# The Bullet Journal Method  ## Metadata - Author: [[Ryder Carroll]] - Full Title: The Bullet Journal Method - Category: #books ## Highlights - It wasn’t that I couldn’t focus; I just had a hard time concentrating on the right thing at the right time, on being present. My attention would always dart off to the next bright thing. ([Location 115](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=115)) - I realized that it was up to me to solve my challenges. More importantly, I realized that I could! ([Location 123](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=123)) - Life had gotten too busy. It seemed as if my existence had become just one long to-do list. I had forgotten about my dreams, my goals, my what-ifs, my “what if I could’s.” —AMY HAINES ([Location 222](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=222)) - The Bullet Journal method’s mission is to help us become mindful about how we spend our two most valuable resources in life: our time and our energy. ([Location 225](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=225)) - To get more done, you’ve even hacked your sleep, whittling it down to the bare minimum—except now you’re a zombie because . . . you’ve hacked your sleep down to the bare minimum. ([Location 235](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=235)) - information overload is worse for our focus than exhaustion or smoking marijuana.3 ([Location 242](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=242)) - Knowing where you are begins with knowing who you are. ([Location 275](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=275)) - the Bullet Journal method keeps us mindful of why we’re doing what we’re doing. ([Location 287](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=287)) - Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make us. —RICHIE NORTON ([Location 340](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=340)) - My husband and I were both single and established in careers we loved for some time before we got together. Both of us loving what we did meant we were used to giving our jobs a huge chunk of our attention, and that was important to us. We had to learn how to prioritize our marriage instead of just our work. We could have used digital calendars to sync up, but the discipline of analog and the experience of sitting down with our Bullet Journals to physically mark in events helped us have the conversations we needed to have and to look further ahead so we weren’t always blindsided by the next thing. It also helped us express concerns if we were starting to schedule too many things outside the home and made us feel like a unit, planning our life together, instead of trying to slam two busy calendars together. Now, we love our marriage and our jobs and want to help one another succeed professionally. ([Location 415](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=415)) - the more decisions you have to make, the harder it becomes to make them well. ([Location 461](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=461)) - Left unchecked, decision fatigue can lead to decision avoidance. ([Location 463](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=463)) - We need to reduce the number of decisions we burden ourselves with so we can focus on what matters. ([Location 470](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=470)) - Why is it so important to craft notes in your own words? The science suggests that writing by hand enhances the way we engage with information, strengthening our associative thinking. It allows us to form new connections that can yield unconventional solutions and insights. We’re simultaneously expanding our awareness and deepening our understanding. ([Location 603](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=603)) - In a cut-and-paste world that celebrates speed, we often mistake convenience for efficiency. When we take shortcuts, we forfeit opportunities to slow down and think. Writing by hand, as nostalgic and antiquated as it may seem, allows us to reclaim that opportunity. ([Location 617](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=617)) - True efficiency is not about speed; it’s about spending more time with what truly matters. ([Location 620](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=620)) - Our experiences—both sweet and sour—are lessons. We honor these lessons by writing them down so we can study them and see what they have to teach us. This is how we learn, this is how we grow. If we forfeit the opportunity to learn from our experiences, as the saying (sort of) goes, we condemn ourselves to repeat our mistakes. Journaling provides a powerful way of facilitating this path of self-learning. ([Location 677](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=677)) - Pausing to define the agenda before you start allows you to focus, prioritize, and use your time far more effectively. ([Location 744](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=744)) - Often all it takes to live intentionally is to pause before you proceed. ([Location 750](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=750)) - Rapid Logging solves this issue in a few ways, first by categorizing entries into: Things that you need to do (Tasks) Your experiences (Events) Information you don’t want to forget (Notes) ([Location 801](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=801)) - Zeigarnik effect. ([Location 865](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=865)) - By asking yourself what’s important and why, you go from passively listening to actively hearing what’s being said. ([Location 948](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=948)) - Each module is a template designed to organize and collect related information; that’s why we refer to them as Collections. Collections are interchangeable, reusable, and customizable. ([Location 1056](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1056)) - The portfolio of Collections—also known as your Stack—that you choose to use is entirely up to you, and it will change over time. ([Location 1060](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1060)) - the four core Collections: the Daily Log, the Monthly Log, the Future Log, and the one Collection to rule them all, the Index. ([Location 1064](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1064)) - orchid-colored, soft-covered Leuchtturm1917. ([Location 1414](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1414)) - Note: Interesting notebook - SET UP YOUR BULLET JOURNAL ([Location 1441](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1441)) - Note: #todo - The only thing you can control is the way you respond. Focusing on things you can’t control allows them to control you. Focus on what you can control. ([Location 1513](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1513)) - To be sure, making bad decisions, no matter how smart or wise you are, is an unavoidable part of being human. ([Location 1577](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1577)) - Success often feels surprisingly empty. That holds true not just for financial success, but for the kind of self-improvement we’ve always thought to be healthy and good. ([Location 1677](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1677)) - None of us can know with any true certainty what will make us happy. In fact, it turns out that we’re pretty lousy at guessing how something will make us feel, thanks to a phenomenon known as impact bias: “the tendency for people to overestimate the length or the intensity of future feeling states.” ([Location 1695](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1695)) - comedian Tim Minchin once quipped, “Happiness is like an orgasm: If you think about it too much, it will go away.” ([Location 1701](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1701)) - Thanks to our ability to rapidly adapt, even the most pleasurable experience or purchase quickly becomes the boring new normal. Soon we’re itching for another quick fix of pleasure. No longer satisfied with what we already have, we treat our withdrawal pains by incrementally upping the dosage. More shoes, more booze, more sex, more food, more “likes,” just more. This phenomenon is known as hedonic adaptation. ([Location 1707](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1707)) - Note: What is Hedonic Adaptation? - happiness is the result of our actions directed toward other goals. ([Location 1726](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1726)) - As Viktor Frankl put it, “Happiness cannot be pursued, it can only ensue.” ([Location 1737](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07CV44V5W&location=1737))