Skip to main content

Analog Plus Digital Planning

With all the capabilities of the Bullet Journal method, one thing the analog notebook just doesn't do is sound an alarm. Sometimes there is nothing like a time sensitive reminder.

Analog Plus Digital Planning Life on Paper and Technology

As with anything Bullet Journal related, you'll have to find what works best for you. But with an ultra-streamlined style, the goal is to use the tools at your disposal with minimal effort to set up and to use.

The most basic approach would avoid duplicating work where you can. In this case, calendar reminders might accomplish all you need. If you have a cell phone or digital watch you already have this capability without having to sign up for another service.

You can include any details you want in your reminder, such as location and anyone involved, but the timed alert with it's title would be the minimum. Ideally, your journal contains all relevant information of the appointment so you shouldn't have to duplicate that information on the alarm.

For single instance appointments, this method works just fine. But it's great for repeating events as well. After the repeating event, just update it to the next occurrence so you don't have to set numerous events in advance. That way you have reflection built in to your routine, and reflection is an important part of the bullet journal method. Updating your alarm each time is especially useful if you have any pre-emptive reminders set up on the calendar event, since you don't have to do that all over again. The alarm and its reminders can be invaluable when you have a lot going on.

Another thing the analog journal doesn't do is calculate. Financially, I keep most of my information in a digital spreadsheet. I have software to handle most things with my budget so there is very little of it in my bullet journal. Easy peasy.

How to you balance technology with your paper notebook? Comment here and be sure to subscribe!

Comments



Popular posts from this blog

Bullet Journal for the Hard Working Educator

NOTE: the original page linked to from this post disappeared so I've relinked it to the wayback machine at archive.org. Some of you bullet journalers are teachers. That's a lot on your plate. We home school at our house. I help out when the children are struggling with certain things, but mostly my lovely wife handles the curriculum. She's got a ton of stuff to manage. I'm trying to pique her interest in the Bullet Journal method and I think building an amazing example of a teacher's bullet journal may do the trick. So I've been looking for bullet journal ideas related to schooling. For example, on her blog, Jessica Chung has a post describing  16 layouts for educators . Check out this Class Semester for Teachers inspired by Jessica's post. Jessica includes goals, a monthly/weekly outlook, a semester chart, course overview, assignment map, and much more in her journal. She also provides several photos with the explanations. There are some minor...

DIY Add a paper pocket to your journal

Got a plain old notebook? There are plenty of options out there and you may not find one with all the features you like. But journalers are already familiar with customizing their journals and we tend to like that. Here's a super easy DIY option for a pocket. Not everyone needs a pocket in their journal. If you want a pocket but don't have one, here is a very simple method using one Legal or A4 size sheet of paper and double-sided tape. (Affiliate links included.) The Universal Journals are printed by Lulu.com Any print on demand service will be limited compared to a traditional printer. As capable as Lulu.com is (with quick turn around, worldwide availability, lots of product options for customers, and more), there are lots of things journalers might want in their  Universal Journal  that Lulu just can't do. At least not at this time. But this also makes for ideal customization. Make it your own. Got any other ideas for adding a pocket to a book? Comment h...

Bullet Journal for Teachers: Class Semester

A previous post ( Bullet Journal for the hard working educator ) linked to a now dead page. I've updated the post so it links to the archive.org version of a page on 16 layouts for teachers. Here is an ultra-streamlined take on one layout idea from that page, a class semester for the teacher. (affiliate links included in this post) As with the Universal Journal approach (minimal set up time) I've tried to incorporate placement, iconography, and colors to communicate as much information as possible with as little effort as possible. The following description and included photos show a completely hypothetical semester, simply for illustration of the concepts. Layout The basic layout in the photo above places the semester weeks at the top of the spread. The class assignments, labs, exams, etc. are listed in the left column. So each item has its own row for any pertinent information. The weeks are bit busy so let me unpack all that. The week number of the semester is listed on ...