Work vs Personal Bullet Journal

Thank you for making things simple. On other bullet journal, I am overwhelmed by the stickers and drawings.

I have officially used my BuJo longer than I have ANY other planner system. Usually typical planners made it at the most until June- I've tried multiple systems. I have now been using a BuJo consistently since August 2017. Thank you for sharing a way for the ADHD brain to plan and record life.

I have a bullet journal for work, but it stays at work. This way I am not tempted to try to work while at home since my boss doesn't pay me for that. I use to bring my personal bullet journal to work but then found it was distracting me from actually working sometimes. Instead, I just use the app to log anything that comes up while I'm at work and then I can migrate it into my bullet journal later. So, huge thank you for the log feature on the app! Great use of the technology while still honoring the analog system!!

Aaaaah, this was a bit of a Eureka moment for me. I hadn’t understood the significance of the monthly log & the difference between a curated monthly list vs brain dump daily log but now it makes sense. Thanks for the video

I separate all my projects into separate notebooks:
1. My monthly, weekly, daily journal
2. A traveler’s notebook with inserts for [revolving] collections, story ideas, a reading log
3. Business Journal
4+. A journal for each project-like a novel I’m working on. In addition to Scrivener for organizing and writing the story, I use a dot grid bullet journal to house all my notes, ideas, etc. on the story, including variations in structure, edits and other things to be made.
Whenever I leave, I only take the main (1) journal with me unless I’m going out to work or write, then the coordinating notebook comes, also.
Any notes or ideas that spring into mind when I’m out without the other notebooks gets jotted into the (1) notebook or into a note on my phone. If in the (1) notebook, I’ll thread it-if it’s a long note-or note that it’s been re-copied into its proper home.
I prefer splitting things up for various reasons, but the main two are to:
1. To keep everything organized well (categorically) so I’m never flipping through various notebooks to find something in that category.
2. I don’t fill up a single notebook too fast with a jumble of content where (in some cases) I need to re-copy things into a new notebook when it’s time to start one.
Does that make any sense?

I love the statement “adding value to your life”. Great way to look at whether to keep tasks. I’m excited to start a bulletin journal now that I understand how it works!

I migrate whenever I turn to a new spread (means two pages) in my Daily Log. If I don't I have noticed I get backed up and lose momentum on whatever it was that I was doing. The whole 'end of the week' or 'end of the month' migrating did not work well for me at ALL. I've watched a ton of videos about BuJos and I have to say that migrating for each new spread has been one of the best hacks I have learned. That and doing a drawn out monthly calendar for a spread. At the end of each month I do a Month Log on the left page that is just appointments and birthdays, important things to remember, and then a Monthly Task Log on the right page that's just Monthly Tasks like revolving chores and things that I have migrated from the previous month, I also use this page for very important Must do's and goals. The next spread I do a hand drawn calendar spread. Looking at the calendar really helps me a lot. Everyone's BuJo and learning style is a bit different. This is what has worked VERY well for me.
Thank you Ryder. I have been BuJo for two years now and it has literally changed my life for the better. I wish I had known about this while I was in school. I tried so many planners in my life and none of them worked as well as BuJo.
I use one BuJo, not two. Two would be a mess for me.
Disclaimer!! It does take some time to learn how to BuJo. Don't get discouraged!! You will mess up and that's OK! keep doing it and you'll find your flow and style. Don't fret over the fancySchmancy BuJos you see on TheXvid etc with their ridiculous trackers and complicated keys... nobody really BuJos like that.
Keep it simple and create Collections (chapters) for allll of the things that are important. You'll get it, it's just one of those things that you need to DO to get.
It's a phenomenal tool to have. You won't regret putting the time into learning it 👑❤️

I like how you closed your journal at the end *lol* thanks for the tips. I just started bullet journaling like a week ago, and it has helped me to organize my brain a lot. Very powerful simple idea. That's what I love about it. I don't understand the whole BuJo with colors and stickers and more complications but to each his own.

Decided to change my life. I started a bullet journal some two months ago. Now I can free up my mind from the things I have to do, because they are already scheduled and there is no point to worry about them. I filter what's important and what's not. It is definitely a lot easier to live like this. Where have I been all my life..

Love these insights from you, Ryder! Thanks so much for sharing your answers with us

Thanks for the refresher! People that want to keep work and home tasks separate could just divide their dailies into a column for home and a column for work. One book and all together.

Seems to me, the point of Bullet Journal is to have one book not two. Certainly works for me. Helpful as always, Ryder.

Thank you for the 'Ask The Bullet Journalist' series. Love it!
This is my first year to #bujo and
I HAVE A QUESTION:
We're half-way of the calendar year, and I'm half-way into my bujo (I ♡ Emerald edition btw) journalling-tasklisting-event reminder-everything in there. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE YEAR ISN'T OVER YET BUT RUN OUT PAGES? (Wasn't there a video that said it's best to start a new bujo in a new calendar year?)
Thank you in advance,
cheers from winter Melbourne, Australia
cubbie
bujo newbie

Thank you for creating this system. I keep it simple and stick pretty much to your system without too many hacks. I was in the Navy so understanding "rapid logging" was not too difficult for me.
It sometimes bugs me that people who use the system and try to teach it, don't really understand or misinterpret the term" rapid logging" in their videos. I get that everyone can do what they want, but it comes to a point where it really isn't bullet journaling anymore.

I keep personal and work in one journal, but I use bullets for work tasks and a small “h” for home/personal tasks. This makes it quick to separate each regardless when I write the task down or when I am going to check it off.

I did something similar to this in the military to keep track of daily tasks and events. Those items were always in my pocket and I'd fill a memo book in about a month. I'd log the opening and closing date and then archive them in a shoebox for reference. So, essentially, I've been keeping a daily log since the late 80's.

I use signifiers so I can quickly scroll thorugh home/work/etc. Basically, no signifier for work, a house symbol for home, a heart for friends and family. So, then you can look at one category at a time. For me, this requires two blocks to remain open at the left for bullet and signifier. Any other ideas?

Thank you so much Ryder for making this video. I just came across your work last week. Where have I been all this time!!! I am so glad though that I've found the Bullet Journal finally! This was a good episode - which spurs a question in my mind:
I take a lot of notes on different topics - some related to talks/conferences/trainings I do for my work. Others are related to personal development books/videos I read or watch. And there are insights that come from both streams of my activity that I'd like to collect in one place. I can totally see the idea of creating a collection and placing any small nuggets of wisdom and insights in the Bullet Journal. But often the notes themselves are the insights - even if they may be pages and pages and pages long.
So do you think in this case, I should make a separate book for "notes"? I'd rather have it all in one place but then I might end up using 2 bullet journals a month. How shall I reconcile the need to have everything in one place with the fact that I take a lot of notes? Thank you very much for your perspective on this! Warm regards!

I started my Bujo two and half years ago. It is the best planning system mixed with my own creativity that I've ever used. Can't wait for the full doc!

Have had my bullet journal for a few months now. Starting to get the hang of it, the videos are super helpful. Please make more!

Thank you for this video, Ryder. It was most helpful, and I'm greatly looking forward to starting my bullet journal as soon as the one I ordered from your store arrives! Thank you also for being the creative genius behind this enterprise. You inspire me and, by what I've seen on TheXvid and Pinterest, you inspire many people around the world. Bravo!

This video really helps me to think about the way I use BJ. I've been considering the division of work BJ and personal BJ for a long time, and I have tried to split it into two notebooks, but it turns out that it does not work for me in this way ,and it always drives me crazy when I want to write down the idea in personal BJ without taking it to the office.

This platform is so valuable! Glad you're hosting "ask the bulletjournalist". Pretty cool stuff.
I started using a version of this in June 2014 and it changed how I thought about not completing something I thought was important vs what was urgent now. Moving items over to another time felt really good. It also help with collecting data for my own review. I had a few pages that included monthly accomplishments. So helpful.

The problem I have is that my work isn’t just a list of tasks. I have to diarise and conduct reviews in what is essentially a day book. I’d love to hear from people that have similar and how they set up their journal. I want the day book to be a bullet journal and have sequential pages for each day.

Another great video, Ryder!
I refer to my question on the previous "Ask the Bulletjournalist" in hopes to get an answer on the next episode:
What about those of us who already use a daily/weekly/monthly planner for tracking our schedules? What are some strategies to motivate these types of people to use their BuJos? I often find myself going days, even weeks, without writing in my BuJo, which I find disheartening because I was looking forward to using the official Bullet Journal notebook when I first bought it.
Thanks again and looking forward to seeing your ideas.

I've read your book and it has helped me stay organized and accomplish my plans and long term goals. Total game changer for me! Glad to see you are also on youtube so I can further enhance this method. Thank you and more power!

You are an amazing human being for creating the Bullet Journal Revolution!

Thank you for sharing your techniques Ryder! My friend learned about bullet journaling and told me about it. I think it will really help me stay organized in my life.

Thank you for creating and introducing bullet journaling. I just started and I am optimistic about how it will start to get my life back together. I'm a working mom (not new), and have difficulty coping with work and personal life demands. I always tried figuring out how to make things into something that can make me organize my thoughts and stay in focus keeping track of my tasks, my ideas, and priorities. Thank you, Ryder.

I'm still waiting for my bullet journal to arrive through post (nobody in my city stocks it *scream*) and I can tell that I am going to absolutely LOVE it ♥️ CAN'T WAIT

Thank you! This answered some questions I have wonder for a while now :D Awesome! Do what 'works' for you... perfect!

So glad to find some straight up videos minus all the fluff. Most of these videos are the bullet-journal equivalent of cooking blogs where the author insists on describing her most recent vacations and home-school experiences before getting into the recipe. This was refreshing and effective - thank you much.

Question: when deciding when to do monthly logs tasks, do you schedule them into your monthly birds eye view or into the daily log? say the task is due on the 15th and today's the 1st.
I'd like to keep track of what my week ahead looks like so I don't over commit, as I do get overwhelmed quickly by trying to do too much. Thanks in advance!

Excellent work Ryder. I use my journal for a very complex, long term project. My daily logs usually have dozens of entries (tasks, ideas and notes), so that a weekly spread usually goes well beyond a two page spread. I also journal numerous detailed project notes that span several pages.
1. Any tips on "threading" and indexing weekly spreads that go beyond two pages?
2. Any additional thoughts (such as a second, project index) for project collections that are interspersed with weekly spreads?
I am working on the most complex project I've ever worked on my professional life, and your journaling techniques have made me far more effective. Thank you.

New to Bullet Journalling since the podcast with Mat D´Avella, Thanks creating such a simple yet amazing product

Little pet peeve that bugs me: In your monthly logs you start jotting thins down with one square free on the left (where you put the star) but during your daily logs you seem to start at the first left square

Thank ou so much, you helped me declutter my brain ! It gives me huge releaf and joy.

I have an idea. I find that often when I write things down things come in and then I have to move things around. To create flexibility I photo capture a page individually and then organize then digitally. I use the naming convention of the file to order it. Kinda a hybrid between writing it down the journal and digital journal. Kinda like having playing cards where you can sort them the way you want as you feel fit. Cool think is if it is legible and you use Evernote you can search words in those notes even if they are handwritten.

Love these episodes. They are so helpful. Thank you !!

great stuff! i like a number of people i think was doing a similar system to bullet journaling as it is a very natural system

Respectful Ryder,
Do you think it's a good idea to use blank folder papers in a three holes folder as a bullet journal? We can number the pages individually (ie, Monthly log start with M1,M2, ...; Daily log start with D1, D2,.....) So we can always add pages to each category without affecting the following category 😄. Hope this would help.

a few years ago I found the Tony Robbins Life planner method. As a creative type i work as a designer and I am totally disorganized. i really enjoyed his method of planning. As a designer I did find some parts to be to overwhelming . When i found the Bullet journaling method by a designer TheXvid channel I started to integrate pieces of both journal methods. It become more fun and incouraging to journal .

I'm of an older generation and at first this was overwhelming for me. Bit by bit, watching your different episodes I am becoming less terrified (stressed) about trying it out. It actually seems rather simple in keeping your life organized but setting it up seems a trial for me. I'm getting better, so please keep teaching us this rather interesting method of journaling.

Separating "collections" or other stuff would be too nerve racking for me. To help resolve that, I decided to have sections for different things like "scededuling", "daily experiences", and "random thoughts and entries" and each section gets it's own index starting with page 1 for each section.

thank you so much for answering about how many pages to save for collections. i just started mine and was feeling bad that i have only used half a page so far.
Thanks again!

For the work or personal problem, one can use different color to write down their items.

Still enjoy this video, with its upbeat intro tune and slide in of the journal and practical explanation. And I never thought of it not showing you. I started bullet journaling years ago, when you did not even show your face. :-)

I plan on incorporating meeting notes into my dailies. If I do this ,do I need to index the meeting to be able to easily find later or should I make meeting notes their own collection and separately indexed them so they’re not part of the daily?

Again, super useful explanations for my starting. Thanks.

I'm just a newbie here and I'm reading the book and saw many, many videos about BuJo. I'm a bit confused about the monthly log and the daily log: are these two to-do lists? Should I refer to both when I'm checking what's left to do in my week or month? I do understand that the left side of the monthly log is for things that happened. Thank you for anyone who responds, Nicole

I like lists. I use a lot of lists. But sometimes I lose my sheet of lists on my desk (!). If I were to put those lists anywhere in the BJ, where would I put them? Those lists are things to check on Amazon or other websites, returns for items I bought, things to discuss with my DH, or small housekeeping recipes like mold, cleaning, etc. Thanks Nicole

Very helpful yet again. On your next episode can you explain what a collection can be? Thanks.

THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE SYSTEM FOR PLANNING!!!!

Just started today and am loving this so far though totally scared :-/. Anyway, does it matter where a collection starts? Like can it go in the spread right after you start your daily log, so in essence, breaking up that month of logs? Also, on work vs home, do you suggest marking each task differently? I feel like a signifier for work at least will allow me to scan that once I sit down to work?

Wow I’ve had this question for a couple years now. This finally answered my question about the diff between monthly’s and daily’s eep thanks

Just starting Bullet Journalling to start 5/1/2018 these videos on your website are priceless

Thank you for this, I loves it!!!🙂

I like to write and sometimes I notice that I’m righting a lot in the daily log and there goes the minimalistic part of it that I really like. Should I get a separed simple notebook just for writing?

Hi Ryder, what's the difference between collection vs. projects? thank you!

I have a question for : Ask the Bullet Journalist.
I came to Bullet Journalling very early in the growth; Would it be possible to get a TheXvid playlist of the early days of Bullet Journal examples up to the Current "what is bullet journaling" Im keen to see how far things have grown and what I still do which may be different from the approaches today.
I think my earliest Bullet Journalling experience was the best part of 4 years ago but I dont have that Journal to hand !

I take work notes on my personal bujo, but then migrate work stuff to a notebook that is only about work, and sometimes build up ideas. This works specially well with writing fiction. If I get an Idea or I'm doing a brain storm I just do it on my bujo, and then when I get home I add it to my other notebook. This way I get all the creative ideas free from the clutter of house chores and birthday parties

The fact that you have Add makes this therapeutic. Distractions are minimal and you are straight forward. I am learning a ton!

Something I never see in people's bujos are their work schedules. I am a part-time private piano instructor with a teaching schedule that often varies from day to day. Where and how do I record my teaching time blocks in my bujo? Thank you.

I have question about travel journals. Do u have a seperate journal for travelling, or incorporate it in your main journal as a collection perhaps?

Hi Ryder,Thanks for the vid. Is this your example bujo? It seems your monthly log has not changed since your episode 1, if so could u illustrate with a real life bujo? I agree everyone should use what works for him/her and think it would have added value if they see how it works for you in your life so they are triggered to try it out

I genuinely appreciated your point about collections being indexed - so a two page spread is sufficient and it’s designed to be modular. I am seriously toying w this system for work and thinking of using collections/lists extensively but that point had held me back from getting started. I feel slightly more confident to take the bull by the horns and try to get something set up now. Thank you!

How do you recommend planning projects that might take 1-2 years to complete, for example, a marketing campaign or a research project?

This was super helpful-thanks!

Really helpful, thanks, answered the questions I have

How do you keep things from getting lost when everything is written in the same color? How do you process what you have put into your daily log at the end of the day? Do you separate brain dump from tasks to complete and logged things, etc.

Do you put daily logs in your index and do you set aside a certain number of pages for them? And how would you label daily logs in the index: by date or something else?

I have just started bullet journaling and have found that I need to refer back to a previous bullet journal for info. Moving forward what do you suggest to make it easy to retrieve information from past journals?

I have a question- What do you think about all the bullet-journal videos on youtube, with the art integrated and weekly spreads and trackers? Do you even consider them as your method?

Questions: What if I forget to Daily Log for a day or two? What if I forget to write something in general? Do I write them in Monthly Log? I wonder if you could do a video where you show your day in the point of view of your Bullet Journal. So, do you carry it all day, what kind of notes you do, at what time you fill your daily trackings and write out your bullets, how many pages you use in a day, how do you make long lists vs. really-short-and-meaningful-only-today-lists, how flexible bullet journal really is?
*What spreads are a must view everyday?*

So helpful. Thank you a lot for making these videos. Love from Vietnam!

I have been intorduced to bullet journaling the artistic over exadurated & complicated way and that lead me to never use it again and sort of hate it i used it for a few days maybe a year ago, but now that ive seen your method specifically, im feeling positive about it for the first time again many out there claim that theyr methods are simpler but, this is real soul simple, this is the core bullet journaling the original idea, the most empactful, and i honistly think all the artistic ones should be banned from youtube so that people wont hate bullet journaling thanks to them but instead be introduce to bullet journalling the real way, your way is the best i cant thank you. ENoUGH!!! I love you thanks for probably changing my life!!
love.
-Me

Thank you Ryder for bullet journal. God bless you

How do you keep track of things you have to do on a daily basis and schedule a designated time for them. For example let's say I want to practice piano at 4:35 pm every day or I want to go for a morning run at 5am every morning. Thanks for the feedback and I love this system its a great help!

When you prep every day, do you look through all your pages? What you do is really simple, but I can't keep up with something that relies on me never missing something when I'm looking through pages of things. I have a weekly list like your monthly one and migrate things week to week. I also stay on one page so I can see everything and not leave anything essential behind. Do you find that you can miss things?

I always go back to the Bullet Journal Channel videos as a concise reference. Thanks!

Modular, it’s a good description, explained a lot by itself. Thank you for addressing it.

So here's what I managed to do is combine this system with a semi traverler's journal. I got one of those big A5 covers and some soft a5 notebooks. I put my main hardcover bullet journal in there organizing everything. Then I use numbered soft journals and label them A, B, C. In my index I will then use that plus the number say A32 and I know it goes into A. I use these for writing down everything I need to at work and if I run out I can just swap the refill easily without needing a whole new bullet journal.

I feel compelled to share that for anyone who doesn’t want to spend $15-$20-$25 on a bullet journal, you really can use ANY notebook. If it’s important to have the guide lines to help you draw straight lines or draw nice looking boxes/shapes, you can try this system with a $2.00 reversible graph paper notebook from the 99 Cent store. If you don’t like how the front cover looks, you could always glue a nice piece of paper to it. Especially if you do want to experiment with your own layouts for tracking lots of different things, using graph paper really helps. And using a cheap graph paper notebook means you don’t have to feel like you’re wasting paper if you decide to scrap some of your experiments.

A simply question: if I have to schedule a work meeting for the next week, in more helpful to use the monthly log or the daily log adding the date of the meeting? I do not use the weekly log; i prefer to use the original Ryder method (fast, simple and minimalist).
Thanx in advance

i agree with ms hunt keep it simple stupid referring to myself ,i am not artsy ,so minimalist suits me so far you are streets ahead i think in the grand scheme of things that this is going to work for me the good thing november december change books next year less mistakes love it

This was so helpful. Thank you.

Thx for sharing these powerful learnings

This system looks good. I'm gonna give it a try.

Question: What's your emergency back up plan or resetting options for the bullet journal if you have a hectic week, for example because of finals, serious illness et cedera and you you can't write anything to your bullet journal? How to get your bullet journal back to up to date?

It’s not fair how Amandarachlee has more subscribers than you. Yeah she’s artsy and fun and I love her, but you actually created the system and make it functional. You should have at least the number of subscribers she does.

Thank you. I think you have something here. I am going to buy your book.

I do like the actual bullet journal notebook, but are there other notebooks that seem to also work really well?

you are really really REALLYYYYYY great at breaking down how Bullet Journals work. I honestly felt confused before until I came across your channel. thank youuu! :) :) :) !!

i bought a lovely journal and i'm afraid of starting it :(
i saw other jurnals how beautiful they are inside, and im thinking i will write something wrong on first pages and destroy it

What goes into the future log? How's it differentiated from the monthly calendar/ tasks?
And what happens if I have more than one thing to write about one day of the month? I see that each date is given only one line.

It is so refreshing. I understand the bullet journal better

So, in general, the daily list is not so much a to do list but more a what not to forget / what comes to mind list?

Personally what works for me I have a personal bullet journal and mirror key headings witin Evernote for work and then create shortcuts to capture key daily tasks on mobile devices.

This is amazing. Thank you.

Very good choice for second topic in the series.