posted by airmail at 10:54 AM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
Yes, I know it probably just tracked days meditated or whatever, but it was such an illustration of the absurdity of trying to quantify your entire life.
posted by airmail at 10:54 AM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
I wouldn't wholesale trash all tracking as absurd? IDK. The "Seinfeld Method" for your writing routine has been around forever, right? Where you're supposed to put an X on every day you write, and then the only mantra is "don't break the chain".
This is the same thing, except the influencers (i.e. advertisers) are putting up pictures showing how they have eleventy unbroken chains at once and of course their Xs are written in glitter ink and calligraphic fonts onto ~artisanal~ hand-drawn calendars. *shrug emoji* You can't expect to do anything the way influencers do it. Can you imagine if you traveled like they travel? Ate like they eat? They're as real as any other ad. I've seen plenty of bullet journalers in real life with their cute-in-the-first-eight-pages-but-then-real-life-sets-in journals, and the journal doesn't work any less well for them when it hits page 9.
What does tend to backfire is when folks aim too high and have, like, twenty trackers? That sort of thing makes anyone feel like a failure, I'd imagine. But I can understand why people try. It's a very human impulse to try to fix everything in our lives at once. Like making 28 new year's resolutions. We've all been doing this since before bujos existed.
posted by MiraK at 11:04 AM on June 22, 2021 [7 favorites]
This is the same thing, except the influencers (i.e. advertisers) are putting up pictures showing how they have eleventy unbroken chains at once and of course their Xs are written in glitter ink and calligraphic fonts onto ~artisanal~ hand-drawn calendars. *shrug emoji* You can't expect to do anything the way influencers do it. Can you imagine if you traveled like they travel? Ate like they eat? They're as real as any other ad. I've seen plenty of bullet journalers in real life with their cute-in-the-first-eight-pages-but-then-real-life-sets-in journals, and the journal doesn't work any less well for them when it hits page 9.
What does tend to backfire is when folks aim too high and have, like, twenty trackers? That sort of thing makes anyone feel like a failure, I'd imagine. But I can understand why people try. It's a very human impulse to try to fix everything in our lives at once. Like making 28 new year's resolutions. We've all been doing this since before bujos existed.
posted by MiraK at 11:04 AM on June 22, 2021 [7 favorites]
I don't need a bullet journal to justify buying more fountain pens.
posted by sfred at 11:12 AM on June 22, 2021 [33 favorites]
posted by sfred at 11:12 AM on June 22, 2021 [33 favorites]
"Now I gotta wedge them in. I really despise doing repetitious busywork, and so much of Bullet Journaling felt like repetitious busywork. I think it's an ADHD thing." I think this is a practicality or functionality thing.
"People really need to stop thinking any kind of tool will change your life and make you into a better person. There is no such thing, no matter what anyone tells you." This is the fault of corporate therapists?
I will not knock bujo if it helps someone. I can see the value.
Moleskine has been offering free, beautiful templates online forever. If I were a productivity coach, I'd probably ask someone free-map ("brain map"/w.e.) an ideal schedule/organizational process, then just use a classic template. Printers can purchase specific paper, use standard, or keep a digital log.
Bujo does seem like a trend that gained attention because of the fun/novelty (:trend), then sort of petered out when more practicality set in.
posted by firstdaffodils at 11:16 AM on June 22, 2021
"People really need to stop thinking any kind of tool will change your life and make you into a better person. There is no such thing, no matter what anyone tells you." This is the fault of corporate therapists?
I will not knock bujo if it helps someone. I can see the value.
Moleskine has been offering free, beautiful templates online forever. If I were a productivity coach, I'd probably ask someone free-map ("brain map"/w.e.) an ideal schedule/organizational process, then just use a classic template. Printers can purchase specific paper, use standard, or keep a digital log.
Bujo does seem like a trend that gained attention because of the fun/novelty (:trend), then sort of petered out when more practicality set in.
posted by firstdaffodils at 11:16 AM on June 22, 2021
maybe I should quit my job and try to develop a children's book series about a sentient cardigan sweater named Terry who dreams being a deep sea diver even though he knows it will cause him to shrink
Yes please and it would be interesting to know whether he knows Jamie and Frances the sentient wellies pair who dream of becoming an acrobat and an auto mechanic, respectively.
posted by Glinn at 11:26 AM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
Yes please and it would be interesting to know whether he knows Jamie and Frances the sentient wellies pair who dream of becoming an acrobat and an auto mechanic, respectively.
posted by Glinn at 11:26 AM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
I don't enjoy bullet journalling but I'm also not going to shit on it. For a lot of adult women, bujo is not only a legitimized creative outlet, but their only way to tailor to themselves a professional market entirely dominated by men. If you look at Amazon's Time Management best sellers, the only book in the top 30 not written by a man is about wedding planning.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:46 AM on June 22, 2021 [24 favorites]
posted by DarlingBri at 11:46 AM on June 22, 2021 [24 favorites]
FJT: But to be a little more serious. Isn't one of the ways to procrastinate actually doing too much planning? Because the act of planning both delays what need to be done and fools your brain into thinking that you're actually doing something, I think.
Rimmer: Look, I've got my engineering re-sit on Monday, I don't know anything. Where's my revision timetable?posted by SansPoint at 11:51 AM on June 22, 2021 [20 favorites]
Lister: Wait, is this the thing in all different colours, with all the subjects divided into study periods and rest periods and self-testing time?
Rimmer: It took me seven weeks to make it. I've got to cram my whole revision into one night.
..wait, this gives one an excuse to get a fountain pen... um... the gotcha... recently random googling or mifi tossed me into a browse of contemporary pens, so cool, and many not stupid expensive, would be a visceral pleasure to use... then I looked up -- at the row of nice pottery jars filled with pens and pencils -- remembered I had not used a single one for weeks, and, oh and, just happened onto some old journals, omg I did that once, and not going there ever again, and now this micro-rant for catharsis, perfect post.
posted by sammyo at 11:52 AM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 11:52 AM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I tried bullet journaling and even kept up with it for a year or two before tapering off around 2019 or so. As a system, it worked a lot better for me when I was in grad school and had a lot of deadlines to keep track of and study notes to assemble. After grad school, I just didn't have as much that I needed to keep track of that couldn't be done with a smaller notebook and my calendar app, and I just sort of stopped using it when it started to feel more like a chore than a useful tool.
As a cultural concept, it is interesting to me in that bujos seemed to hook both the artsier, former scrapbooker types as well as the peak productivity crowd. As others have said, it does a really tidy job of offering both a creative outlet and some semblance of control over one's life and I think that is what made it so attractive to so many people. I still think it's a cool concept, but I definitely see how it wouldn't be universally helpful for all situations or people.
ALTHOUGH—my lovely fountain pens are definitely not getting as much exercise now that I've switched over to my current planner system of "neglecting my Hobonichi Techo for weeks at a time".
posted by helloimjennsco at 12:09 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
As a cultural concept, it is interesting to me in that bujos seemed to hook both the artsier, former scrapbooker types as well as the peak productivity crowd. As others have said, it does a really tidy job of offering both a creative outlet and some semblance of control over one's life and I think that is what made it so attractive to so many people. I still think it's a cool concept, but I definitely see how it wouldn't be universally helpful for all situations or people.
ALTHOUGH—my lovely fountain pens are definitely not getting as much exercise now that I've switched over to my current planner system of "neglecting my Hobonichi Techo for weeks at a time".
posted by helloimjennsco at 12:09 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I like the idea of bullet journals, basically I think because I like pretty stationary, but my takeaway from my abortive attempts at it has been pretty much that if I was capable of the level of organisation and executive function that bullet journaling seems to take, I wouldn't need to bullet journal.
posted by BlueNorther at 12:09 PM on June 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by BlueNorther at 12:09 PM on June 22, 2021 [13 favorites]
I don't journal, but I justify my many many fountain pens and inks and (fp-quality-paper) notebooks by treating whatever notebook I'm using at the moment as a commonplace book.
Which is to say, I just write whatever. This does hinder future reference as there's no rhyme or reason but tbh most of my observations aren't important anyway. My pen show/meetup notebook I do keep separate 'cause that's where I try other folks' stuff (like amaaazing stacked nibs).
posted by rewil at 12:13 PM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
Which is to say, I just write whatever. This does hinder future reference as there's no rhyme or reason but tbh most of my observations aren't important anyway. My pen show/meetup notebook I do keep separate 'cause that's where I try other folks' stuff (like amaaazing stacked nibs).
posted by rewil at 12:13 PM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
sfred: "I don't need a bullet journal to justify buying more fountain pens."
Can't favorite this enough.
In my case it's "I don't need a subscription to Field Notes to justify buying more fountain pens, and yet, it does seem like a good reason. And once you have more fountain pens, well then you need Field Notes to write in."
My relationship with stationery is largely derived from the cargo cult; I believe that if I have too many pens, too many blank notebooks, and too much ink in too many colors, that novel will just write itself!
posted by chavenet at 12:25 PM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
Can't favorite this enough.
In my case it's "I don't need a subscription to Field Notes to justify buying more fountain pens, and yet, it does seem like a good reason. And once you have more fountain pens, well then you need Field Notes to write in."
My relationship with stationery is largely derived from the cargo cult; I believe that if I have too many pens, too many blank notebooks, and too much ink in too many colors, that novel will just write itself!
posted by chavenet at 12:25 PM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
People should be taught how to think about things better than this.
Oh, is that all? Why didn't we think of this sooner???
posted by praemunire at 12:32 PM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
Oh, is that all? Why didn't we think of this sooner???
posted by praemunire at 12:32 PM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
Bullet journaling helped me a lot at first, but it did not in fact make me the pilot in the director's chair of my engaged power life but provided my anxiety and procrastination with some wonderful new tools to bedevil me, once they had the hang of them. Making lists feels close enough to doing something to almost feel as good for awhile, but it wore off.
I still have my bullet journal though. The table of contents is handy, and my "Future Log" looks rather like those year in advance sheets towards the front of a traditional planner. Sometimes things become "traditional" because they just work better. My use of the notebook itself has evolved / devolved into a rolling checklist of non urgent but important tasks which I update every 6 to 8 weeks.
It's fine, I'm getting most of the same benefit as before without giving my perfectionism anything to grab hold of. Bullet journaling is a fine tool, but making it a lifestyle was never going to work for me.
posted by EatTheWeek at 12:34 PM on June 22, 2021 [5 favorites]
I still have my bullet journal though. The table of contents is handy, and my "Future Log" looks rather like those year in advance sheets towards the front of a traditional planner. Sometimes things become "traditional" because they just work better. My use of the notebook itself has evolved / devolved into a rolling checklist of non urgent but important tasks which I update every 6 to 8 weeks.
It's fine, I'm getting most of the same benefit as before without giving my perfectionism anything to grab hold of. Bullet journaling is a fine tool, but making it a lifestyle was never going to work for me.
posted by EatTheWeek at 12:34 PM on June 22, 2021 [5 favorites]
Anything that makes me handwrite something I'm seeing on the screen is going to make me less productive, and since my entire work life is mediated by the screen, this is clearly not for me.
I have been *radically* more organized than ever before while working from home with a tasks list and a calendar and email all integrated with each other.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:59 PM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
I have been *radically* more organized than ever before while working from home with a tasks list and a calendar and email all integrated with each other.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:59 PM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
Imagine Casaubon’s perfect bujo revision timetable for the Key to All the Mythologies, and Dorothea cutting him the several kinds of nibs he needs and doing the recopying every night.
posted by clew at 1:01 PM on June 22, 2021 [16 favorites]
posted by clew at 1:01 PM on June 22, 2021 [16 favorites]
I like to do a thing where I write the date and a general to-do list of three to five items at the beginning of the day and then record below whatever I actually do. I use about a third to a half of a moleskine page per day, so a two-page spread is a work week, roughly.
So the next morning when I look back at yesterday and find no checkmarks next to: -pay bills, -African violet -fertilize citrus and nothing written in the record of the day because what I did was watch Vampire Diaries and I didn't feel the need to record that for posterity, I can either rewrite -pay bills, -African violet, -fertilize citrus next to today's date or just write -yesterday, or erase the day from yesterday's date and replace it with today's date, my choice. Eventually I'm going to stop writing -African violet because that little so-and-so is going to die if I don't refill its reservoir. And -pay bills will happen naturally when the credit card or the phone or the lights stop working.
This is how effective to-do lists are at curing whatever it is that ails me, and it is why I will not invest time I could be spending watching Vampire Diaries learning a whole to-do list system. Is Vampire Diaries going to get any better anytime soon? Unlikely. But how irresponsible would it be not to stick with it for the next two months and find out for sure? Very irresponsible. Also, I love to watch people texting on old phones.
The back half of the moleskine is for meetings; you just flip it upside down. You keep working and going to meetings until the meetings and the workdays meet. Then you get a new moleskine. I have a formal table of contents for the back half where I record the name of the meeting and the date because I tend to write obsessively during meetings and people come to me sometimes to find out what was said.
I have a proto-TOC in the front half because beyond listing all the crap I do all day every day, I also record any useful information I encounter. So I have "notable days" recorded there in the front. Thus I know when I got my moderna shots; what day I planned out and recorded all the pertinents for giant work project X; when I go back to the dentist; the day I wrote down the new complicated work policy; when my cousin is getting married; the day I wrote down a whole new time management philosophy; yadda.
I use Black Warrior pencils. I like the gold letters and they match the moleskine. When they're sharpened down to the width of the moleskine, they go in a special spot in the top desk drawer because at that length they fit along the top of the moleskine sutured there by the elastic band for easy portage to in-person meetings, which, I fervently hope, are a part of my past forevermore, but in case not, I'm still stockpiling them.
posted by Don Pepino at 1:11 PM on June 22, 2021 [10 favorites]
So the next morning when I look back at yesterday and find no checkmarks next to: -pay bills, -African violet -fertilize citrus and nothing written in the record of the day because what I did was watch Vampire Diaries and I didn't feel the need to record that for posterity, I can either rewrite -pay bills, -African violet, -fertilize citrus next to today's date or just write -yesterday, or erase the day from yesterday's date and replace it with today's date, my choice. Eventually I'm going to stop writing -African violet because that little so-and-so is going to die if I don't refill its reservoir. And -pay bills will happen naturally when the credit card or the phone or the lights stop working.
This is how effective to-do lists are at curing whatever it is that ails me, and it is why I will not invest time I could be spending watching Vampire Diaries learning a whole to-do list system. Is Vampire Diaries going to get any better anytime soon? Unlikely. But how irresponsible would it be not to stick with it for the next two months and find out for sure? Very irresponsible. Also, I love to watch people texting on old phones.
The back half of the moleskine is for meetings; you just flip it upside down. You keep working and going to meetings until the meetings and the workdays meet. Then you get a new moleskine. I have a formal table of contents for the back half where I record the name of the meeting and the date because I tend to write obsessively during meetings and people come to me sometimes to find out what was said.
I have a proto-TOC in the front half because beyond listing all the crap I do all day every day, I also record any useful information I encounter. So I have "notable days" recorded there in the front. Thus I know when I got my moderna shots; what day I planned out and recorded all the pertinents for giant work project X; when I go back to the dentist; the day I wrote down the new complicated work policy; when my cousin is getting married; the day I wrote down a whole new time management philosophy; yadda.
I use Black Warrior pencils. I like the gold letters and they match the moleskine. When they're sharpened down to the width of the moleskine, they go in a special spot in the top desk drawer because at that length they fit along the top of the moleskine sutured there by the elastic band for easy portage to in-person meetings, which, I fervently hope, are a part of my past forevermore, but in case not, I'm still stockpiling them.
posted by Don Pepino at 1:11 PM on June 22, 2021 [10 favorites]
I don't bullet journal "properly" but the one thing I really took away from it was An Index. It suddenly gave me permission to not keep separate notebooks for "drawing journal, check lists, calendar, random notes, etc." Page numbers and an index were a relevation. That and the idea that things can just be short and bulleted. I don't need to JOURNAL. I've now successfully kept some sort of written record for a couple of years. i think that, like most things, you can grab bits that work for you without adopting the Whole Thing. Certainly when I see the Very Pretty journals out there, it feels very daunting and I am definitely nowhere near that.
posted by Wink Ricketts at 1:13 PM on June 22, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by Wink Ricketts at 1:13 PM on June 22, 2021 [11 favorites]
I use a Clever Fox planner and really like it. It maintains a lot of the helpful aspects of bullet journaling but gets rid of the tedious setup. The best thing about it is it puts limits on the number of things you can put down for yourself to do each day/week/month which forces you to prioritize and give yourself free time. I think what didn't work for me with the traditional bullet journal was its endlessness. I could literally write down one hundred things I should be doing today but that way madness lies. Three things to do each day including work and any appointments I have is plenty and much more sane.
There are also traditional bullet journal style grids in back which I love for making lists so you can, say, make a list of the books you want to read this year, but it's necessarily limited to 30 by the number of lines on a page - which is plenty!
posted by Jess the Mess at 1:20 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
There are also traditional bullet journal style grids in back which I love for making lists so you can, say, make a list of the books you want to read this year, but it's necessarily limited to 30 by the number of lines on a page - which is plenty!
posted by Jess the Mess at 1:20 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
It seems likely that there was some equivalent of this in the late 1900s through the 1920s when a lot of modern business culture formed. What would it have been called?
posted by clew at 1:27 PM on June 22, 2021
posted by clew at 1:27 PM on June 22, 2021
After my second round of the vaccine, I promised I'd get myself a planner, even though I am hopeless at journaling/taking notes in real time/remembering to write shit down. The Effin' Birds version remains close at hand and gets used because it makes me laugh.
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:44 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:44 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I recall looking into bullet journaling some years ago, and my impression at the time was that it was an elaborate trick to make maintaining your to-do list more trouble than actually doing the stuff on it, as a spur to get you to check stuff off.
posted by adamrice at 1:52 PM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by adamrice at 1:52 PM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
I left the cubicle farms in 2010. But during my two decades as a cubicle denizen, the FranklinCovey planner reigned supreme, especially when I moved into legal publishing. It was a handy system, especially if your job involved a lot of irons in the fire.
Now, I'm semi-retired and I just keep track of stuff using the notes app on my phone. I have no idea if Franklin ever survived the move to smart phones. They might have if they planned ahead.
posted by Ber at 1:55 PM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
Now, I'm semi-retired and I just keep track of stuff using the notes app on my phone. I have no idea if Franklin ever survived the move to smart phones. They might have if they planned ahead.
posted by Ber at 1:55 PM on June 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
I've been running a bullet journal since 2016. I use the bits that work for me and ignore the rest, so I suppose "to do list with squiggles" is a good description.
Specifically, I don't use it for calendaring because I need reminders -- I use a google calendar for that. I do use the index religiously and thus I can find notes from meetings 6 months ago, and yes, I have really needed to that sometimes. I keep lists of things I might like to buy, and projects I might like to start, and petty cash expenditures. And otherwise I have the essential core of all paper to do list systems, which is that the act of copying an undone item to a new page forces you to ask "really? am i gonna do this? does it actually need doing? or can i admit to myself it's bullshit and forget about it."
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:55 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Specifically, I don't use it for calendaring because I need reminders -- I use a google calendar for that. I do use the index religiously and thus I can find notes from meetings 6 months ago, and yes, I have really needed to that sometimes. I keep lists of things I might like to buy, and projects I might like to start, and petty cash expenditures. And otherwise I have the essential core of all paper to do list systems, which is that the act of copying an undone item to a new page forces you to ask "really? am i gonna do this? does it actually need doing? or can i admit to myself it's bullshit and forget about it."
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:55 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I use my bullet journal for work. I spend about 5 minutes each morning and 15 minutes at the beginning of each month on it. It has done wonders for me because now that I keep records of all meeting notes and to do lists there, very rarely does something fall through the cracks. (Work notes that need to be shared with others are quickly typed into OneNote) I am the person that migrating tasks works for, because I get so tired of carrying tasks from day to day that I do them just to stop rewriting them.
For a lot of adult women, bujo is not only a legitimized creative outlet, but their only way to tailor to themselves a professional market entirely dominated by men.
Agreed, and although I can't prove it, I'm sure that as more women embraced the method and made it work for them (e.g. I am so busy with my job, housework, and these kids and their activities that I literally need to be reminded to drink water), the vitriol toward it grew.
posted by kimberussell at 1:56 PM on June 22, 2021 [11 favorites]
For a lot of adult women, bujo is not only a legitimized creative outlet, but their only way to tailor to themselves a professional market entirely dominated by men.
Agreed, and although I can't prove it, I'm sure that as more women embraced the method and made it work for them (e.g. I am so busy with my job, housework, and these kids and their activities that I literally need to be reminded to drink water), the vitriol toward it grew.
posted by kimberussell at 1:56 PM on June 22, 2021 [11 favorites]
It seems likely that there was some equivalent of this in the late 1900s through the 1920s when a lot of modern business culture formed. What would it have been called?
The device known as a "File of facts".
Personally, I love my Hobonichi Weeks because it already has the monthly view and weekly view laid out, and the weekly pages have the days on the left for appointments and a blank grid on the right for my unstructured note taking. It also has more blank pages at the end for more note taking not tied to a particular week.
posted by sukeban at 1:58 PM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
The device known as a "File of facts".
Personally, I love my Hobonichi Weeks because it already has the monthly view and weekly view laid out, and the weekly pages have the days on the left for appointments and a blank grid on the right for my unstructured note taking. It also has more blank pages at the end for more note taking not tied to a particular week.
posted by sukeban at 1:58 PM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
Filofax was eleven years later than Lefax, which was engineering-specific. The hunt is up! How were engineers taught to keep their notes in 1900?
posted by clew at 2:13 PM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 2:13 PM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
betweenthebars: The article is such a mess, but criticising it feels like breaking a butterfly upon a wheel because it is really just a 23-year-old looking back at being 22. The post-school malaise can't be cured by to do lists.
Yeah! I liked the article but not because of the subject of Bullet Journaling.
I read it as a chronicle of the moment when the floor drops away from under you, after 17 years of unconsciously relying on the daily rhythm of the educational system to organize your life. She doesn't yet realize how much things have changed, because the freedom of post-school life looks superficially like the freedom of an afternoon and evening after you've attended your classes and finished your homework assignments.
I once felt as hopelessly adrift and confused as she does. What worked for me was not Bullet Journaling but getting retrospective and analytical about How The World Used To Work When I Was In School, so I could recognize the ingrained habits that were still guiding me even as they no longer made any sense. I kept a journal about that, and it helped me figure out what really mattered, and how to go get it.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:17 PM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
Yeah! I liked the article but not because of the subject of Bullet Journaling.
I read it as a chronicle of the moment when the floor drops away from under you, after 17 years of unconsciously relying on the daily rhythm of the educational system to organize your life. She doesn't yet realize how much things have changed, because the freedom of post-school life looks superficially like the freedom of an afternoon and evening after you've attended your classes and finished your homework assignments.
I once felt as hopelessly adrift and confused as she does. What worked for me was not Bullet Journaling but getting retrospective and analytical about How The World Used To Work When I Was In School, so I could recognize the ingrained habits that were still guiding me even as they no longer made any sense. I kept a journal about that, and it helped me figure out what really mattered, and how to go get it.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:17 PM on June 22, 2021 [9 favorites]
I am not sure I fully understand this but based on a Google image search I think I do this in my circa 1997 Scully planner (it's a weekly planner, but I divide it mostly not by days unless it's 'dr. appt'.)
One thing I really believe is that organizational styles are deeply, deeply personal. I am constantly multitasking. I am visual in how I keep order - I use construction paper (colors!) and highlighters and multi-colored post-its to keep track of project groups, but in certain projects I move from thing to thing like the hands of a clock. To clean, I dump everything in the center of the room, pick a taxonomy, clean, and put things back or throw them out.
This makes Mr. Llama absolutely nuts. He has to leave the house. He is a very methodical and well organized person who believes that tasks are best accomplished in a linear fashion. Finish A, move to B. Steps 1 2 3.
Meanwhile I'm sparking between A B C D E and some entirely independent organizational system. I sweep back and forth like the light in a prison yard.
Anyway, what I'm saying is, 'Know thyself'. No advice about superior organization is canonical, a lot of it has to do with cognitive functioning, habit, environment, and background.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:45 PM on June 22, 2021 [15 favorites]
One thing I really believe is that organizational styles are deeply, deeply personal. I am constantly multitasking. I am visual in how I keep order - I use construction paper (colors!) and highlighters and multi-colored post-its to keep track of project groups, but in certain projects I move from thing to thing like the hands of a clock. To clean, I dump everything in the center of the room, pick a taxonomy, clean, and put things back or throw them out.
This makes Mr. Llama absolutely nuts. He has to leave the house. He is a very methodical and well organized person who believes that tasks are best accomplished in a linear fashion. Finish A, move to B. Steps 1 2 3.
Meanwhile I'm sparking between A B C D E and some entirely independent organizational system. I sweep back and forth like the light in a prison yard.
Anyway, what I'm saying is, 'Know thyself'. No advice about superior organization is canonical, a lot of it has to do with cognitive functioning, habit, environment, and background.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:45 PM on June 22, 2021 [15 favorites]
The article is such a mess, but criticising it feels like breaking a butterfly upon a wheel because it is really just a 23-year-old looking back at being 22. The post-school malaise can't be cured by to do lists.
Yep. And this bit at the beginning of the article is also key:
Like mindfulness, clean eating and Jesus, bullet journaling is defined by passionate proponents promising to revolutionise your life — that is, give your life meaning.
See, I've adopted versions of all of those things, but they're versions that work for me--I have to avoid getting hung up on the quote-endquote "right" version. And it's extra-important not to get hung up on being performative about it; the Instagram-friendly, dressed-up version of bujo reminds me of Annie Edison's binder in Community that's so blinged-out that even Lisa Frank would be embarrassed. If productivity porn is your thing, then by all means get your freak on. But I'll be working on my own version that works.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:51 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yep. And this bit at the beginning of the article is also key:
Like mindfulness, clean eating and Jesus, bullet journaling is defined by passionate proponents promising to revolutionise your life — that is, give your life meaning.
See, I've adopted versions of all of those things, but they're versions that work for me--I have to avoid getting hung up on the quote-endquote "right" version. And it's extra-important not to get hung up on being performative about it; the Instagram-friendly, dressed-up version of bujo reminds me of Annie Edison's binder in Community that's so blinged-out that even Lisa Frank would be embarrassed. If productivity porn is your thing, then by all means get your freak on. But I'll be working on my own version that works.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:51 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I had a bullet planner I really liked - it had the months and weeks already gridded in like a planner, but with space to write lists like a bullet journal.
Then the company took feedback from the users on all the features they wanted, and it turned into essentially an undated planner after they'd finished adding the calender-view months followed by gridded weeks followed by a couple blank pages, and no space left to draw anything anymore. It was a drag to use and I dropped it. With online teaching everything is already organized in google classroom anyway there's not much left over to remember.
If someone makes another bullet planner similar to the first one I liked and used for almost two years, I'll buy that. Otherwise, it's another symptom of my ADHD that I get bored with the systems and have to move on and find something else to play with anyway.
posted by subdee at 2:59 PM on June 22, 2021
Then the company took feedback from the users on all the features they wanted, and it turned into essentially an undated planner after they'd finished adding the calender-view months followed by gridded weeks followed by a couple blank pages, and no space left to draw anything anymore. It was a drag to use and I dropped it. With online teaching everything is already organized in google classroom anyway there's not much left over to remember.
If someone makes another bullet planner similar to the first one I liked and used for almost two years, I'll buy that. Otherwise, it's another symptom of my ADHD that I get bored with the systems and have to move on and find something else to play with anyway.
posted by subdee at 2:59 PM on June 22, 2021
I have organized my life to look more like the sort of slow, timeless drift that this young woman's life became in the beginning of her Year Of BuJoIng. I am however long past the need for anything to try and give my life purpose.
I've gravitated towards my own personal variation of the Pomodoro Technique, which has blossomed from "here are some notes on a way I was able to tame my ADD by writing shit down in a notebook on a regular basis" to "here is an entire set of Systems that I, a professional Lifestyle Consultant famed for the Pomodoro Technique, can sell you" in a similar way to how SansPoint notes that Bullet Journaling has expanded into BuJo.
There's no fancy art. My day job's art, the last thing i need is a reason to draw more stuff. Each day just gets the date and the astrological symbol for the planet associated with the day (it used to get the day name but this is more fun), and a mix of checkboxes and unboxed checks: boxes for stuff I decide to do when I actually get up and plan my day, each representing a half-hour increment of time; unboxed checks for stuff I did before planning the day, if I ever did. I used to try and go back and reconstruct the previous day in the morning if I forgot to write anything yesterday; I haven't been doing that lately.
It has had a lot more unboxed checks than boxed checks lately. This is probably a sign of some slight depression. Or maybe of me getting back into big projects more again and just not needing to really think "what will I work on today". Sometimes I draw a little star in it on a day when I end up posting something to Patreon. I could probably replace this with shiny stickers or something but, meh.
I could use a shitty notebook but I like to use little hardback ones with shiny printing on the outside because they make me feel like some kind of wizard, and that's fun. Lately I upgraded to writing in them with a couple of fountain pens because I realized several of my online acquaintances were complaining about having too damn many fountain pens, so I put out a "hey do you have too many fountain pens, would you like to pass some one" post and ended up with a few, including one that I think was worth like $4-500 but cost me zero.
BuJo looks like so, so much work. And it's probably really useful and wonderful for someone who is not me.
posted by egypturnash at 3:28 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I've gravitated towards my own personal variation of the Pomodoro Technique, which has blossomed from "here are some notes on a way I was able to tame my ADD by writing shit down in a notebook on a regular basis" to "here is an entire set of Systems that I, a professional Lifestyle Consultant famed for the Pomodoro Technique, can sell you" in a similar way to how SansPoint notes that Bullet Journaling has expanded into BuJo.
There's no fancy art. My day job's art, the last thing i need is a reason to draw more stuff. Each day just gets the date and the astrological symbol for the planet associated with the day (it used to get the day name but this is more fun), and a mix of checkboxes and unboxed checks: boxes for stuff I decide to do when I actually get up and plan my day, each representing a half-hour increment of time; unboxed checks for stuff I did before planning the day, if I ever did. I used to try and go back and reconstruct the previous day in the morning if I forgot to write anything yesterday; I haven't been doing that lately.
It has had a lot more unboxed checks than boxed checks lately. This is probably a sign of some slight depression. Or maybe of me getting back into big projects more again and just not needing to really think "what will I work on today". Sometimes I draw a little star in it on a day when I end up posting something to Patreon. I could probably replace this with shiny stickers or something but, meh.
I could use a shitty notebook but I like to use little hardback ones with shiny printing on the outside because they make me feel like some kind of wizard, and that's fun. Lately I upgraded to writing in them with a couple of fountain pens because I realized several of my online acquaintances were complaining about having too damn many fountain pens, so I put out a "hey do you have too many fountain pens, would you like to pass some one" post and ended up with a few, including one that I think was worth like $4-500 but cost me zero.
BuJo looks like so, so much work. And it's probably really useful and wonderful for someone who is not me.
posted by egypturnash at 3:28 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
All this time I thought bullet journaling was some sort of trendy enforced style of writing-journaling (the only kind I knew about before all this, you know, "dear diary" or writing program stuff) where you had to keep things short and bare bones, like a bulleted list or something. Basically, in my head I tried to fill in the blanks of what it meant as "sort of like outlining but writing in your journal." Knowing what it is, I am not a fan and would never take this up, for many of the reasons expressed here.
The fervid evangelism aspect of it reminds me too much of my writer friends who insist that outlining is the best and makes you a better writer and is easier than you think, and if I would just give it a chance! Or the even worse one, those friends who keep trying to sell me on how life-changing Scrivener is and it will make me a better writer, when it was a really terrible experience for me trying to use it. (I also could never deal with those horrific fat Franklin-Covey things when I was working in an office.)
Apparently, I have some kind of immune response to organizational trends, I don't know what it is, but this kind of thing enervates me.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 3:51 PM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
The fervid evangelism aspect of it reminds me too much of my writer friends who insist that outlining is the best and makes you a better writer and is easier than you think, and if I would just give it a chance! Or the even worse one, those friends who keep trying to sell me on how life-changing Scrivener is and it will make me a better writer, when it was a really terrible experience for me trying to use it. (I also could never deal with those horrific fat Franklin-Covey things when I was working in an office.)
Apparently, I have some kind of immune response to organizational trends, I don't know what it is, but this kind of thing enervates me.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 3:51 PM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
You can't turn around and say "This method is bad because I was promised a flying carpet and didn't get one". You can't make any judgement about the method because some huckster promised you something that didn't make any sense if you thought about it for one second.
I suspect I’m not alone in being extremely sensitive to external cues and “norms” as they are depicted in popular culture, my local environment, ads, aspirational publications, zeitgeisty media, etc. This leads to feelings of shame that I’m not “measuring up” to “what everyone else is doing.” I consider myself a smart person and a reasonably critical thinker, but it’s often still hard to just be like “Welp, guess this thing isn’t for me!” without feeling a little shame about going my own way.
So I value pieces like this article, where someone pushes back, in a thoughtful way, on something that has been heavily praised, promoted, and normalized. We need more of this kind of thing, in every part of life. Not everyone has enough of a confident, self-assured personality to just do their own thing and scoff at what everyone else is doing. We need permission sometimes, and pieces like this (and comments in this thread about people’s own experiences) really help with that.
I don’t think that makes me, the author, or other people like us gullible noobs or whatever. Cultural norms are so ubiquitous, so confidently asserted and defended; public pushback against them is a crucial exercise.
posted by delight at 5:15 PM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
I suspect I’m not alone in being extremely sensitive to external cues and “norms” as they are depicted in popular culture, my local environment, ads, aspirational publications, zeitgeisty media, etc. This leads to feelings of shame that I’m not “measuring up” to “what everyone else is doing.” I consider myself a smart person and a reasonably critical thinker, but it’s often still hard to just be like “Welp, guess this thing isn’t for me!” without feeling a little shame about going my own way.
So I value pieces like this article, where someone pushes back, in a thoughtful way, on something that has been heavily praised, promoted, and normalized. We need more of this kind of thing, in every part of life. Not everyone has enough of a confident, self-assured personality to just do their own thing and scoff at what everyone else is doing. We need permission sometimes, and pieces like this (and comments in this thread about people’s own experiences) really help with that.
I don’t think that makes me, the author, or other people like us gullible noobs or whatever. Cultural norms are so ubiquitous, so confidently asserted and defended; public pushback against them is a crucial exercise.
posted by delight at 5:15 PM on June 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
I love this stuff. Until around 2015 I was designing my own Filofax pages, and trying to get other people to post on diyplanner.com. Finally, my work moved to outlook and I didn’t need a calendar anymore.
I guess I bullet journal? But no spreads, no index that I ever look in, and no tasks like “drink water!” So, more like the checklist with squiggles that other people have.
Surprisingly, in my year at home, I’ve switched to a pad of graph paper for work, with a new page each week (or whenever) my schedule on the right, and tasks on the left. It works for me.
I also will agree on the fountain pens. I love mine so much, and all the lovely colours have made my to do list a thing of beauty.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 5:39 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I guess I bullet journal? But no spreads, no index that I ever look in, and no tasks like “drink water!” So, more like the checklist with squiggles that other people have.
Surprisingly, in my year at home, I’ve switched to a pad of graph paper for work, with a new page each week (or whenever) my schedule on the right, and tasks on the left. It works for me.
I also will agree on the fountain pens. I love mine so much, and all the lovely colours have made my to do list a thing of beauty.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 5:39 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Most of my work is in Jira and my memory is juuuuuust good enough that things like commonplace books and bullet journals feel like busywork.
I'm a chronic procrastinator and have tons of ideas I have never seriously followed up on. I never really found these tools very helpful; the problems they are supposed to solve are not really problems I have, and I haven't found anything that really addresses the problems I do have. (One bit of advice I've seen multiple times is to "reflect on the day" and I have literally no idea what that means.)
posted by Merus at 6:23 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'm a chronic procrastinator and have tons of ideas I have never seriously followed up on. I never really found these tools very helpful; the problems they are supposed to solve are not really problems I have, and I haven't found anything that really addresses the problems I do have. (One bit of advice I've seen multiple times is to "reflect on the day" and I have literally no idea what that means.)
posted by Merus at 6:23 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I've tried various methods of organization, including bullet journaling, but anything that required too much metawork, I couldn't keep up. My best system for for my job ended up being a a lined, spiral-bound notebook (Miquelrius makes my favorite) that goes everywhere with me during the workday, for taking notes and jotting down ideas. I have a to-do list that gets updated on a new page about once a month, marked with a sticky. I write things on the to-do list during meetings because apparently that's when I do my best freaking out about how much I have to get done. Things from meetings that I need to work on get big aggressive stars scrawled, or boxes drawn around them. My actual calendar stuff goes in Outlook because they make us, and integrating my to-dos with a calendar never worked well for me.
I don't use any method for my personal life other than a Google calendar for appts, but that needs to change because I decided to leave my job and retire.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 7:04 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I don't use any method for my personal life other than a Google calendar for appts, but that needs to change because I decided to leave my job and retire.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 7:04 PM on June 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Filofax’s origin story, not naming Lefax, but endeavor is rewarded!:
In 1921 a London-base stationer, Norman & Hill imported the American personal filing systems to the UK at the suggestion of temporary secretary, Grace Scurr[1]. She could see the potential of the system in Britain and decided to have it manufactured in the UK. She invented the name “Filofax” as a contraction of the product being a “File of Facts.” At this time Filofax’s main customers turned out to be numerous professions such as the military and clergy (up until the end of the 1980s Filofax still sold “Church Family Records” and “Troop Commander’s Bible” inserts[2]). By 1930 Filofax was registered as a trade mark.posted by clew at 8:40 PM on June 22, 2021 [11 favorites]
In 1940, when the firm’s premises were destroyed during he Blitz, Grace set about rescuing the company[3]. The bomb destroyed the firm’s records and a nearby florist told her[4]: “You’re finished - you’ll never start again.” However Grace had kept the names and addresses of all Norman & Hill’s customers and suppliers in her two Filo- faxes of her own. She rebuilt the company, was rewarded with a shareholding and eventually became chairwoman, a post she held until she retired in 1955. “I went round and told everyone we were starting again,” she recalled. “They all laughed at me, but I was determined to carry on” she said. ’I had a terrible struggle.’
The only way I can do my job is by keeping a to-do list that looks not unlike the "rapid logging" seen here. Open circle = next chunk of things to do. Number (if needed) = order of prioritization. Star = oh shit this needs to happen yesterday. Check or strike through = donezo.
But I'm guessing it doesn't count as bullet journaling if I don't make an index (which seems like make-work?), or add longer-term items (future to-do items/reminders go on digital calendars), or personal goals (on blackboard at home), or lists of movies, tv shows, and books to watch or read (notes app).
Plus, instead of a Moleskine and washi tape and gel pens, I'm usually working with a letter-sized W.B. Mason note pad and a bog standard Paper Mate rollerball pen. I doodle in the margins, but it isn't aesthetic so much as a nervous habit. The more doodles there are, the worse my anxiety was. There's been a lot of doodling this past year.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 9:13 PM on June 22, 2021
But I'm guessing it doesn't count as bullet journaling if I don't make an index (which seems like make-work?), or add longer-term items (future to-do items/reminders go on digital calendars), or personal goals (on blackboard at home), or lists of movies, tv shows, and books to watch or read (notes app).
Plus, instead of a Moleskine and washi tape and gel pens, I'm usually working with a letter-sized W.B. Mason note pad and a bog standard Paper Mate rollerball pen. I doodle in the margins, but it isn't aesthetic so much as a nervous habit. The more doodles there are, the worse my anxiety was. There's been a lot of doodling this past year.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 9:13 PM on June 22, 2021
But I'm guessing it doesn't count as bullet journaling if I don't make an index (which seems like make-work?)
The index makes sense if your notebook has more things in it than to do lists. Eg, I keep meeting notes, random thoughts and plans, lists of other things (like things to buy), and the index helps me find them. I do a bunch of consulting and pre-sales work, so that's useful to me.
I think there's a few things in the mix here. On the one hand, OG bullet journalling is really pretty simple, it's just mixing to-do lists with the kinds of things people have always put in diaries or journals, and making it a bit more systematic. On the other hand, not everyone wants or needs a notebook for external cognition this way (AND THAT'S WHAT THIS IS, MEMORY+SYSTEM OUTSIDE YOUR BRAIN). Then there's an element of gender sneering at the mostly women who treat it as an aesthetic outlet. And there's everyone's mixed feelings about the cult of productivity. And the capitalist mill turning everything nice into a Brand ™ with online marketers trying to make a dollar from it all. Depending on what angle we want to take, it's useful, terrible, self-expression, cultish, another bubble in the froth of late capitalism...
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:50 PM on June 22, 2021 [10 favorites]
The index makes sense if your notebook has more things in it than to do lists. Eg, I keep meeting notes, random thoughts and plans, lists of other things (like things to buy), and the index helps me find them. I do a bunch of consulting and pre-sales work, so that's useful to me.
I think there's a few things in the mix here. On the one hand, OG bullet journalling is really pretty simple, it's just mixing to-do lists with the kinds of things people have always put in diaries or journals, and making it a bit more systematic. On the other hand, not everyone wants or needs a notebook for external cognition this way (AND THAT'S WHAT THIS IS, MEMORY+SYSTEM OUTSIDE YOUR BRAIN). Then there's an element of gender sneering at the mostly women who treat it as an aesthetic outlet. And there's everyone's mixed feelings about the cult of productivity. And the capitalist mill turning everything nice into a Brand ™ with online marketers trying to make a dollar from it all. Depending on what angle we want to take, it's useful, terrible, self-expression, cultish, another bubble in the froth of late capitalism...
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:50 PM on June 22, 2021 [10 favorites]
I use ToDoist to track stuff, and some Ruby scripts running on my laptop to fetch a a "tasks" list then randomly send an SMS with one of the top 5 tasks. That serves to prod me to do things.
For more immediate stuff I bought a set of 4x6 whiteboard cards and have taped some up around the house. On those I write the stuff that really needs to be done that day.
I have one on the laundry closet to remind me what needs washing (whites, darks, towels, etc.)
One on the front door reminds me of what I might need to bring someplace.
One hangs off my PC monitor for "work" stuff
And for regular appointment stuff I use a basic online calendar with a widget on the home screen of my phone
posted by Ayn Marx at 7:16 AM on June 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
For more immediate stuff I bought a set of 4x6 whiteboard cards and have taped some up around the house. On those I write the stuff that really needs to be done that day.
I have one on the laundry closet to remind me what needs washing (whites, darks, towels, etc.)
One on the front door reminds me of what I might need to bring someplace.
One hangs off my PC monitor for "work" stuff
And for regular appointment stuff I use a basic online calendar with a widget on the home screen of my phone
posted by Ayn Marx at 7:16 AM on June 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
I can't favorite all of this often enough.
I am severely ADHD, and I found that the simplest bullet journal was too complicated for me, because list-making and organization almost always takes over my life to the maximum degree if I let it. I had a tiny Moleskine journal with a new bullet list every day, and even that was too much.
That doesn't mean I gave up lists. I live by them. Right now I use the Clear app, having gotten rid of my physical journals, and I use a very modified Getting Things Done framework so I'm not carrying it all around in my head (Dailies, Weeklies, Next Actions, Grocery List, Waiting For, and Some Day/Maybe). My most productive list-making happens when I go through my lists and DELETE everything that is just lingering.
I also made the mistake of looking for bullet journal interest groups on social media, which I should realize by now can mess up any enthusiasm for me, because social media of all sorts promote obsessiveness, competitiveness, and lack of perspective. I used to belong to fountain pen groups, for instance, but then I started thinking I needed more than the 50 pens I already have and I noticed I was furtively buying pens. YouTube, if I don't watch the next suggested video, is usually the most effective for learning how to do something.
I do write in a journal every day, mostly so I can pay attention to what is going on with me. It's a wonderful practice and I've done it for decades.
In fact, all the daily practices I have managed to implement are rich and rewarding; the key is not to make the lists or the practices the point, but the means to the end.
Off to do the next thing on the Dailies list, now that I have done "coffee," "cat (petting)", "meditate," "journal," and stretch" - "Write." My lists allow me to take seriously the things I really do need to do. Everything else is gravy.
posted by Peach at 7:19 AM on June 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
I am severely ADHD, and I found that the simplest bullet journal was too complicated for me, because list-making and organization almost always takes over my life to the maximum degree if I let it. I had a tiny Moleskine journal with a new bullet list every day, and even that was too much.
That doesn't mean I gave up lists. I live by them. Right now I use the Clear app, having gotten rid of my physical journals, and I use a very modified Getting Things Done framework so I'm not carrying it all around in my head (Dailies, Weeklies, Next Actions, Grocery List, Waiting For, and Some Day/Maybe). My most productive list-making happens when I go through my lists and DELETE everything that is just lingering.
I also made the mistake of looking for bullet journal interest groups on social media, which I should realize by now can mess up any enthusiasm for me, because social media of all sorts promote obsessiveness, competitiveness, and lack of perspective. I used to belong to fountain pen groups, for instance, but then I started thinking I needed more than the 50 pens I already have and I noticed I was furtively buying pens. YouTube, if I don't watch the next suggested video, is usually the most effective for learning how to do something.
I do write in a journal every day, mostly so I can pay attention to what is going on with me. It's a wonderful practice and I've done it for decades.
In fact, all the daily practices I have managed to implement are rich and rewarding; the key is not to make the lists or the practices the point, but the means to the end.
Off to do the next thing on the Dailies list, now that I have done "coffee," "cat (petting)", "meditate," "journal," and stretch" - "Write." My lists allow me to take seriously the things I really do need to do. Everything else is gravy.
posted by Peach at 7:19 AM on June 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
I think about this a lot. In fact, I have an infrequently updated tumblr about productivity culture.
Two things that have changed my entire notebook / calendaring / productivity approach:
* Using shorter notebooks so I can change things up more quickly, be more experimental without commitment, and not feel dragged down by old to-do lists. I really like muji and these https://www.etsy.com/listing/763955945/10-pack-kraft-notebook-60-pages-30
* Reading Oliver Burkeman's books.
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:04 AM on June 23, 2021
Two things that have changed my entire notebook / calendaring / productivity approach:
* Using shorter notebooks so I can change things up more quickly, be more experimental without commitment, and not feel dragged down by old to-do lists. I really like muji and these https://www.etsy.com/listing/763955945/10-pack-kraft-notebook-60-pages-30
* Reading Oliver Burkeman's books.
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:04 AM on June 23, 2021
I used to belong to fountain pen groups, for instance, but then I started thinking I needed more than the 50 pens I already have and I noticed I was furtively buying pens
Don't ever join any online guitar groups.
posted by Ber at 9:08 AM on June 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
Don't ever join any online guitar groups.
posted by Ber at 9:08 AM on June 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
Now that I'm no longer working billable hours with a mandatory 80% utilization I don't need the same kind of tracking, but when I did I definitely borrowed a handful of concepts from Bullet Journaling combined with the stuff I'd been using for a decade from David Seah/Printable CEO productivity tools (which I will still print out and use some of his Project Tracker forms because they're so good). I also made some of my own forms, very un-pretty things built in LucidChart to do exactly what I needed them to, which was largely to run a week off a two-page spread so that I had just the one list open in front of me at all times.
Take what works, leave the rest. This kind of formal format works great for certain kinds of work life, and is less useful for me in my daily life. Honestly the thing that works best for me in domestic matters is a whiteboard on the fridge for shopping and small tasks and a literal piece of paper stuck on the wall somewhere (where we have to walk past it) for shared project tasks.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:21 AM on June 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Take what works, leave the rest. This kind of formal format works great for certain kinds of work life, and is less useful for me in my daily life. Honestly the thing that works best for me in domestic matters is a whiteboard on the fridge for shopping and small tasks and a literal piece of paper stuck on the wall somewhere (where we have to walk past it) for shared project tasks.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:21 AM on June 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
At a certain point this starts to become a discussion about ethics in bullet journalism. I'm starting to feel the criticisms about aesthetic bullet journals is really a thinly veiled pile-on attack on artistically skilled and creative women and some of the aesthetic things they choose to do.
posted by srboisvert at 10:19 AM on June 23, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 10:19 AM on June 23, 2021 [13 favorites]
...but then I started thinking I needed more than the 50 pens I already have and I noticed I was furtively buying pens.
I found that way lies madness, because I started down that road as well, and man, it was going to get real expensive real quick.
Once I discovered I could refill my Pilot Varsity "Disposable" fountain pens, my only expense was the occasional bottle of Waterman Florida Blue ink.
And a single pair of needle nose pliers.
posted by Bill Watches Movies Podcast at 11:02 AM on June 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
I found that way lies madness, because I started down that road as well, and man, it was going to get real expensive real quick.
Once I discovered I could refill my Pilot Varsity "Disposable" fountain pens, my only expense was the occasional bottle of Waterman Florida Blue ink.
And a single pair of needle nose pliers.
posted by Bill Watches Movies Podcast at 11:02 AM on June 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
That way of putting to-do lists in a notebook seemed eminently sensible when I first saw the web page (very like the early one linked above), so that was how I did it for a long time, whenever I was together enough to do lists. Some years later I mentioned it to a woman I was working with and she responded enthusiastically and showed her bullet journal, which was very complicated and vibrant, so I suppose the system had developed. But she was very organized, so I'm not going to criticise.
I did change the system by putting the page reference list at the back of the book, like an index. It didn't make any sense to me to leave an arbitrary quantity of pages at the front.
(I did get a fancy fountain pen - while I was in Japan I saw a Pilot M90 limited edition at Pen and Message in Kobe and all sense went out of the window. You don't really need a fancy fountain pen to write a list, though.)
posted by Grangousier at 11:53 AM on June 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
I did change the system by putting the page reference list at the back of the book, like an index. It didn't make any sense to me to leave an arbitrary quantity of pages at the front.
(I did get a fancy fountain pen - while I was in Japan I saw a Pilot M90 limited edition at Pen and Message in Kobe and all sense went out of the window. You don't really need a fancy fountain pen to write a list, though.)
posted by Grangousier at 11:53 AM on June 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
I am in that stage of reading all the things because I have newly-discovered ADHD. So I was reading about bullet journals, but I just cannot get on board with this index business. An index wants to be in a useful order, say alphabetical, or arranged into some general topic areas. Just writing it in the order my wild brain comes up with pages to add?! Absolutely not. Also can't just skip the index; it's obviously important for finding things.
Maybe I could get on board with a tablet version, where you can insert or move pages at will, and more importantly, copy/paste templates for the tedious stuff I don't want to draw out. But not as satisfying as taking notes on real paper.
posted by ktkt at 12:49 PM on June 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
Maybe I could get on board with a tablet version, where you can insert or move pages at will, and more importantly, copy/paste templates for the tedious stuff I don't want to draw out. But not as satisfying as taking notes on real paper.
posted by ktkt at 12:49 PM on June 23, 2021 [2 favorites]
I also sometimes add emphasis or decorative elements in red pencil. The red pencil must be Prismacolor Crimson Red, which makes a deep red line, not the faint tomato-ey orange wispy barely there excrescent trail of despair of most red pencils.
posted by Don Pepino at 12:52 PM on June 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Don Pepino at 12:52 PM on June 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
An index wants to be in a useful order, say alphabetical, or arranged into some general topic areas. Just writing it in the order my wild brain comes up with pages to add?! Absolutely not. Also can't just skip the index; it's obviously important for finding things.
You can index items as they come up and then OCR the index page (if your printing is tidy enough) once it becomes unwieldy and print an index in any order you like if you really need a solution.
posted by srboisvert at 12:56 PM on June 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
You can index items as they come up and then OCR the index page (if your printing is tidy enough) once it becomes unwieldy and print an index in any order you like if you really need a solution.
posted by srboisvert at 12:56 PM on June 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Making the index entries electronic to start with would also make sense, if a both-kinds system is doable at all. And then it wouldn't be any trouble to have more than one physical book to look things up in.
I think some of the scannable notebooks do that, even.
posted by clew at 3:03 PM on June 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think some of the scannable notebooks do that, even.
posted by clew at 3:03 PM on June 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
a thinly veiled pile-on attack on artistically skilled and creative women and some of the aesthetic things they choose to do.
Yes. Or being sad that feminine artistry is canalized into very specific, useful-to-others fields (bujo, scrapbooking, cakes). Or both.
posted by clew at 3:05 PM on June 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
Yes. Or being sad that feminine artistry is canalized into very specific, useful-to-others fields (bujo, scrapbooking, cakes). Or both.
posted by clew at 3:05 PM on June 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
College freshmen are absolutely STARVING for time-management and productivity advice. I did a session on how to Bullet Journal that was extremely well-attended and got very good evaluations.
I showed them the "official" way to do it, and then urged them to modify the system however they see fit, and showed them how I organize my to-do list to help me arrange my days and weeks. The great thing about bullet journaling is that you can make any kind of running to-do list or daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly layout that you want, so that it arranges as much or as little information you need in a format that makes sense to you. You can jot down notes from a meeting, or a grocery list, or quotes from a book wherever, or tape in ticket stubs or fortune cookie fortunes or an important receipt or a doodle your neiphling did for you on a post-it note.
And you can interact with it without opening your computer or unlocking your phone, avoiding derailing yourself.
I also very much enjoy colored pens and am extremely motivated by stickers. So there's that, too.
posted by BrashTech at 7:39 PM on June 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
I showed them the "official" way to do it, and then urged them to modify the system however they see fit, and showed them how I organize my to-do list to help me arrange my days and weeks. The great thing about bullet journaling is that you can make any kind of running to-do list or daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly layout that you want, so that it arranges as much or as little information you need in a format that makes sense to you. You can jot down notes from a meeting, or a grocery list, or quotes from a book wherever, or tape in ticket stubs or fortune cookie fortunes or an important receipt or a doodle your neiphling did for you on a post-it note.
And you can interact with it without opening your computer or unlocking your phone, avoiding derailing yourself.
I also very much enjoy colored pens and am extremely motivated by stickers. So there's that, too.
posted by BrashTech at 7:39 PM on June 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
Yeah, when I tried out bullet journalling, I understood that all the aesthetic things people did weren't part of the system and were embellishments that people who were already using it did to make it more engaging for themselves. I assumed that, if I found the system useful, that as the amount of effort I was willing to invest grew I'd probably find myself making similarly elaborate layouts. Turns out, I didn't end up finding it useful, but I don't see any point piling on those who did.
posted by Merus at 5:28 AM on June 24, 2021
posted by Merus at 5:28 AM on June 24, 2021
ktkt, I'm a few years ahead of you -- diagnosed 4 years ago with pretty severe ADHD. I read all the things, too. I also tried all the task management systems. Some advice I got from a therapist that I can pass on: don't beat yourself up if you're on your umpteenth task management system and it's falling apart. Just dispassionately evaluate the system and figure out why it failed you (you didn't fail it!). What needs of yours weren't being met and why? Can you modify the system to meet those needs?
Bullet journaling was nice because of the pens and the tactile nature of it, but ultimately it failed to meet my need for having a system that I can always have with me and that can alert me when, say, a meeting is about to start, it's time to take a pill, or it's nearing the end of the day and I still haven't gotten that important thing done yet. So my system has to be digital, and it includes an apple watch which has very effective silent alerts.
posted by antinomia at 2:43 PM on June 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
Bullet journaling was nice because of the pens and the tactile nature of it, but ultimately it failed to meet my need for having a system that I can always have with me and that can alert me when, say, a meeting is about to start, it's time to take a pill, or it's nearing the end of the day and I still haven't gotten that important thing done yet. So my system has to be digital, and it includes an apple watch which has very effective silent alerts.
posted by antinomia at 2:43 PM on June 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
(I did get a fancy fountain pen - while I was in Japan I saw a Pilot M90 limited edition at Pen and Message in Kobe and all sense went out of the window. You don't really need a fancy fountain pen to write a list, though.)
Whoa! M90! Very nice choice!
posted by rewil at 5:32 PM on June 25, 2021
Whoa! M90! Very nice choice!
posted by rewil at 5:32 PM on June 25, 2021
As a professional organizer and productivity coach, I spend a lot of time "giving permission" to my clients to stop doing things things that don't serve them. 20 years ago, I was telling them "officially" that no, they didn't have to emulate Martha Stewart and make all those damned things from scratch.
Ten years ago, I was telling them, no, they didn't have to scrapbook. (And no, they no longer had to keep all those scrapbooking kits that they'd shelled out small fortunes for and never, ever used.) Of course, now they all feel obligated to Canva-and-Instagram their lives, which is basically a form of scrapbooking. At least it's less expensive. Sigh.
And I've spent the last five+ years telling harried, humiliated clients two things:
1) It's OK (even understandable) that Marie Kondo's methods didn't work for them. No, really. If you have chronic disorganization or clinical depression or ADHD or live in a typical American house or have more than two kids, it probably won't work for you long-term, but that's OK, because no "celebrity" methods for doing ANYTHING work for EVERYONE without some (or lots of) finagling.
2) It's OK if bullet journaling doesn't work for you. It doesn't work for a lot of people. I feel sad when I read delight's post above, because it never occurs to me to assume anything popular is good for everyone or even that it would be good for me, and this is the exact thing I need to remember that my clients inhale this notion that what is popular is supposed to be right for them.
There are appealing aspects to bullet journals, just as with everything else. I like the index at the front, which you can emulate if you use your Evernote account like a bullet journal. (Check out the Evernote instructions for making a Table of Contents, which has some fancy-making advantages over copying internal links into an blank indexing note.)
Oh, and yes, Ber, FranklinCovey still exists, and people still buy those planners. Until two years ago, I was still using my FranklinCovey planner. I'm still using the binder, but with a different planner insert (Emily Ley), just because I wanted to shake things up and having something pretty. And goodness knows with my terrible handwriting and aversion to drawing, I never even considered playing at the arts and crafts of artistic bullet journaling.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 10:54 PM on June 25, 2021 [6 favorites]
Ten years ago, I was telling them, no, they didn't have to scrapbook. (And no, they no longer had to keep all those scrapbooking kits that they'd shelled out small fortunes for and never, ever used.) Of course, now they all feel obligated to Canva-and-Instagram their lives, which is basically a form of scrapbooking. At least it's less expensive. Sigh.
And I've spent the last five+ years telling harried, humiliated clients two things:
1) It's OK (even understandable) that Marie Kondo's methods didn't work for them. No, really. If you have chronic disorganization or clinical depression or ADHD or live in a typical American house or have more than two kids, it probably won't work for you long-term, but that's OK, because no "celebrity" methods for doing ANYTHING work for EVERYONE without some (or lots of) finagling.
2) It's OK if bullet journaling doesn't work for you. It doesn't work for a lot of people. I feel sad when I read delight's post above, because it never occurs to me to assume anything popular is good for everyone or even that it would be good for me, and this is the exact thing I need to remember that my clients inhale this notion that what is popular is supposed to be right for them.
There are appealing aspects to bullet journals, just as with everything else. I like the index at the front, which you can emulate if you use your Evernote account like a bullet journal. (Check out the Evernote instructions for making a Table of Contents, which has some fancy-making advantages over copying internal links into an blank indexing note.)
Oh, and yes, Ber, FranklinCovey still exists, and people still buy those planners. Until two years ago, I was still using my FranklinCovey planner. I'm still using the binder, but with a different planner insert (Emily Ley), just because I wanted to shake things up and having something pretty. And goodness knows with my terrible handwriting and aversion to drawing, I never even considered playing at the arts and crafts of artistic bullet journaling.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 10:54 PM on June 25, 2021 [6 favorites]
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posted by sageleaf at 8:50 AM on June 22, 2021 [22 favorites]