Getting Organized: The Bullet Journal

I’m a huge fan of using technology to organize my “to-do” list. I’ve used (and loved) Remember the Milk and Evernote as the backbone of my system. But I recently discovered a simple, non-tech method which is proving to be the most effective tool I’ve used.

The Bullet List was designed by Ryder Carroll, who is a digital product designer. The system is elegant, simple and requires only a blank notebook to get started. (Although I adapted the system to use in Evernote to make it at least somewhat digital … and to avoid the inevitable crisis for an absent-minded person of losing the notebook!).

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The Bullet Journal is based on these five “sections” of the journal:

The Index – to know where things are in your notebook
Future log – to list big events for future months (ex: Plans for interviews for residency/job, rotation schedules, reading plan
Monthly log – a combination of tasks and events for the month (ex: reading plan to prepare for residency inservice exams)
Daily log – tasks, events, and notes for the day
Collections – list of things, for example books to read, track a goal (like exercise or sleep), technical points as you learn a procedure, or a gratitude log

Here’s the overview video from the site bulletjournal.com, which in 4 minutes explains the how to use a Bullet Journal.

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In addition to making sure you don’t miss important deadlines and events, the Bullet Journal also serves as an actual journal to help you remember important events. For example, one of my entries last year was… “Took residents to watch patient take first sip after Heller myotomy. Everyone cried.” Don’t underestimate the healing power of journaling during medical school, residency or after your training. Recording these small moments will help, but using them as prompts for writing the story of your day can be even more powerful.

p.s. If you are in anyway an artist a) I’m jealous and b) have fun!