Better Living with a Bullet Journal

Let’s get to the point. Life is busy. Between my job as a rheumatologist, my volunteer work for the ACR, and parenthood, staying organized is a challenge. I’ve tried numerous organizational strategies whose logistics failed to meet my needs.

My online calendar was too small to add detail. Events I needed to track monthly or annually wouldn’t fit in the same window. I set reminders on my phone, which I snoozed then forgot. Large whiteboard calendars weren’t portable.

My to do list was so long that it took all my energy just to read it. I ignored it for days and nearly missed deadlines. My email was too crowded to collect tasks, and the search function never worked to my satisfaction. Haphazard sticky notes on my desk were quick and accessible, but lacked structure.

As a learner, I experimented with typing notes on my laptop. I tried to keep everything in one place, but while I created a computer document, I still reached for paper to capture tables and graphs. I struggled to recall details from a meeting or lecture, and my notes were difficult to find in my computer files.

I was carrying too much in my head. Trying to keep it all straight created stress and diluted my focus. I finally reclaimed my brain when my mom introduced me to an organizational system called the bullet journal.

The Concept

Initially I had my reservations. This system suggested I use a paper notebook, which felt like going backward to my middle school paper planner. My online research brought up websites of beautifully decorated pages with gorgeous calligraphy. I knew neither my journal nor my handwriting would ever result in a journal that looked like those examples.

A page from the author’s own bullet journal. (Click to enlarge.)

As I have adopted a simplified version of this method, however, I’ve found that it has unified the fragments of my life. My bullet journal is my mobile office; it contains both my work and personal life. I can take notes quickly in a format that is flexible, portable, easily searchable and allows me a bird’s eye view of, or microscopic focus on, my calendar and tasks. I have a 24-month spread of annual appointments for my family next to daily and weekly spreads that cover both the spectrum and the granular detail of my personal and work lives.