(As a side note: Don’t confuse it with Goal Planning systems. They can work for that, but this is more for Task Management in your personal life.)
Bujo. The latest buzzword. And one of the greatest forms of freedom in planners…EVER!
I just finished the second week of bullet journaling (aka BUJO). Then I spent the next 6 months experimenting on just how I wanted to set up the scheduling system that would work for me.
I completely destroyed a perfectly good blank journal during that trial period…and learned some pretty neat ideas in the process!
What the heck is a “bujo”?
FREEDOM!!!
Nice. But what is it? Really?
FREEDOM!! (Seriously!)
He demonstrated that our inner need for organization doesn’t need to be confined to preprinted day planners or stringent designs created by over-achievers or programmers.
A gentleman by the name of Ryder Carroll has been credited for publicizing the journaling technique. He demonstrated that our inner need for organization doesn’t need to be confined to preprinted day planners or stringent designs created by over-achievers or programmers.
We can design our own! Every day or week, the layouts can be changed. Bored with one design? It isn’t working for you? Or you want to include things that aren’t on traditional planners?
Great! This method will work for you!
For those of us whose brains hate being forced to remain on one task for any length of time, this method is ideal. And it can be used in conjunction with any other methods that work for you.
Demands…
Each one of us is unique. And how we organize our lives is just as unique.
But those demands and deadlines of other people can also serve to kill creativity.
But the ability to express that uniqueness isn’t being allowed in normal workplace environments. Projects MUST be completed by specified dates. Limits and boundaries to make sure projects finish on time.
Not to stray too far from the subject, but it does tie in. Boundaries are necessary. They keep chaos from reigning.
Then there are meetings…endless meetings…for those in leadership AND subordinate roles. Those pesky, usually useless meetings take away from not only our personal lives, but our time for producing a worthwhile product for the company.
Which, combined with constant changes in process that come from those meetings, end up making deadlines even more difficult to maintain. And keeping sanity.
But those demands and deadlines of other people can also serve to kill creativity.
If we let it.
Remember when…
…you were a kid? Did you like to draw? Anything you wanted. And to you, it looked like the best artistic rendering of…whatever. Stick with me here.
Enter the school years. There was a certain regimen that was imposed on each one of us. Classes were held during strict hours. Lunch could only be eaten between allotted time frames.
Playtime? As a young kid, we used to have those things. They were called “recess”. But today, that seems to be filled in many larger cities with studies instead of fun.
And school wasn’t fun. It was work.
Enter the older years…
Then graduation with the promise of freedom. And earning a wage.
But working for someone else wasn’t much different than school. Time for eating, time off, breaks, commuting hours to beat heavy traffic, family life…all of it began to take on the shape of unwavering rules and regulations by those for whom we worked.
We looked forward to retirement. Our hard earned rest from those grueling hours of work were looked forward to by the masses.
But once we reached retirement, we’d find that what we longed to do was no longer possible. Age, health, even the loss of desire to do ANYthing seemed to slip away to the unknown realm of our past.
We had become accustomed to someone else’s timelines for so long that we couldn’t really enjoy ourselves. And the desire to do anything creative went along with it.
Time Blocking…
So what has that got to do with bullet journaling? Quite a bit, actually. But first let’s look at the original attempt at confining all our productivity into manageable chunks.
Enter, “Time Blocking”.
The original models for planners were designed to conform to the work and school, regimented model. Everything was in strict accordance to what was being demanded by educators and bosses alike. Work and production hours were limited by the number of hours in the day, and each hour assigned a different project or task that must be done.
It was tedious. And boring.
Worst of all, those tasks often didn’t fit into those neatly defined boxes. Even if you gave it padding on either side of the blocks.
Traditional time blocking planners don’t accommodate freedom. They are as rigid and stiff as cube walls. Unbending and not creative. No matter how many pretty stickers you put in them…
What happens when something changes?
But deadlines must be met. Realistically.
If a family emergency comes up, the office building burns down (“Office Space” anyone?), or meltdowns from excessive demands, this time tracking system doesn’t have built-in abilities to accommodate for change.
The problem with those rigid time blocking planner system is that is doesn’t allow for anything to interfere with the schedule. If a family emergency comes up, the office building burns down (“Office Space” anyone?), or meltdowns from excessive demands, this time tracking system doesn’t have built-in abilities to accommodate for change.
You can move time blocks to a different day, but that will shove whatever took place in that slot to another day. It dominoes down the schedule.
And keep up with all your tasks as well? There is in addition to time blocking, a list for putting down all your tasks that are ALSO due that day. But where to fit it all in?
Enter the creativity system…
But before you take the plunge into this unknown, you must do something first.
Enter the “BULLET JOURNAL (aka “BUJO”)!!! Or, Adult Coloring Pages with a few calendar items thrown in for good measure. This system gives the flexibility to order your day in the way that suites your energy levels.
It gives the freedom to make your list – related to projects or not – reflect how YOU operate. It isn’t necessarily confined to time. Unless that’s what you want.
But before you take the plunge into this unknown, you must do something first.
Jumping in head first
When I first discovered the world of bullet journaling, it had been decades since I picked up a colored marker. And the very idea of creating something was taxing. All that was drained out of me completely years ago.
Then the light dawned.
I had to prioritize what was important…first.
Even getting the concept of bullet journaling was a chore.
Or so I thought.
Then the light dawned.
I had to prioritize what was important, then focus on those things first.
Prioritizing
My To Do list was a mess. All those personal projects that I needed to get done weren’t broken down into meaningful enough bites. I had no idea what to do first, so I ended up doing nothing at all.
That all had to get that sorted out in a way that would work for me.
So I set about categorizing all those tasks. I used sticky notes and wrote sown every task and project that I had on my list.
Then I took each note and had to figure out if it was urgent, sort of urgent, can be done later, or a want that could be done when I had nothing left to do. Each sticky note was posted under A through E – urgent to “Meh. (Some people like using “brain dump” pages to do the same basic thing. I’ll be covering that in another article later.)
Once I prioritized my TO DO list, everything else was FREEDOM!!!
Applying those To Do lists
In the beginning, I used those notes to cut down on the list. I’d pick two “TO Dos” from the high priority list, and one TO DO from the not-so high priority list to accomplish weekly. If there is some free time, at least one creative project goes into that week as well. Then I’d pull the notes from the wall and stick them in a blank notebook as my “go to” directions for the day.
I had to get away from the time-driven process. Except for appointments or meetings, this new Bullet Journaling system isn’t designed on a [time constraining] schedule.
I had to get away from the time-driven process. Except for appointments or meetings, this new Bullet Journaling system isn’t designed on a schedule. It is Task Driven. And that was a hard shift.
In this new, untraditional method, I had to realize that if any task (or project) cannot be done in one day, that’s okay. If I didn’t have the energy or focus to do much of anything today, it was moved it to another day. It didn’t really matter.
Unlike the Time Blocking, I didn’t have to recreated new time blocks when everything shifted. It was on a list, on a day, and that item could move over if need be. As long as it’s finished by the end of the week, that’s okay.
Spicing things up…
As the task list became significantly smaller and more manageable, I started looking into Bullet Journaling (aka bujo) to begin to incorporate some fun into my planning.
The most important thing that is about bujos is the incorporation of creativity and flexibility.
There is almost an informational overload generated by the shear number of people who are using this method. Trying to find your own method niche sometimes takes a bit of time.
But that’s okay.
The most important thing that is about bujos is the incorporation of creativity and flexibility. What fits your process style when attacking and completing tasks.
So what is a BUJO and what does it look like?
Not every bujo has pretty designs on them. Some are just lists drawn out at the beginning of each day.
Nor do they all have charts and graphs, plants and butterflies. Some are more artistic than others.
The fonts on most bujos all start to look the same after staring at them after a while. (That’s because they are…) So using your own handwriting is just fine. And more personalized!
To get started on what these look like and how they work for other users, Pinterest, YouTube, and other blog sites are great ways to find new ideas. And getting premade bujo layouts, as the ones shown above, are another way to start.
Some make a page every day. Others make pages for a week. And the idea of an overall monthly calendar is as unique as the person who designs it, if that is even desirable.
The freedom with this technique is that it allows everyone to design what works for them.
It doesn’t matter what it looks like in the end. The most important thing is that it works as a system to complete those tasks you want to get done.
Deciding what works in your bujo…
There is something soothing about drawing…Doing a bujo wakes up that desire to dive back into the imaginative side. [And helps prioritize what is important.]
Just the idea of creating a fresh, new page forces the journalist to review what works, what was accomplished, and what is left to do. Every week. Without taking away from the creative aspect of the pages.
There is something soothing about drawing. Everyone did it as a child. Some were more technical than others, but everyone made pictures.
Doing a bujo wakes up that desire to dive back into the imaginative side that gets crushed by the weight of our societal demands.
What materials to use
Something I learned the hard way during my experimental stage. Using a heavy 100gsm page dotted blank journal, like the inexpensive WalMart “Exceed” or the more expensive Leuchtturm 1917, will go a long way toward your creative happiness. Both include numbered pages, title pages, a little envelope in the back.
And most importantly, both have thick enough paper to allow less bleed when using markers, like the Faber Castell Dual Markers. Pretty important if you want to use the pages that follow your color-heavy designed ones.
Otherwise, if you’re less inclined to doodle, just get a blank book and write out your list of projects and tasks, putting the important ones on top.
My current results
The collage of my early, first year bullet journaling was inspired by the interest in making something unique. Every week was a new opportunity to explore ways of expressing my identity as an artist.
But over time, it has pretty much become a pattern. Every week. All year. That works for me.
Those part of the original designs were incorporated into a unique planner that reflects my needs. And I faithfully fill it in every week, allowing for space and time to unwind between energy charged projects so I don’t lost sight of what is important to me.
My inner peace.
But wait a minute. Wasn’t the world set up to run by time-driven elements?
To a degree, it was. But not to the same degree as our modern world.
In the agrarian life, time is limited by daylight hours, not a clock. Animals need to be tended regardless of what the clocks say. Fields are plowed, seeded, harvested by the seasons, not the day. And the transactions that result from the business of farming or ranching are done when the money comes in.
Life was based on a longer view of time. Not confined slots punctuated by meetings and appointments.
Life was based on a longer view of time. Not confined slots punctuated by meetings and appointments.
And when the night fell, it was time to relax. Summer time, after the chores were done, supper eaten, and dishes put away, people didn’t spend their time on tablets and iPhones. They talked. They enjoyed watching the sun set, and sometimes picked a few tunes on stringed instruments and sang.
There was no running into town every few hours. Town was miles away, and reachable by horse or bicycle. Those journeys took a very long time.
It was a simpler life.
Bullet Journaling can help recapture some of that simplicity today
And as strange as this sounds, that kind of perspective of life comes with using a bujo as well. It is freedom from the confinement of a time clock.
Even technology. There is nothing that can replace the sensory feeling and memory development by using a pen and paper. That is a scientific fact.
But what amazed me was the reawakening of the creativity I thought was long dead.
I can hardly wait until I design next week’s pages!
Maybe I need to add those doodle pages after all…
