I first became intrigued by the bullet journal system a little over two years ago, drawn in by the level of customizability provided by a productivity system that you design by yourself, for yourself. During my freshman year of college, I kept up with the bullet journal system pretty consistently and enjoyed the creative process of making spreads for myself. Coming into my sophomore year, I continued keeping up with the system, but I didn’t find it all that helpful. My coursework was harder and I also began a new part-time job, so my planning methods had to change to accommodate this. At the time I was also introduced to time blocking and decided to try it out. There are plenty of time tracking spread options for the bullet journal so I created one, but soon realized that the biggest challenge with using an analog productivity system is that my plans changed very often. Thus, it was difficult to accurately reflect my schedule on paper.
I felt like changing things on my bullet journal was more of a hassle than anything, and I was bothered by how it made my spreads look, whereas a digital tool like Google Calendar allowed me to make changes with ease. So for the next few months, time blocking with Google Calendar became my primary productivity system.
Then the coronavirus hit and like almost everyone, my schedule became much more predictable as everything in life became more virtual. Since I was looking for a new hobby and I really missed the doodling and hand lettering that came with my bullet journal, it became a creative outlet for me. But the biggest thing that made me return to bullet journaling was the fact that its basis was a pen and a notebook.
During a time in which reality is very strange and almost everything is online, I appreciate the process of using a physical dotted notebook to plan out my time. Writing out my tasks, events, and goals is a cathartic experience. Making spreads is a time for me to step away from a screen and use both my creative instincts and hands to physically create something unique each week. Having a bullet journal is a small reminder to me that there are still concrete and tangible things in the world during this warped reality that we are currently living in.
