Quote of the Week

"One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty councils."
- Woodrow Wilson



Monday, March 11, 2019

Why I Have Two Bullet Journals

In late summer 2018, I started keeping a Bullet Journal and I wish I started keeping one sooner. While I've been a note taker pretty much my whole life, I've never really have been an originated note taker.

Discovering this simple method of journaling has changed that for me. Keeping a Bullet Journal has make noticeable improvements in all aspects of my daily life. That is not an overstatement. Many coworkers have commented on it and have ask me about the notebook I carry with me everywhere and how it works.

With my example, I now have a few coworkers trying the method out. Even a few Team Leaders have talked to me about it and how they want to get their teams using the method or something similar. That may be a good idea by the Team Leaders, but this is different something that won't do you much good, unless you truly want to try it. Kind of like making your spouse go on the same diet your excited about. If the excitement isn't shared, all involved will soon be unhappy.

I won't bother reinventing the Bullet Journal wheel by explaining it here. Below is the YouTube video by the inventor of the Bullet Journal Method, Ryder Carroll that got me started. Check it out and it should all make some sense.


After about a month of keeping a Bullet Journal, I knew it was a habit I was going to keep. I also came to the conclusion that, for me anyways, it would make more sense to keep two separate Bullet Journals. One for my day job, and one for everything else.

Now using the Bullet Journal method in it's purest form, one really should keep one journal. The whole point of it, is to have everything collected and organized in one place. One simple notebook to keep your shit together. So, have two Bullet Journals inherently has some drawbacks.

The main drawback of having two Bullet Journals is, well, having two Bullet Journals.Two notebooks to carry around, and maintain. Has fate would have it, when you think of something to jot down or need to look up, odds are the notebook you need may not be the one by your side.

No doubt individual results may vary on this topic. But for me, the advantages are more than enough to counter the hassles of maintaining two journals. 

1) A defined separation between my personal and professional life.

The boundaries between our personal and professional lives are very blurred in today's world. Some of us are answering work emails & text messages at night, while taking care of family schedules through out the work day. It can be difficult to keep boundaries between your two lives. Keeping two separate Bullet Journals can help. 

When you flip through your personal Bullet Journal, you mind isn't flooded with all your meeting notes, pending tasks, and appointment schedule for work. When you flip through your professional Bullet Journal, your not distracted by your grocery list or you kid's upcoming soccer game schedule.

2) Keeping reference information archives where they will be needed.

One my favorite parts of keeping a Bullet Journal, is that over time you can build a fantastic reference library of idea, meeting notes, lists of things that went good or bad, etc. I keep my filled professional Bullet Journals in a desk drawer at work. More than once I've gone to an old journal to look up some notes on a project or some general ideas that were discussed in a meeting months ago. If I kept everything in one Bullet Journal, I would have to wait until I got home that night to look up the information.

3) Having a separate profession Bullet Journal will help keep your personal life personal.

Besides keeping a defined separation between your personal and professional lives when you flip through your Bullet Journal looking for information; having two separate journals helps keep your privacy. 

When you flip through your Bullet Journal in a meeting to find some project notes, you may not want others in the conference room see your fertility tracker spread; or that your taking next Tuesday afternoon off for a job interview and not for your kid's dentist appointment like you told your boss.

4) A professional Bullet Journal can keep the work moving when your not in the office.

Keeping a well organized Bullet Journal up to date with open tasks, detailed meeting notes, etc. can help others on your team stay on top of your workload when your out of the office. Before I go on a vacation, I go over notes, tasks, etc. related to each project I'm working on with my project team members, along with my boss. I leave the Bullet Journal on my desk for their reference. This actually works.


So those are the reasons why I keep two Bullet Journals. The idea may not be for everyone, but it does work for me.

Links

For more on the Bullet Journal Method, I can't recommend reading Ryder Carroll's book enough!
- Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll https://amzn.to/2ELmLU9 

The notebooks I use for Bullet Journals

Official Bullet Journal by Leuchttrum 1917 https://amzn.to/2SG0o5W
Dot Grid Notebook by Leuchttrum 1917 https://amzn.to/2C2umvE
Rhodia Goalbook Dot Grid Notebook by Rhodia https://amzn.to/2ELk8BB

The fountain pens I use with my Bullet Journals

Pilot Metropolitan Fine Nib https://amzn.to/2EIwnyG
Pilot Metropolitan Medium Nib https://amzn.to/2Uq16pC
TWSBY Diamond 580 Extra Fine Nib https://amzn.to/2Tba0Lk

The fountain pen inks I use with my Bullet Journals

Noodler's Walnut https://amzn.to/2XDo1QH
Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun, Rigor of Winter, Cool Gray https://amzn.to/2EIFgIO

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