This Notebook Transformed My Schedule

The Bullet Journal... vs. the Digital Calendar. Which is better? Can one replace the other? Find out.
USEFUL SUPPLIES
The Notebook: bulletjournal.com/products/ed...
The Bullet Journal Pen - bulletjournal.com/products/th...
The Book: bulletjournal.com/pages/book
BUJO RESOURCES:
The Course: bulletjournal.com/products/bu...
BujoU - community.bulletjournal.com/feed
Newsletter: bulletjournal.com/pages/newsl...
SOCIALS
IG: / bulletjournal
Tik Tok - / bulletjournalmethod
Facebook: / bulletjournal
Pinterest - www.pinterest.co.uk/bulletjou...
Twitter: / rydercarroll
USEFUL VIDEOS AND PLAYLISTS:
How to Bullet Journal Playlist - bit.ly/37wG8S1
What is the Bullet Journal Method - • What is The Bullet Jou...
The Bullet Journal Course - • How To Start A Bullet ...
Tips and Tricks Playlist - bit.ly/39amaN6
Questions and Answers Playlist - bit.ly/37wG6cR

[@phoinixtroy3608]

@bulletjournal I have a content request: I would love a Coffee With Ryder video. 6-8 minutes maybe, where Ryder sits down with his coffee and BuJo, no words, just him writing in his BuJo, doing his morning reflection, writing his lists or whatever. We don't even need to see what he's writing. Maybe he smiles at the camera a couple of times to engage. As I was pouring my coffee this morning I thought how nice it would be just to quietly hang out with Ryder and bujo over coffee. Just a suggestion, but I know I would watch that video over and over.

[@bulletjournal]

I love that! Wrote it down :)

[@phoinixtroy3608]

@@bulletjournal 😊❤️

[@aspencorner2654]

Yes, please!

[@chloe-1776]

I would love that so much!!

[@melusine826]

​@@bulletjournal definitely - some body doubling for us adhers please! Im in progress of getting diagnosed at 45 😅.... thank you for your channel !

[@adelehare8495]

When I start my monthly log I usually write all my planned events and deadlines in pencil. Then as the month happens, I erase my pencil and use a pen to write a quick one-line summary of each day, so I can see what actually happened :)

[@amysingh4]

This is brilliant! I like writing my plans so I can visualize the month ahead, but couldn’t figure out how to integrate that with the reflection aspect.

[@KazumiShiunsai]

this is something i found hard to understand at the beginning, becasue of ppl doing all this ellaborate bujo's drawing ahead, after i understood that bujo serves as tracking besides planning, i was mind blown xD thanks to youtubers like Simie hiriarte, i decided to try a bujo for the first time (and i'm binge watching your videos). This video is really helpful and to the point, hope more ppl get to understand the real purpose of bujo

[@youvegotwings]

I love her channel cause her systems are so simple and easy to adapt. Nothing against pretty things (I too have expensive planners 😂) but if it takes more time to write down than to do the actual task it’s not very effective

[@bulletjournal]

I really appreciate this - and we love Simie!

[@naagmatimakondu6352]

@Simielriarte

[@rebeccaw9656]

I too find my digital calendar and bullet journal work hand in hand; and I have made the transition to reflection in my bullet journal for some time now, from these videos. My digital calendar has all my events and want to do, need to do tasks… but my bullet journal has what I actually did do and achieved plus thoughts and feelings and ideas and notes… I’ve also found, the more you reflect per week, month, year, the better you get at useful information in daily logs - also in digital calendars - in order to be able to backfill and track progress. When I had to collect data for a health event, or recollect notes taken from phone calls and specialist appointments, it was my series of bullet journals from over the last several years that came to my rescue.

[@bulletjournal]

That's amazing! Where do you keep them?

[@jenspoder8322]

I feel that digital calendars are great for day to day scheduling. But when I want a bird eye view of say, a quarter, not so much. I do four vertical timelines across a spread. Here I can get a perspective on bigger events and deadlines. This helps me decide whether to plan something for instance in a weekend. I can immediately see: “Oh. This month is really getting quite crammed already. Better leave some slack in the schedule.”

[@bulletjournal]

Yes, I do something similar and it is so helpful for being intentional with our capacity!

[@neophytebutterfly]

Great idea!

[@CJDiaz69]

Just Genius! every time I watch I learn something to assist in simplifying my life and reducing the anxiety and stress of everyday. Thank you

[@bulletjournal]

That's always the goal, thank you!

[@AlliedJustin]

@Bullet Journal, have you thought about doing an episode about bullet journaling on e-ink devices? This space has so little on the topic and I think there is so much potential for bridging the gap between digital and analog, devices like remarkable, supernote, onyx boox all have so much potential for bridging this gap between digital and analog.

[@brendalg4]

How are they bridging the gap? They are digital

[@AlliedJustin]

@@brendalg4 true that eink devices are digital, but they "bridge the gap" in the sense that they don't have backlights, don't normally have notifications, or messaging. As a result, they get close to the focus of a pen and paper experience.

[@jacqslabz]

The main thing I use my digital calendar for is essentially texting my future self. Mine is private - other people can't put things on it, but I lose track of what year it is. Without a smartphone with a digital calendar, I would never make it to things like dentist appointments. That's a the edge a digital calendar has for me: making my phone ding at me when it's time for things, because I lack an internal sense of time. Most people seem to just be able to remember this stuff, but I just don't. A paper notebook helps compensate for my sense of time by letting me see how long ago things happened. A digital calendar helps compensate for my sense of time by having alerts to remind me when important things are coming soon. The number of times I had to call a doctor's office to tell them I'm sorry I can't make it to my appointment that started 10 minutes ago while in my bedroom not even showered (let alone dressed) before I made it a rule that all of those go on my gCal.... well it was expensive & demoralizing to say the least. I agree with this video: digital is great for future, because digital is malleable enough for the uncertainty of the future. While paper isn't, neither is the past.

[@youvegotwings]

I think both have their strengths and weaknesses, which is why I use both 😂. Digital is for my future self and for things that will happen in a very very long time. I also like to use the ability to use reminders for what’s very important. For day to day (or week to week) I prefer analog

[@bulletjournal]

I am the same

[@angelmaden1559]

What did it for me was trying to go back to figure out when I last did a medical screening appointment so I could reschedule it in the future. My digital calendar deletes everything after about 3 months. You lose history. It’s only for future/present time reminders in the short term.

[@bulletjournal]

Oh that's interesting, is that a setting on your digital calendar? Mine keeps everything

[@angelmaden1559]

@@bulletjournal It might be. I’ve just never found the place to change it. Bigger fish to fry and all that.

[@DO-xo1cz]

This video is great. Also, I bought your book and it’s excellent. Going back to analog with only some pieces of my personal management process being digital has been helpful.

[@sowercookie]

I've been bullet journaling for years, I don't even check my digital calendar it all goes into my notebook daily to do and timeblocks (which I check all the time!) I do like my journal looking nice but I also don't wanna spend hours drawing in it so over time I've developed a minimalist way of making it pretty, it takes me maybe an hour a month to set up and then I'm done.

[@MR_THINQ]

I just use my calender, why write it down twice when you can write it down once. I’m running a creative consultancy, I haven’t got time doing the same thing multiple times. My calender works perfect for me and my business, it’s my to do list as well - really simple, just works and doesn’t take up physical space and costs nothing. No brainier for most people.

[@Jannna]

Yes! I always struggled with this! Now I use Planbella Planner App as my digital bullet journal. It combines both - I love it.

[@bulletjournal]

best of both worlds!

[@Sunshineartist_5]

Thanks Ryder.

[@isadorasappel]

That was incredibly helpful. Thanks for the video. Subscribed! :)

[@bulletjournal]

Ah thank you! Welcome!

[@user-cj6jy9bq1z]

Thank you, This amazing that really helped my to prepare the month. Do you have a list of the activities -(how long it take to do it ,where you do it and when you do it ) if so , do you have a special notebook for that ?

[@chloe-1776]

Ryder, what do you think about e-ink devices like the Rewriteable and the Supernote? Can they ever replace a pen and notebook? Do they have a place in the bujo world or do they just combine the lack of customization of software with the friction of pen and paper?

[@bartjoboy]

Using this and it’s really helpful! Only thing is, for me it made the future log a little bit redundant. I only use it for actions with a deadline far in the future, but those really aren’t that many. So question to Ryder, how do you use the Future Log effectively with this hybrid way? If at all?

[@KevinOMalleyisonlysmallreally]

This has actually confused me a little. Do you not fill in the monthly log to look forward, but rather lay it out and then fill it in as the month goes on with what did happen? I had been laying out the month, putting in the things I knew would happen or that I needed to attend to, and then if something moved or got cancelled I just crossed it out and moved it. This has been working for me so I'll still do it, but I'm interested in the 'intention' behind the monthly log as designed in the 'method'

[@bulletjournal]

The Monthly Timeline used to be a planning calendar in the past - but with how quickly things change and shift, the Monthly Timeline is now used as more of a 'one line a day' function, which helps with the monthly reflection

[@peterostlund5041]

Then the month log will be more like a diary then a planning tool? You really should change the old "Start here" video. In that the month log was a planner for upcoming events. Confusing for beginners I think...

[@airgeri]

I started using my monthly log for planning and daily log for what I actually got done. It has worked for me so far :) I modify how I use the different logs (monthly, weekly, daily) according to how they meet my needs as I go :)

[@carriewetsch4441]

I also found that the future log was a little bit duplicative of the monthly log so I like the idea of it as a record of what happened.

[@katendress6142]

I still use paper-based forward planning because my brain doesn't work with digital.

[@coreylevine5348]

Great video! Love how you use the two together. What is your thoughts on task manager vs. daily spreads? I’d love the BuJo official POV on this topic. Do you add tasks directly onto the daily spread as they come up? Or do you use a task manager to manage all the various complex tasks and possible action items that come up. Then filter them out by only putting what you WANT to accomplish in your bullet journal? Or do you recommend everything goes into your Bullet Journal?

[@bartjoboy]

I personally use my notebook as the place where all the stuff goes in first. As things come up throughout the day, be it new tasks, events or other thoughts I write them down in the daily log of today. Then during my evening ritual, I figure out what to do with them. This way I at least know where I can find something and don't need to remember where I put what: because I know everything is in my notebook first. Most of the time the tasks either stay where they are until I migrate them, are moved to a custom collection or are scheduled in the future log or my digital calendar.

[@bookhuggah]

You can put everything in the daily log, as it happens, a log of what you get handed and what you do and whatever else. Then you can use a signifier to indicate which app you’re sending the data to and use that like a migration method.

[@antoniob.5172]

Insightful. And I wasn't expecting this kind of advice to come from a young Christopher Walken either.

[@MV-jg1xr]

Hi Ryder, i have a question that dont find it on book or videos, do you put habits and recurring tasks on daily log? It duplicates some, but is worth it? Thank you so much from Brazil!

[@bulletjournal]

Great question. I personally track my habits (no more than 3) in my Monthly Timeline - I did a video about it called Super Simple Habit Tracker if you'd like to see it! There are many who write their habits in their daily log, too

[@SkihaseHH]

If you are interested in suggestions: I have recurring tasks as a flip out piece of paper that is stuck to the inside cover. I can flip it out every day and check off five boxes on the daily page without rewriting the tasks every time. :-)

[@rebeccaw9656]

I do both, I’ve incorporated a tracker into my monthly log for things like exersize, etc; but I also jot down in my daily’s so that I can refer to my notes when reflecting at the end of the month and back-filling days I missed.

[@MV-jg1xr]

@@bulletjournal Thank you so much Ryder and folks! I really appreciate the tips!

[@MV-jg1xr]

@@SkihaseHH thank you!! I love the suggestion

[@alonsochehade]

Question: So we migrate open tasks from prev mon in new monthly log. Then tasks from prev week to weekly log. When using weekly logs, do you also migrate tasks from monthly log to weekly log?

[@bulletjournal]

I do. It's also a great opportunity to pause and do things like break down a task. Monthly tasks might be a few tasks rolled into one, and putting it in the weekly or daily is a moment to get more precise about what I'm doing

[@susanking9173]

I have a new set of recurring weekly tasks that I'm struggling to manage with BJ versus digital. Digital is great, I guess for carrying the lists forward week after week. Not sure what to do next. My digital calendar is too crowded with tasks. When do they go into the BJ? Struggling to find a routine/system to clear my brain.

[@bulletjournal]

That's a great question - I don't put most tasks in my calendar until the day or week of, where I start to time block space to do the relevant tasks of the week/day.

[@susanking9173]

@@bulletjournal when you say calendar, I take it you mean digital calendar. Do you put them in as tasks to be completed or include in events for time blocking for completion?

[@SamDSo]

im stuck on "Carlie Ended things today" but 100% bujo and digital used at the same time!

[@usenbaevargen6459]

🔥🔥

[@Mvrderface]

9/4.

[@CRAZY6256]

I would love to see this applied to real life work and not for a KZbinr. Nothing wrong with that career choice just that it does not align with other types of jobs. I'm an IT administrator works with multiple customers and have multiple tasks to do each day. Not to mention the emergencies. Do I enter stuff like had lunch with so and so? Hell no.

[@bulletjournal]

There are a lot of ways people use this in a variety of jobs that works with their different contexts. The point is simply to step out of the grind and assess how things are going and why

[@dianaquevedot]

It is about use not one or other, it is about use wisely both of them.

[@bulletjournal]

Exactly

[@kinookachilka]

I can still create a calendar, and just use a pencil, erase anything I need to shift

[@gmt5664]

I'd like to know if there are litigators who Bujo. I have court deadlines so I need to future plan in detail to the day, e.g. 15 days before my next hearing 6 months from now. That said, I appreciate the reflection that Bujo taught me.

[@Abeewearingjeans]

Hi! Yes! Since April 2020. How many bujos do you use per year?

[@gmt5664]

​@@Abeewearingjeans I don't. I followed the book and logged so much future planning I started missing things for court. Judge busted but didn't sanction me. I stopped after that. I also had so much going on in a day (court hearings plus meetings), it didn't fit on the line on the monthly log. I find I prepare better when I see the month as calendar. Instead, I sorta use the principles in my Hobonichi cousin.

[@gmt5664]

@@Abeewearingjeans BTW what area of law do you practice? I do family court where I multiple hearings a day, and 3-6 month review hearings.

[@Abeewearingjeans]

@@gmt5664 I’m an advocate in Portugal. So I work with a lot of different areas, but family I stopped (only finishing the lawsuits that I have now) and I also don’t work with taxes. About your super important question I must say that this has been a journey to find out the best way to manage. So here’s my experience: 1- I don’t use lines at the monthly log. I use an entire spread (two faced pages) to distribute M T W and T F S/S. I use the markings of the bujo ed 2 to split the pages in 3. Weekends I use the same space. This gives you more space for information then a line. 2- I always set up a weekly log, 5 days of the week, a part that I call “time blocking” where I block the time of every appointment, hearing, meeting’s, everything that I know that will happen in a certain time. On the days of the week I write in red every due date. And I have a “actions” part where I write everything that I want to accomplish during the week. Question: what about everything else that doesn’t happen in that month or week? 3- I use the future log. 3 months in advance (for me is enough for the most of the year). Example: I started a new bujo for this quarter, so my future log starts on may, June, July (April I worked directly with the monthly log). Anything that happens after this period? 3 options (I use all of them): a. I put the date of the event at the last page of my bujo of that quarter and migrate it for the next quarter bujo, b. Write the event at my planner (we have one just for lawyers/advocates) and (now) c. Put the event at my notion calendar. To prepare hearings I log a date as a due date in red. Note: for the last 4 years I worked with analog exclusively. Since Notion started the calendar app I started using it for time blocking. It’s easier to change tasks without messing up the bujo to much. But I also do the interstitial journaling, that most of the times helps me fill up my notion calendar 😅 I hope that I could help! If you have any doubts, please feel free to ask. I will help with everything that I can! For some examples of my spreads you can see my IG account @abeewearingjeans. There you can see my evolution over time figuring out what worked for me 😘 I hope that I could help you!

[@Abeewearingjeans]

@@gmt5664 side note: I already lost due dates because they were not in my bujo (thank goodness I realized that in time paying the penalty). And I also avoided problems because of my conference calls notes.

[@karrde666666]

if you do it electronically you can use the submissions to train an AI in your image at the end of your life

[@bateschildress]

What’s up with the sound quality?

[@bulletjournal]

We record in a echo-y environment so we have to do a lot of post-processing to get the audio ready for YT

[@user-mi2gw8me6r]

My bullet journal is strictly utility. I do not do bullet journaling as an art. I do not have a problem with people who art journal, I celebrate them. I did set up a numbers sheet to track how much time I am spending on each task, so my bullet journal is analytical.

[@cesbi]

Winning combo: Bullet journal and friction pens (legami for extra happiness). It allows you to move items in your handwritten calendar. Sidenote: I do draw out a calendar, but mostly because I find it calming. And I only use it to sketch out the big foreseeable energy suckers (like a business trip or project deadlines).

[@bulletjournal]

Love that you can identify why you find that technique useful - the big picture is easier for me too when drawn out

[@AlexFedorov]

Напишу по-русски, чтобы показать, что у Райдера есть фанаты по всему миру) Очень крутое видео!

[@jacqslabz]

And this why I say people who spend hours each month draw out these elaborate fancy calendar spreads in their notebook for planning the future month/s and week/s while never spending any time reflecting on their past aren't bullet journaling. Sure maybe they enjoy art, but all they're doing is a DIY planner. And I'm so sick of people calling me "gatekeeping" for that because BuJo "can be anything" - ok, then my desk chair is my BuJo. Because if BuJo can be **anything** then it can be a chair, or a tea kettle, or a window, or etc. If a word can mean literally anything, then it has no meaning. What makes BuJo more than just a DIY planner is reflecting on the past, and people who aren't reflecting on the past well they aren't reflecting on the past. If all they're doing is planning for the future, then they're just making their own planner. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm tired of being made out as the bad guy for pointing out their lack of reflecting on the past.

[@thestationeryjunkie]

100% agree!

[@Artemis583]

Yes, agree. There has been a mob mentality by those folks and it's sad/draining tbh. They do all that work and then make videos on why Bujo didn't work for them 😒

[@bulletjournal]

This has been a real challenge for us. On one hand we love the community and how it's evolved for people's unique contexts and preferences - AND there really is a Method behind the phenomenon! The point is to help people see WHY they're doing what they're doing, which you need reflection for.

[@TheFeldhamster]

Hahaha, I've been called quite a bit of names by these folks as well. Like, they literally stole the name, do something that's completely different and when you call them out they accuse you of "gatekeeping". I don't even do the "real" Bujo method, I just snatch some ideas from here and incorporate them into my own method. I use a week-note planner, that's a pre-printed calendar in notebook form where every left hand page has the weekly calendar and every right hand page is for notes. And while I do take some inspiration from here (and even some from the "art book girls") I'd never call it a BuJo.

[@bubblebuffy]

I get the impression that it’s a mutually beneficial relationship (algorithm/popularity) so they only get called out by followers, not Ryder or his team. I actually kinda like that “live and let live” approach, but I can’t think of anything else where you could adopt the name of it for free! It’s just that it’s annoying for followers who are trying to find ACTUAL Bujo videos! 😅

[@mabelistillarte2524]

Please....spanish traduction!!!

[@RunningM4m]

I'm not using my bulletjournal everyday *🙈 so I'm happy my Digital Calender reminds me ahead of something. Especially monthly or bi-weekly ToDos or events 😊 * just can't keep a routine 😅

[@jimpotter7786]

Seem to have lost my comment from yesterday 😞

[@jimpotter7786]

OK, trying again. I am confused as to what the monthly log is here - its it a timeline of things done in the past, or is it a scheduled list of actions to do in the future? YOu have the comment at around 4:23 where you say you have the list of actions for the month on the page opposite your timeline, which appears from the screen flash to be one from the past, but you go on to say you have your list for the month, your monthly log, weekly log and daily log in quick succession. Sorry but confused here what you are trying to impart? Thanks

[@matusb8059]

guys he's in an empty room

[@rayleneberryman7673]

I love your enthusiasm but for me this presentation style does not allow the brain of the viewer time to take in information and process. I get the fact that it is a thing on KZbin to pack as much as possible into as short a space of time as possible but as a communication technique it is not working in my opinion or experience

[@carriewetsch4441]

It's difficult for me too but I just pause and watch multiple times.

[@virginiawood151]

You can select a speed.

[@maxheadroom460]

Der Werbedreck welchen man gezwungen wird im Vorfeld anzuschauen (2 Clips jeweils 2 Minuten), lassen einen das Interesse am Video verlieren!🤮