Using a Bullet Journal to Get a Grip on Time

Bullet Journaling is a very simple and straightforward way to capture notes, ideas and events. I love the simplicity of it, but out of the box it doesn’t provide a way to do traditional time- and task-based planning. That’s probably why it’s called a bullet journal and not a bullet planner.

That being said, traditional planners don’t work all that well for me because I need a way to set my tasks out so that I can visualize the timing of how they will get done. Doing the super-fancy graphical spreads I see on Pinterest is beyond my skill and patience, so I have adjusted my own methods to be simple, yet meet my needs. Today I will show you how I use my bullet journal to get a grip on time.

My Needs

My main need for a planner is to help me plan my time. I’m not so much concerned with writing down notes or keeping a log of events; I need a schedule, and I need a list of tasks, and a way to plan when I am going to do those tasks.

I also work digitally for my personal life. (My work life is another matter, but that is a subject for another post). This is actually an advantage when it comes to assembling a daily and weekly spread for my bullet journal.

My Tools

In order to keep track of my time- and task-planning, I use the following tools:

• An iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil. This device works like a digital notebook, and the pencil allows me to write as I would with an ink pen.
• Goodnotes. This software was the best I found for working in a notebook-like format, allowing me to add and arrange pages at will. I can also import PDF files and pictures into the document and have a mix of “paper” types and sizes.

My Weekly Layouts

At the beginning of the year, I purchased a PDF calender from Etsy and imported it in. It’s a basic calendar, having a monthly and weekly spread.

I copied the same time blocks and task blocks into every page of the weekly spread , making it possible to color in my schedule. At the beginning of every week I look at what the next week will look like and fill in the basics.

My Daily Lists

After each weekly page in the notebook, I added two blank dot pages. I have seven boxes there, one for each day, with stickers (jpgs) copied in to remind me of my routines, and spaces to add my tasks for the day.

I copy the appropriate graphic from the weekly page over into the day block so that I can see my schedule and my tasks in the same page.

Adding Tasks

Every evening, I go through my tasks for the next day and fill them into the empty blocks in the journal This shows me how much time is available, and allows me to push tasks off to another day in order to fit them into my schedule.

Time Blocking in my BJ

The last step is to assign time blocks to calendar. This is when I will plan to do various groups of tasks.

As I go through my lists, I color in the boxes next to the various tasks.

Summary

This weekly and daily spread has allowed me to stay on target for tasks since the beginning of the year. I like not carrying a bulky paper planner around, and having the flexibility to make the planner exactly what I need.

Activity

How is your calendar/task system working for you? Is there anything you could try from my ideas above to help you plan when you will do your tasks?

Image by avrene. Licensed under Creative Commons. Text added.