Number One with a Bullet

Bullet Journaling is the new organization sensation, and anyone can do it.

- Ana Reinert

In 2013, Ryder Carroll released a phenomenon on the world called Bullet Journaling, an analog system he built out of his own frustrations trying to make other note-taking, to-do listing, and planning systems work for him. What he ended up developing, he shared with the world through a website and YouTube video that has since changed the planning community forever.

What makes Bullet Journaling so appealing to so many people is its flexibility: It’s a system rather than a specific planner. The method requires nothing more complicated than a notebook and a writing instrument. The Bullet Journal system uses modules, and in these modules users build components that work for their needs. Beyond these core features, everything else is embellishment added at the discretion or need of the individual user.

Carroll describes Bullet Journaling as “different from other systems because it’s as much a mindfulness practice as it is an organizational system. It helps users keep track of what they are doing. More important, it also helps users keep track of why they’re doing those things. Bullet Journaling is very much about self-learning, and the way it’s able to facilitate that is through sustained iterative problem-solving and adaptability. Your Bullet Journal is designed to evolve and become what you need it to be.”

A Bullet Journal that someone needs as a student will not be the same as a Bullet Journal she would need to keep as a young parent or later in life as a retired person. As your life needs change, what you need to track, organize, and remember will change. With the Bullet Journal system, the framework doesn’t change, but the type of module you use might.