Why I Stopped Bullet Journaling

a few years ago in the middle of our digital age one analog method stood out helping thousands of people organize their lives this is the story of how the planning Community fell in and out of love with the bullet Journal this is the creator of the bullet Journal writer Carol is a brooklyn-based digital product designer and author found difficult since childhood to use traditional organizational tools and methods so he began to develop and refine his own system over many years he eventually introduced the bullet journal to the world around eight years ago the system was incredibly simple and highly customizable and it quickly gained traction among people who were looking for an adaptable productivity tool the bull Journal is a system that helps you track your past order your presence and design your future this is also the bull journals book title a great read by the way so many people fall in love with bullet journaling and then end up falling out of love with bullet journaling but why you know why the bullet journaling community may make you think the opposite the original bull Journey method was actually quite simple and straightforward so here's a very quick recap of the original method your Journal always starts with an index this is the first few pages of your Journal where you list the contents of your journal every time you start a new section or a monthly weekly or daily log and more about that soon you jot down the page number and the topic or month in the index so this way you can easily find your collections or your logs later the future log is for events or tasks that are happening in the future beyond your current month this can be spread out over two pages with each month getting a section where you can jot down things you need to remember or do in these months the monthly weekly or daily log is where things get fun so these spreads are at the core of your bullet Journal system here you can write a date and then simply list tasks events and notes as they come up during the day tasks are marked with a simple bullet points events are typically represented with an open circle and notes are shown with a dash then if you have any unfinished tasks you need to decide if it's still worth doing them so if they're worth doing you migrate to task meaning you rewrite it into the next month's log this act of rewriting serves as a filter ensuring that only tasks that generally need doing get carried forward collections are essentially topic specific pages so for example you can have a collection for books to read movies to watch travel plans shopping lists Etc anytime you want to make a list or collection of thoughts about a single topic you start a new page give it a title and add it to your index this channel features at least 15 videos dedicated solely to Bullet journaling however I've actually lost track of how many times my various bullet journals have been showcased in other videos under different contexts so yes as you can see I also jumped into the Bull training bandwagon a couple of years ago and I'm very glad that I did what happened with bull journaling is that unlike other traditional planning methods people actually embrace it as a lifestyle it was even an art form and it created this very solid Community around this practice and it became famous on the internet very quickly and it wasn't just seen as an organization tool the system's adaptability meant that users could personalize it extensively blending functionality with creativity the bullet journaling Community began to grow with enthusiasts sharing their own surprise on social media this community played a crucial role in popularizing it and evolving its years Beyond rather Carroll's original design but as with many Trends the tide began to turn you know in the beginning the bullet Journal was supposed to ultra simplify the productivity genre it was supposed to be the most minimalistic Journal you could ever try out in your life it was also supposed to bring you some sort of Peace in the middle of all the technology that we're currently using however as the years went by Bullet journaling actually became this kind of anxiety-filled quest for bullet journaling Perfection and the problem is that this Perfection is pretty much incompatible with the way that we're working today digital tools for instance offer synchronization Cloud backups real-time collaboration and huge flexibility so convenience began overshadowing the satisfaction of bullet journaling productively apps like todoistic a notion offer digital convenience like cloud-based storage synchronization across multiple devices and sharing capabilities for collaboration these digital benefits can overshadow the tactile experience of using a bullet journal for some people you know setting up a bullet Journal specifically if you're using very complex and you're using elaborate spreads and trackers this can be very time consuming activity in comparison when you're using a digital tool you already have templates available and the only thing you have to do is import those templates or use whatever templates the app is providing you and you start using it right away and if bullet journaling is too time consuming for you or if you're limited on time or even if setting all these things up is not really your style then opting for a productivity based app will be your best choice and also at keeping your bullet Journal can be more stressful than actually using it platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are filled with intricate and artistically designed bullet Journal spreads for newcomers or even seasoned bullet Journal enthusiasts this can create pressure to achieve a similar static making the method feel less accessible and more of a chore than a helpful tool I think that over time bullet journaling became the same thing as journaling for most people and the problem with creating a system that is supposed to be fully customizable is that as it's adopted by countless individuals the original method kind of gets lost in the process so I noticed after a few years that most people that were saying they were bullet journaling we're actually creating planners and moleskin dotted notebooks and they were not even using the bullet journals original and traditional method so this basically created two groups of people the people who had a relatively free schedule or who could at least dedicate several hours per week to build an user journal and the people who had a packed schedule wanted to start using the bullet Journal but simply could not afford the learning curve and the time that was needed to build from scratch the templates and spreads they were getting inspiration from on the internet and here's my main Theory bullet journaling lost some of its popularity because the original group who was using it myself included we just got old and I'm not saying that bull journaling is only for young people of course what I mean is that after we left high school we left college and we got jobs we were kind of forced into whatever productivity system our company was adopting so using typical project management software like Outlook teams OneNote Asana and monday.com so you we were kind of forced into other systems and other apps and we had no use for a bullet Journal anymore so I just want to give you an example so let's talk about Janie Jamie works at a fast-paced traditional company where everything operates in real time meetings are scheduled and rescheduled multiple times a day tasks are delegated through a project management software and communication primarily occurs via instance messaging platforms Jamie is introduced to the concept of bullet journaling by a friend and decides to give it a try every morning Jamie spends about 15 minutes updating their bullet Journal setting up daily logs migrating tasks and noting down meetings however by midday the digital nature of their job clashes with the analog system so Jamie's team decides to shift a meeting and two more are added while Jaime is noting this in their bullet Journal they miss an important message about a task deadline being moved up Jamie's colleagues also use shared digital calendars to track team availability so when they look at Jaime's availability it doesn't match the bullet Journal because the latter isn't visible to them also tasks in the project management software are continually being updated with new details and changes Jamie has to repeatedly cross things out and rewrite tasks in the bullet Journal trying to keep it updated with the digital version and without real-time notification Jamie misses a couple of urgent tasks that were assigned last minute through the software platform while Jaime was engrossed in updating the bullet Journal their colleagues were making quick decisions in the digital space I'm Jamie I mean not really but I could be when I started working I brought my bullet journal to the workplace and I was so proud of it and I had all these wonderful spreads already set up to start filling in with all of my work related tasks and that bullet Journal actually lasted a week even if I was an absolute fan of the original method and I was using a very simple approach to it I just did not have the time or the flexibility to use it in the workplace because my job is so reactive that I simply do not have the time to plan things as thorough as I need to upkeep my journal in a way even if I loved bullet journaling I was forced to adapt to a completely different method that was quicker more efficient and of course digital and yes even if we Ultra simplify our bullet journal the problem persists it's too time consuming and today's corporate world is all about hustling in conclusion the bullet journal with its unique blend of Simplicity and flexibility revolutionized personal Organization for many people its rise to prominence was a testament to our Collective yearning for tactile analog Tools in an increasingly digital world yet like many Trends its Universal applicability was tested by the evolving dynamics of our fast-paced lives so while it may not be the go-to system for everyone the bullet journal's influence on how we think about planning and mindfulness is undeniable and always remember the best organizational tool is the one that works for you and if you want to see a flip through of my old bullet journals in real time you can actually watch the full video on nebula nebula is a great platform built by creators we can post whatever we want without having to worry about YouTube's algorithm monetization policies and other things that hinder our creativity it's a completely ad-free and sponsor-free platform full of exclusive content classes and video series you can find anywhere else besides the bullet Journal walkthroughs I mentioned earlier you can also get a notion guide morning routines planner setups and a lot of exclusive content that I never published on YouTube because while there were topics and formats that YouTube doesn't really like and it would end up killing those videos anyway so you can search for this icon to know you're watching a video that still isn't available on YouTube and this icon to know you're watching something that will never be available anywhere else I love to receive everyone's emails and messages saying they're watching all of my videos now nebula because that's always the best way to actually support my content and of course then I'm not alone so if you browse nebula you'll find so many other creators including so many people from the stem community and productivity Community as well and here's the fun part a nebula annual plan costs basically two and a half dollars per month and this is not only for nebula but for nebula classes too and that's definitely one of the best things on nebula if you sign up for nebula using the link below you can get it for around three dollars a month and you'll get access to exclusive content and resources you can find anywhere else for instance my notion complete workspace tour will provide you with a link for a blank workspace similar to mine which you can use for your own personal projects also hopping in here quickly to remind you that we're currently offering lifetime memberships as well you by wants get access for as long as both you and nebula exists and we're currently focusing on developing big nebula Originals with bigger budgets so if you sign up using my code one third of the money goes to support this Channel and the rest goes to platform development and creating amazing new nebula originals but I'll be honest this isn't the best deal annual is so if you're looking for the best price definitely go annual lifetime is about supporting the creators and helping us make even bigger projects today so click the link in description box and I hope to see you there I really hope you've enjoyed today's video and I'll see you next week bye guys

Channel: Mariana Vieira

Views: 37,333

Keywords: bullet journal, Ryder caroll, bujo, bujo popular, planner setup, how to set up a planner

Id: IjsokcRSUtA

Length: 13min 31sec (811 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 02 2023