Listing, organizing and generally keeping track can be a great source of joy in the journey toward living out your dreams. After all, I’ve talked before about how anticipating the culmination of a life goal can be as exciting as reaching the goal itself. If you don’t keep track of what your goals are, or how far along you are toward reaching them, you may miss an opportunity. Or you may be taken by surprise by the end of your goal’s journey suddenly coming over the rise of the hill right in front of you, when you thought it was still miles away.
I’ve collected information about dozens of digital bucket list tools. But lately I’ve been exploring an entirely old-school, pen-and-paper format for tracking my goals: the Bullet Journal (or BuJo, for short).
You may have seen these hand-drawn paper planners before. They range from simple to intricate and frankly, can be intimidating to look at. My first reaction (after thinking, “Wow! I’d love to make one of those!”) was that there was no way I, a non artist, could ever keep a Bullet Journal. I didn’t have the time or talent for drawing all sorts of fancy banners and charts and pictures. I just wanted to keep track of my appointments and lists.
But I kept coming back to Bullet Journaling. My current organizer hadn’t been working for me. Nor the one before tha
t. I struggled with multiple lists in various places and a constant slipping in my memory and productivity. Then, as luck would have it, in April I happened on the opportunity to sit in a seminar by Jennifer Trafton on Bullet Journaling at a conference I was attending. Suddenly, Bullet Journaling made sense. I could see the flexibility of making it my own and playing with arrangements until I found one that work. I appreciated the simplicity with which I could approach my layouts (no drawing necessary).
Ever since then I’ve been playing with “modules” and experimenting with lists. I avoided drawing anything more than boxes and lines until just recently. And I’ve found the format suitable for more than just daily, weekly and monthly planning. The Bullet Journal format has enabled me to incorporate various aspects of my Bucket List into the same book as my planner pages. I’m especially excited about that aspect of bullet journaling!
Rather than dump all that I’ve learned into a single post, my hope is to share with you in the coming weeks different ways I’m finding a Bullet Journal conducive to the world of bucket listing.
Coming Next: “Trackers” for Bucket Listing
