A lot of bullet journalers like to keep things minimal, and I'm one of them. But this can pose problems, such as where do you put stuff if the minimalist design leaves very limited space? That's the intersection between design and technique: how you layout your journal vs how you actually use it. This is the second in a series on the amalgam of these two things. (see the first installment on a future log workflow)

In Ryder Carroll's introductory video you'll see a minimalist monthly spread. It's pretty much the monthly spread I still use today. So if you want to keep things simple, how do you this and still keep it functional enough to accommodate real life? Easy: short hand.


In this monthly spread you'll notice my calendar printout in the upper right hand corner of the right page. Beneath that I put a task list for the month. This is a bird's eye view of the month. Nitty gritty tasks or multi-step tasks are handled elsewhere. The printout and task list use…

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So you've spent some time building your bullet journal layouts and getting yourself organized. But it's just not quite working like you want it to. What's going on here? As is often the case, the what to do is only part of the question. How to do it is another. This is the first in a series of an amalgam between design and technique. Let's take a look at future log workflow.


In this ultra-streamlined approach to bullet journaling, it's not only the layouts and designs that are minimalist, but the techniques for using the system as well. The flow of your tasks, appointments, etc. from one module to another can be tricky. Or it can be simple. It's all a matter of how you manage these things.

In my journal, most items end up in the daily log for the day I intend to handle them. That may or may not happen on the actual day assigned but the most important thing is I don't lose track of stuff. The daily log is the last stage of a task/event filtering technique. T…

There are many obvious benefits to keeping a bullet journal. But why keep a pen and paper journal in this digital age? This post will focus mainly on the advantages of the old school approach.


Let's look at a few disadvantages first.

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Replacing When your paper journal is filled up you have to get a new one. Then again, it's common practice to replace digital devices as well. These devices are often acquired with a multi-year contract and you pay for it over the term. But sometimes, such as with tablets, you just have buy it. At least the data transfer from one device to a new one is easy, sometimes
It should be mentioned one advantage of having to manually transfer information is the culling evaluation. Maybe you really don't need to transfer something, and the effort of manually rewriting information makes you take a more deliberate look at the information. Plus, doing so reinforces your awareness of your specific informatio…

So I've never used a weekly spread before but have kept an eye out for ideas. With the way I've used the dailies and monthly spread it just wasn't needed. But with combining a few things to make bullet journaling easier it's now time to try an experiment. So how to do this in a minimalist fashion while getting maximum use for my time? Multi-tasking.


In this set up I'm combining a weekly overview, short term (weekly) future log, and expenses tracking. I'll keep the calendar related stuff in the bottom half of the page and financial stuff in the top half.

The weekly overview will use only keywords for events or tasks. The details will be either in my monthly or daily logs. This is only an overview. The short term future log is what makes this worth the effort for me. This way I don't have to take up space in my handy two column dailies for stuff later in the week. In my routine the daily log is created the night before. I was using Rolling Weeks for short ter…

So you have a lot of classes spread out over campus. Maybe you have labs, rehearsals, group sessions, and more, but you also have homework and studying to do. And you're not a robot, you're a human being who has other needs as well (you'll have to fit in food and sleep somewhere, right?). What is the quickest, easiest way your bullet journal can help with all this?



Let's start off with an understanding: this minimalist's approach to bullet journaling is all about function but in a sleek, elegant way. I have plenty of creative outlets so I don't need my bullet journal for that. The following recommendations certainly leave room for you to artistically express yourself all you want. But for students who want a quick and painless way to manage your academic life, try the following ideas on the basics.

Master Syllabus In this post on a Master Syllabus you'll see a spread for a quick syllabus where you can keep an overview of all major assignments and their due …

Yes. Keeping a bullet journal can help improve your life. It's happened to me and to many others. Being disorganized is a common curse of the human condition. We all need a way to cope with this. Some are better at it than others Thankfully there is more than one way journaling can help us.



Be careful when any sentence contains a phrase such as "studies show". Having said that, studies show the act of writing about heavy concerns can help one cope. The mere act of processing and recognizing a situation can have beneficial effects. Writing is an accessible way to do that. The official Bullet Journal website also has a good article on self care.

Eddy at the Calendex has a good list of 10 pragmatic ways the bullet journal can help you organize including journaling, time tracking, wellness tracking, and more.

Trang Le at Medium.com has more of a meta take on 5 reasons the bullet journal can improve your life.

That's enough external reading for this post. This one is just…