Want to actually stick to your resolutions this year? You need to buy in to the latest organising essential: a bullet journal.
A cross between a calendar and an old-fashioned diary, bullet journals — named for their elaborately coded bullet lists — have garnered a cult following. At last count there are 1.3million posts on Instagram with the #bulletjournal hashtag — or ‘BuJo’ as fans call it — and endless Facebook and Pinterest groups of journal junkies sharing pictures of their beautifully crafted pages.
The bullet journal was invented by New York designer Ryder Carroll, who was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a child. He wanted somewhere he could write down his to-do lists and goals.
He launched his bullet journal in 2013, and his YouTube video showing how to start one has now been viewed more than six million times. Carroll sets out exactly how it works on his website, bulletjournal.com.
It seems almost impenetrable to beginners: what on earth is ‘rapid logging’? How do you migrate a task? What does ‘X’ mean — or ‘O’, for that matter? Followers insist it’s easier to do than it is to explain.
A bullet journal (pictured), a cross between a calendar and an old-fashioned diary, bullet journals — named for their elaborately coded bullet lists — have garnered a cult following
So here’s a simple(ish) version: start with any blank A5 notebook (although aficionados love the Leuchtturm1917 with its distinctive dotted pages) and a pen (Staedtler is the brand of choice here). Reserve the first four pages for your index.
This is where you’ll note down where you’ve written things, so you can find them later (for example ‘p28: boxsets I’d like to watch’). Next is four pages for your ‘future log’, where each page is divided into three and each month is given a grid, in which you might note down birthdays, deadlines or events.
The next double-page spread is for your ‘monthly log’. So if it’s January, use the left-hand page for a list noting each day of the month. Today, Monday, January 1, would be 1M, then 2T, 3W and so on, until 31W. Next to the date write a bullet point of anything you need to achieve that day.
On the right-hand page, write a list of tasks you want to complete that month. That could be anything from the mundane (get your suits dry-cleaned or make a dentist’s appointment) to the more lofty (plan a summer holiday, search for a new job, run 5k). Number pages as you go.
Now you can start your ‘daily log’ for January. That’s a spread of two pages per week where you write down the things you need to do each day in concise bullet points. This is ‘rapid logging’. The idea is to write these every evening for the next day.
Carroll invented a set of symbols for entries: so a simple dot is a task, an ‘O’ is an event, and a ‘—’ is a note (this could be anything from thoughts or observations to something funny you heard on the bus).
Once you complete a task, cover the dot with an ‘X’. When you get to the end of the week or month, if there are tasks you haven’t crossed, use ‘>’ to show you’ve ‘migrated’ the task to another day or month. If all this makes you want to lie down, it might reassure you to hear even Carroll says you should adapt his system so it works for you.
In fact, flexibility is the beauty of a bullet journal. Helen Colebrook, 40, started hers 18 months ago along Carroll’s lines, but she’s since adapted it.
The HR consultant, from Kingsbridge, Devon, has kept the index plus yearly and monthly plans and daily logs, but also sticks in photos and ticket stubs to create a week-by-week memory bank. She writes in inspirational quotes, and has a ‘Top three goals’ section for each week. ‘I have never been so organised or focused in my life,’ says Helen. ‘Work used to take over all my time and I’d have a lot of jumbled thoughts bubbling in my head. Now I can focus on what I want to achieve — that might be something for work, booking a watercolour course or spending time with my 16-year-old daughter Abby.’
Helen, who like many journalers, posts pictures of her spreads on Instagram and her website journalwithpurpose.co.uk, says she spends about two hours at the weekend with her journal — planning the week ahead, migrating unfinished tasks and doodling.
Each evening she spends 20 minutes noting the next day’s tasks and writing an ‘achievement log’ of three or four things that went well that day, plus a list of things she is grateful for.
The bullet journal was invented by New York designer Ryder Carroll, who was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a child
‘This felt a bit fake at first, but over time it changes your mindset: you look for good things each day, which puts you in a more positive frame of mind.’
Some scientists think bullet journals are a useful way to manage stress. Getting the task out of your head and down on paper gives your mind space and reduces anxiety, according to U.S. neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, author of The Organized Mind (Penguin, £9.99). It could also be a smart way to achieve goals, says consultant psychologist Dr Mark Winwood from AXA PPP Healthcare. ‘Writing it down is a commitment and your journal is holding you to account. “Getting fit” is a nebulous goal.
‘How are you planning to get there? That’s why New Year resolutions don’t really work: they’re too broad and there’s no plan. But if you can micromanage your goal in a bullet journal — “On Monday I’m going to walk to the next bus stop” — it’s a small, smart, manageable goal you can achieve.’ Crossing it off is also important — we don’t pat ourselves on the back enough for our achievements.’
Even doodling on your journal could have benefits, says psychotherapist Lucy Beresford, who has a practice at Grace Belgravia in London. ‘It can send your brain into a different rhythm so you are letting your ideas percolate while you doodle.
‘It’s similar to taking a long walk. You think your mind is idle, but it’s still productive, just at a different level.’
Both Winwood and Beresford agree that spending too much time making your journal look perfect to post on social media could encourage excessive rumination rather than action.
Beresford says: ‘Use it to set goals and cross off things you’ve achieved. But don’t let it get in the way of living your life.’