The Bullet Journal, sometimes known as BuJo, is a personal organization method developed by designer Ryder Carroll that seeks to organize reminders, to-do lists, brainstorming and other organizational tasks in a single notebook.
Where does the name “Bullet Journal” come from?
The name “bullet journal” comes from the use of abbreviated bullets to record information but also in part from the use of dotted line journals that use grids or very basic lines to enhance the user’s creativity. It has become an extremely popular topic on social media.
Why am I spending time on this topic?
Because this blog is not only about the Camino de Santiago, but also about how to solve things by walking. And walking, or rather writing by hand, is the method proposed by this system.
So much so that I find the relationship with the lists of goals in David Allen’s Get Things Done method very appealing. The author defines it as “the art of productivity without stress”. And that’s where it links up with Solvitur Ambulando.
How the Bullet Journal can help you achieve your goals
Keeping a journal can help you achieve your goals because it will force you to think about them, to consider why and how, and to dig deeper into the situation so that you can examine all aspects of it.
Read on to find out how keeping a journal can help you.
- It forces you to write down your goals: When you start a journal, it’s basically a way to force yourself to document your goals. It doesn’t matter if you write them down on paper or use technology to write them down, although doing it by hand has a very important positive reinforcement. Once written, they are ready to be addressed.
- As you enter data into your journal, you will be forced to confront the why and how of your goal. This is especially true if you write down a goal and focus on it in your journal.
- Allows you to examine opportunities and threats: When you focus on developing objectives with your journal, you will also explore the opportunities and threats that are presented to you because of your objectives. It helps you avoid blockages in advance.
- Makes you develop steps for success based on your goals: When you see it written down, you’ll want to look at it and pull out any steps you’ve developed in your journal and put them on your calendar to schedule.
- Helps you improve goal setting and achievement: Every time you intentionally set goals, define the steps to achieve them and carry them out, you are setting yourself up to be able to improve your skills.
- Provides accountability: Even if no one else reads your journal, a private journal can help keep you accountable to yourself. If you get into the habit of looking at your journal every day and putting something else in it every day, it will work very well to help you become more accountable.
- It provides a permanent record: Having a permanent record of the things you’ve done in your life, whether personal or work-related, is a beautiful thing. Almost no one has a perfect memory, so you’ll keep lessons learned better with a record to look back on.
- Depending on the journal, you can even take the information it contains and compile it into a real book for others to read and be inspired by. You could also take from it the steps for your success in a project and turn it into a course to inspire someone else.
Keeping a journal is an excellent way to work towards achieving all your goals. It will even help you set better goals because the process of entering facts into your journal will make you see them in a more logical and useful way.
How to start writing a “Bullet Journal”: ideas
Starting a journal is not something you have to overthink. Yes, there are numerous types and styles of journals and ways to do it that may or may not be more effective depending on your goals, but you can simply grab paper and get started today.
- Dust off your pen and paper – You don’t need anything special to keep a journal; in fact, purists believe that using pen and paper is the best way to keep a journal because you can take it with you anywhere and you don’t need the technology. So there will be no excuses.
- Do it first thing in the morning – Don’t procrastinate on your journaling. It is best to do it in the morning, before starting the day, to get in the right frame of mind for the day. Besides, you only need five to ten minutes, so it’s not that important.
- Do it late at night – Another time to do it is before bedtime. This works especially well for gratitude journals. This way, you can go to sleep thinking about all the things you are grateful for, instead of the things you are worried about.
- Write every day – Whenever you decide to do so, try to make it a ritual and a habit. Writing a diary every day will be more effective than writing when you feel like it.
- Start simple – Don’t worry about style and substance right now; just work on the daily habit with pencil and paper. Don’t make it hard, just start walking.
- Start with today – Start right now and write about your day today. It is the easiest thing to do. What was important today? How did you feel about it? What would you do differently? What would you do anyway?
- Try different types of journals – Once you get into the habit, you can start trying different types of journals, such as a bullet journal, or a vision journal, or even a project journal for your next project.
- Keep it private: The main thing to remember about your journal is that it should be kept private. It is for you.
Keeping a journal will help you deal with the things that happen to you and the things that haven’t happened to you. The main reason is that writing it down helps you remember what you did right and what you did wrong. It helps you to improve your decision-making capacity for similar situations. The most important thing is to start writing the diary in the way that suits you best.
What if… I make one?
Following all this and the experience I have gained over time, I decided to make a “bullet journal” to get your feedback. Well, in fact, there are two: one to document the Camino and your experiences while walking it and the other a journal in the guided format itself: a journal with weekly and monthly revisions (one | notebook and journal) and with space for four months.
Access to the store in Spain (Amazon.es)
Here is the list with the specific links for each country:
- Amazon.com (US)
- Amazon.co.uk (UK)
- Amazon.de (DE)
- Amazon.fr (FR)
- Amazon.es (ES)*
- Amazon.it (IT)
- Amazon.co.jp (JP)
- Amazon.ca (CA)
- Amazon.com.au (AU)
I leave some images in case you like them. If not, you have the comments ☺️.
Take a look
And here, the basis of the two systems. In case you want to go deeper.
(*) Some of the links on this page may belong to the Amazon Affiliates program or similar. By using them you help me to continue generating quality content.