The Bullet Journal Method: Track Your Past, Order Your Present, Plan Your Future

Why are we feeling so bad? Because we’ve set an expectation for something that isn’t in our control.

Ask yourself the same question the next day. Find something, anything, that will make your life a little better.

When she started Bullet Journaling, she was surprised at how motivating it was to “X” off boxes and how much she enjoyed the creativity of representing her daily life in beautiful ways in her notebook. Still, she hesitated to track her reading. It’ll only make me more anxious and aware that I’m not reading enough, she thought. When she finally crea

Any item that doesn’t pass this test is a distraction. It adds little to no value to your life. Cross it off. Be ruthless. Keep in mind that each task is an experience waiting to be born, offering a glimpse into your potential future. That’s why everything on your list has to fight for its life to stay there. More accurately, each item needs to fig

here: Take the time estimate and triple it. Progress is more important than speed. If something gets done more quickly than anticipated, great! There’s nothing wrong with getting something done faster than expected (as long as you’re not focusing on speed). What we want to avoid is falling behind. That tips our pleasure/pain scale toward the pain s

what was the last meaningful thing someone said to you?

It’s part organization, part soul-searching, part dream-weaving.

Think of the Future Log as a queue, each item eagerly waiting for its month to arrive.

This process is known as rubber ducking, which originates from the book The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas. The authors tell the story of a developer who solves problems in their code by explaining them line by line to a rubber duck. Yes, I’m talking about the small yellow bath toy. We’re apt to lose our objectivity when we’re

When not set with intention, goals can be knee-jerk reactions to something ugly or painful in our lives. If you’re feeling overweight, for example, dedicating yourself to running a marathon that’s a few months away is a reactionary goal—and likely a counterproductive one. Your chances of achieving that goal are slim, but the chances of hurting or d