The Bullet Journal method, and how to keep a digital bullet journal

A digital bullet journal takes the Bullet Journal method, a paper notebook system of short bulleted entries, and moves it into an app. The method itself is simple: you log tasks, events and notes as quick bullets in a Daily Log, plan in a Monthly Log and a Future Log, keep an index, and regularly migrate open tasks forward, asking each time whether they still matter.

This guide explains the method as its creator, Ryder Carroll, teaches it, what changes when you go digital, and how to keep a digital bullet journal in Barside, a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac.

Where the Bullet Journal method comes from

Ryder Carroll created the method. On the site's story page, he writes: "On August 8, 2013, I launched bulletjournal.com, with a tutorial video and step-by-step instructions." He connects the method to his own ADHD.

In October 2018, Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Random House, published his book The Bullet Journal Method. Its themes are to track the past, order the present and design the future.

The parts of the Bullet Journal method

Rapid Logging

The official site calls Rapid Logging "the language in which the Bullet Journal method is written". You write short, bulleted entries instead of full sentences, so capturing a thought takes seconds.

Bullets

Each entry starts with a symbol that says what kind of entry it is:

The Index

The Index "serves to help you easily find your entries". On paper, you leave the first couple of pages of the notebook blank for it.

The Future Log

The Future Log is "an overview of your year": the months ahead, with the events and tasks that belong to them.

The Monthly Log

The Monthly Log is "an overview of your month", where you plan the month's events and tasks.

The Daily Log

The Daily Log is "designed for day-to-day use". You write the date as the topic and rapid-log through the day.

Migration

Migration means moving open tasks forward and asking, for each one, whether it is still worth doing. Carroll is clear that this is a decision, not a chore: "Migration is more than just rewriting your to-dos, it's about taking time to ask what is important to keep."

Common bullet journal mistakes

• Thinking it has to be artistic. Many journals online are hand-lettered and drawn, but the official FAQ treats decoration as optional. Plain bullets are the method.
• Building elaborate layouts before logging anything. Start with a Daily Log. Add more only when you miss it.
• Migrating without asking. Copying every open task forward month after month defeats the point. Ask whether each one is still worth your time.
• Skipping the index. On paper, a journal without an index becomes hard to search after a few months.
• Forgetting what paper gives you. The official FAQ says the analog format "isn't a flaw – it's a feature." Going digital trades the slowness of handwriting for search and reminders. Know what you are giving up, and decide on purpose.

Paper or a digital bullet journal?

A digital bullet journal does some things paper cannot: it searches every entry in a moment, links one entry to another, reminds you at a set time and gathers open tasks from every day into one view. Paper does things an app cannot: it has no notifications, and writing by hand slows you down enough to think about each line.

Neither is wrong. Some people keep a paper journal for daily logging and an app for reference material and reminders. Others go fully digital because their work already happens at a computer. The steps below suit the second group, and the parts they need work just as well next to a notebook.

How to keep a digital bullet journal in Barside

Barside has the pieces a bullet journal needs: notes that make themselves on a schedule, checklists that become tasks, plain bullet lists, links between notes and a search bar that finds any entry. Everything is saved on your computer as you type.

Set up a Journal workspace

Create a workspace called Journal with + next to Workspaces in the sidebar. All your logs live there, in one color.

The Daily Log, every morning

1. Make a note with a short list ready to type into. Use checklist items for tasks and plain bullets for events and notes. Start event lines with the time, like 14:00 Dentist.
2. Open Note options, choose Save as template, and name it Daily Log.
3. In Settings, under Templates & repeating notes, click Templates, then New repeating note. Pick Daily Log, the Journal workspace and Every day, set a time, and give it a Note title that uses the date placeholder, so the date is the topic, as on paper. See note templates and repeating notes.

The built-in Daily journal template is another starting point, with Top three priorities, Grateful for, Notes and an End of day section.

Rapid logging in Barside

• Tasks are checklist items. Each one is also a task on the task board, grouped by due date.
• Events and notes are plain bullets. They stay in the log and off the board.
• Complete is a tick, which the board and the note share.
• Scheduled means giving a task a date: point at it, click + date and pick the day. It moves to Next 7 days or Later on the board.
• Important dates can carry a reminder: press the bell at the end of a task and pick a time.

The Monthly Log, on the 1st

Make a Monthly Log template with a plain table of the month's days and a checklist for the month's tasks. Set it as a repeating note, Monthly on day 1. A fresh month appears by itself.

The Future Log

Make one note called Future Log with a heading for each of the next twelve months, and list events and tasks under each. Open Note options and choose Pin to the top, so it leads the Journal workspace. Tasks with a far-off due date show under Later on the task board too.

Migration with the task board

At the end of each week or month, open Tasks and filter it to the Journal workspace. The board gathers every open task from every Daily Log in one place, so you do not have to page back through old logs. For each one, decide: tick it, delete it, or drag it to Tomorrow, Next 7 days or Later, and Barside sets the date. Because moving is cheap here, ask Carroll's question on purpose: is this still worth doing?

The Index and collections

• Your index is a note called Index, pinned to the top, with a link to each collection: type [[ and the note's title. The search bar, Alt+Shift+Space in any app or Ctrl+K in Barside, finds any entry by its words, so you need no page numbers.
• Collections are their own notes: books to read, gift ideas, a project. A reading list template is a ready start.
• Trackers fit a database table: a Date column and a Checkbox column per habit, with Percent checked under each. A habit tracker template has the idea ready.

Who a digital bullet journal suits

• People who live at a computer and want their journal next to their work.
• Planners who want reminders, which paper cannot give.
• Anyone who wants to search years of entries in a moment.
• People who tried paper and stopped because the notebook was never with them at their desk.

It suits people less if the act of handwriting is what helps them think, which is the case the method's creator makes for paper.

Related methods

• Getting Things Done, a fuller system for capturing and organizing every commitment.
• The GTD weekly review, a weekly version of the reflection migration asks for.
• Time blocking, to turn a Daily Log into a plan for the hours.
• Personal kanban, a board for the tasks your logs collect.