All the most effective recommendation about bullet journaling says you do not have to be neat or creative or organized to create an efficient journal. In truth, the unique Bullet Journal Technique created by Ryder Carroll, who has a guide(Opens in a brand new window) and a web site(Opens in a brand new window) and a $249 course(Opens in a brand new window) educating the method, ignores artistry altogether. However let’s be actual. The bullet journal pages you have seen on Instagram and TikTok are intimidating as a result of solely an artist might have made them. And with that intimidation comes the concern of ruining the pocket book you paid $25 for.

That is why many individuals get bullet journal paralysis. They hesitate to jot down something in any respect for concern it will be ugly and sloppy, and thus their pocket book collects mud. (Be aware that I take advantage of “bullet journaling” in a generic sense. Once I seek advice from Carroll’s technique particularly, I capitalize it.)

Or possibly bullet journaling failed you for different causes, such as you discovered the supposed mindfulness facets to be time wasters. As Anna Russell put it in The New Yorker(Opens in a brand new window), “You get the sense, in a number of the extra stunning posts, that it took extra time to make the to-do listing than it must full the to-dos.”

There’s a higher manner. You will get almost the identical advantages of bullet journaling utilizing a technique that is:

• Not intimidating

• Permits for corrections and adjustments alongside the best way

• Does not require prolonged transfers of helpful notes to a brand new part or pocket book every month

• Will not price you any further cash in the event you already personal a pc or cell machine

The trick? Go digital. And I am not even speaking about shopping for a specialised bullet journal app, as a result of you will get higher outcomes with the suitable to-do listing or note-taking app. 

For those who’re dedicated to writing your bullet journal by hand, you’ll be able to nonetheless do this and digitize your notes—I am going to clarify how in a second. However by going digital you surrender virtually nothing, besides the tactile really feel of paper, and also you acquire a lot extra.

A Transient Overview: What Is a Bullet Journal?

Here is a really transient overview of bullet journaling: The unique namesake Bullet Journal Technique makes use of a paper pocket book, the place you create an index within the entrance and use the remainder of the pages to jot down down and set up the whole lot it’s a must to do and want to recollect for every month. There is a method for creating every web page, which Ryder Carroll explains clearly in his unique 2013 video about bullet journaling(Opens in a brand new window).

The Bullet Journal Technique includes utilizing web page spreads in a paper pocket book to make an entry for day by day of the month and write down duties (checkbox), occasions (open circle), and concepts (bullet level).
(Credit score: Jill Duffy)

Since that first conception, folks have riffed on the thought in order that now it might probably embrace fairly little sketches, calligraphy, and different designs that look so stunning they in the end discourage nonartistic folks from making an attempt.

At its core idea, the bullet journal is an excellent software for getting organized by doing what almost all organizational methods do. They get concepts out of your head and onto paper so that you’re now not burdened with having to recollect them. Journaling on the whole additionally helps folks course of ideas and feelings, articulate objectives, and evaluate what’s occurred up to now. 

However there are causes to do it electronically as an alternative of on paper.

Why Apps Are a Higher Place to Bullet Journal Than Paper

Digital journals are superior to paper ones in so some ways. I am not saying paper is unhealthy or improper to make use of, however there are clear benefits to working electronically. 

1. You’ll be able to edit and reprioritize cleanly and easily with out crossing out your work or rubbing an eraser throughout the web page. 

2. You get reminders. A paper pocket book cannot pop up a notification in your cellphone in the future earlier than it’s essential to make a cake in your child’s birthday reminding you to purchase elements, however an app can.

3. Digital recordsdata are straightforward to rifle via they usually’re searchable. Good luck discovering an thought you wrote down in a pocket book two years in the past. In a digital journal, you’ll be able to bounce again 10 years in a second or two, seek for key phrases, and flick thru previous notes with out ever leaving your pc or cell machine. 

4. You’ll be able to add images, pictures, PDFs, and different recordsdata to your notes, which you’ll be able to’t do with a bullet journal until you begin gluing and stapling inside your pages.

With digital journals, you sometimes get entry to templates, or you can also make your personal, plus you get stickers (or icons) that by no means run out the best way bodily ones do. The whole lot you want is all the time there not like your favourite pen that you’ve got misplaced or the journal that is right down to its final web page.

Which App Ought to You Use for a Digital Bullet Journal?

What lots of people do not understand is bullet journals are in no way completely different from to-do listing apps. Proponents of bullet journaling suppose they’re completely different, however that is as a result of they are not up to the mark on what to-do lists apps are lately. I have been testing and writing about to-do listing apps for almost ten years. I do know them inside and outside. For those who write your to-do listing strategically and use among the best to-do listing apps, you will shortly understand that it is greater than only a digital guidelines of issues it’s essential to do.

For instance, the app Toodledo has sections for writing down duties, in addition to one for monitoring habits, writing freeform notes, and creating outlines. Then there are note-taking apps that look precisely just like the clean pages of any journal however which include options for making to-do lists, including stars and different icons, and even in some instances doodling and sketching. In brief, a to-do listing app covers the whole lot a bullet journal does, and affords extra.

Here is a better have a look at a number of the apps I like to recommend utilizing as an alternative of a paper bullet journal.

Due to its organized setup, Microsoft OneNote is an excellent app for commandeering for bullet journaling.
(Credit score: PCMag)

Microsoft OneNote

Each single factor you’ll do with a paper bullet journal you can even do in Microsoft OneNote (free). This app allows you to create clean notes which can be extra like canvases than phrase doc recordsdata. You get a wealth of icons, together with checkboxes and stars, that you could add anyplace on the web page. As you’ll be able to see from the picture, OneNote has sections the place you’ll be able to set up completely different sorts of lists and concepts. There is no must create an index since you basically have one seen to you always from these sections on the left.

Other than being free, the opposite large benefit of Microsoft OneNote is that it really works all over the place. It doesn’t matter what sort of machine you may have, you’ll be able to create and entry notes.

Free templates for the Notability app make it a tidy place to maintain a journal and to-do listing.
(Credit score: PCMag)

iPad Apps: Notability, Notes X Plus, or Penultimate

If you wish to protect the sensation of writing by hand and sketching with a pencil and you’ve got an iPad, strive a note-taking app that reads handwriting and even perhaps smooths traces as you draw.

Notability is one choice. There is a free model with limitations, or you’ll be able to pay an affordable $11.99 per 12 months (or $2.99 per thirty days) for additional options equivalent to handwriting recognition and smoothing, math conversion expertise, and iCloud syncing. You will get incredible free templates(Opens in a brand new window) for it to information your journaling. Whereas Notability is greatest on an iPad, it is also obtainable on Macs and iPhones. 

Subsequent are Notes Plus X ($9.99) and Notes Plus(Opens in a brand new window) ($9.99), additionally for iPad and iPhone. The important thing distinction between the 2 is Notes Plus helps older variations of iPadOS and iOS, must you want it. This app comes with some good options that scale back distractions so you’ll be able to focus in your work.

Final on this group is Penultimate, one other note-taking app for the iPad that helps sketching and stylus enter. It is helpful for individuals who additionally use Evernote, because it’s owned by the identical firm and you may simply retailer your notes there. It is free to obtain, although you do not get the total expertise of with the ability to search your notes and save them to all of your gadgets until you may have a paid Evernote account, which is dear.

For those who discover digital journaling, you will come throughout loads of different app recommendations, particularly for the iPad. I’ve tried lots of these different apps, and I do not really feel assured recommending them as a result of they’re finicky to make use of, or mild on options, or one thing else about them would not end in a top quality expertise. I do have a couple of extra suggestions for note-taking apps and gadgets that transcend the iPad.

Toodledo’s Notes part could be repurposed as a bullet journal, alongside its habit-tracking and to-do listing options.
(Credit score: PCMag)

Toodledo

I already talked about Toodledo, however let’s get into it. It is primarily a to-do listing app, and to be frank, it may very well be improved in a couple of areas. However once I take into consideration which to-do listing app could be greatest for individuals who need to make a bullet journal, Toodledo is it. It has a ton of options for creating to-do lists and including element to them. You’ll be able to write down further ideas, like your objectives, in Toodledo’s notes or define sections. In case you are somebody who enjoys spending a whole lot of time customizing your instruments, then you are going to adore this app. It is obtainable on the net, and as a downloadable app for Android and iPhone. There aren’t any desktop apps for Home windows or macOS, however the net app works fantastic so long as you are on-line. 

Toodledo’s to-do listing features a calendar view.
(Credit score: PCMag)

What Do I Use?

I do not use the Bullet Journaling Technique, however I’ve persistently saved a every day journal for greater than seven years and I am fastidious about utilizing a to-do listing, grocery procuring listing, listing of concepts, and many others. What do I take advantage of for them? For a very long time I used to be an Evernote consumer, however after I obtained pissed off with it, I switched to Joplin, and the vast majority of my notes go there. For my every day duties and lists, I take advantage of Todoist and I could not think about utilizing anything.

These two apps work for me partly as a result of I am not a doodler. My notes are all typed. Plus I like compartmentalizing my every day journal and concepts from my duties and different lists. If Joplin would not converse to you, you would possibly think about a couple of different alternate options to Evernote with a special feel and look.

Maintain It Up

Have I not satisfied you that digital is the best way to go? No drawback! Pen and paper work higher for some folks, and that is fantastic. Even I preserve a great pen available (alongside different high-quality requirements for distant work) to jot down concepts and take notes. Digital notes aren’t the end-all-be-all.

If bullet journals have not labored for you up to now, nonetheless, and you are still hungry for the whole lot they promise, then make a digital journal as an alternative. Decide a time day by day if you’ll write in it, set a reminder for that point, and stick with it. It takes a couple of months to make the behavior stick.