I have been using the bullet journal system for a couple years now to organize and track my responsibilities and activities. The basic idea of bullet journaling is that you have a blank note book and you design your own planner system. You start out with an index in the front of the journal to keep track of the pages. Then you can write out a monthly, weekly, or daily spread for whichever month, week, day you are trying to plan for. You can write down to-do lists, tasks that need to be completed, or just things that are going on in your life. Tasks are written as boxes that can be filled in, ‘x’d out, or ‘migrated’ to the next day-in which case the person draws an arrow inside the box to indicate the task has not been completed yet. Everything about the bullet journal system is customizable though, so you do not even need to stick to that system for marking tasks complete/incomplete. Some people keep their journals clean and simple, while others make their spread decorated and intricate. The idea is to create a system that fits into your life and style while improving your productivity and efficiency.
You can customize the bullet journal system for school-related responsibilities simply by adding a page in the journal dedicated to your classes. Personally, I have a page with all the days of fall semester written out so I can write down when my midterms, big project, and finals are throughout the semester. You could also write a page out for each of your classes, specifying the requirements, teacher’s office hours, and main topics covered. I think the bullet journal system is a great option for students to use for planning and budgeting time because everyone has a different schedule and different classes, so their journal will be perfectly suited to them and their needs. Another benefit is that you can carry the journal with you, as opposed to having a large, bulky calendar at home.
I’ve included examples of several bullet journal spread below for reference as well as a link to the website of the original creator of the bullet journal system.
Bullet Journal – Basics & Beyond
