00:00:00
I recently noticed something strange
00:00:01
about taking notes think about it it's a
00:00:04
standard practice for us to take notes
00:00:06
in class or during meetings even on
00:00:08
books that we love why do we take notes
00:00:11
to remember information so that we can
00:00:13
use it later we take this information so
00:00:16
we can create things with it whether it
00:00:19
be an essay or a book or integrate
00:00:21
skills start a business that's why we
00:00:24
take notes notes help us to unlock our
00:00:28
ability to create the things that are
00:00:29
meaning mean f to us so why then when it
00:00:32
comes to arguably the most important
00:00:34
topic there is do we not take notes that
00:00:37
topic being our lives hi I'm Ryder
00:00:40
inventor of the bullet Journal method
00:00:41
and in this video I'll show you how
00:00:43
taking notes on your life can be a real
00:00:45
GameChanger even if you Journal it's a
00:00:47
simply a powerful practice that helps
00:00:49
you stay grounded get organized and
00:00:51
focused on what truly matters and the
00:00:53
best part all it takes for you to get
00:00:55
started taking notes on your life are
00:00:56
four sentences let me show you how
00:01:00
[Music]
00:01:02
I grew up with ADHD and tracking my life
00:01:04
used to feel confusing and overwhelming
00:01:06
over the years I found a powerful and
00:01:08
ancient way to process my life and
00:01:11
that's by naming my experiences and I
00:01:13
used to do this internally the real
00:01:15
magic was when I began to do that
00:01:17
through writing where I could clearly
00:01:19
see return and contextualize and learn
00:01:23
from the things that I observed over the
00:01:25
decades I figured out a way to distill
00:01:27
all that information into four cat
00:01:30
categories to easily name my experiences
00:01:34
and those four categories are notes
00:01:36
which are for what we think actions for
00:01:39
what we do moods for what we feel and
00:01:42
events what happened each category is
00:01:45
assigned a bullet symbol to help us
00:01:47
organize and read our entries each one
00:01:49
of those bullets is Then followed by a
00:01:51
single sentence journal entry this short
00:01:54
length helps us not only capture
00:01:55
information quickly but also to distill
00:01:58
it now let's take a look at how each one
00:02:00
of these sentences work let's start with
00:02:02
the note Dash this bullet is for
00:02:04
capturing your thoughts which include
00:02:06
facts dates insights and observations
00:02:09
whenever you want to capture a thought
00:02:10
simply draw a dash followed by a single
00:02:13
distilled sentence try to keep the
00:02:15
sentence short and clear too much
00:02:17
information and the note gets messy and
00:02:19
confusing too little information and the
00:02:22
note can become unhelpful an easy way to
00:02:24
find the balance is to pretend like
00:02:26
you're taking that note for a stranger
00:02:29
why because they don't know what you
00:02:32
know by crafting a note that's clear to
00:02:34
someone else you're automatically future
00:02:37
proofing it because your future self is
00:02:39
likely to forget much of what you know
00:02:41
right now when they're reviewing your
00:02:42
note later so take a note for someone
00:02:45
else it forces you to think differently
00:02:48
and distill the information in a way
00:02:50
that is future proof next is the action
00:02:52
bullet actions are captured as a DOT and
00:02:55
followed by a sentence describing the
00:02:57
action this is likely the most used yet
00:02:59
un natural feeling bullet when you get
00:03:01
started with bullet journaling why not
00:03:03
just call them tasks or to-dos and why
00:03:06
not just use a checkbox like everyone
00:03:08
else okay the first reason is a
00:03:09
philosophical and the second one is
00:03:11
purely practical here's the short
00:03:13
version of the philosophical reason to
00:03:15
me tasks feel like something I have to
00:03:16
do and I don't want my life to feel like
00:03:19
a NeverEnding list of things I have to
00:03:21
do it makes my life feel like a burden
00:03:23
actions on the otherand feel empowering
00:03:25
they turn possibilities into realities
00:03:28
the word itself slows me down to think
00:03:30
about the possibilities that I want to
00:03:32
make real that's how I take
00:03:35
accountability for my life
00:03:36
responsibility for it this is a big
00:03:38
thing that we talk about in my writing
00:03:39
for being course and I'll leave
00:03:40
information to that in the link below so
00:03:43
why the dot bullet and not more of a
00:03:45
traditional checkbox that also has a
00:03:47
specific reason first of all it's the
00:03:49
fastest and cleanest symbol to draw
00:03:51
which doesn't seem like a big deal but
00:03:52
if you're doing it all day long over
00:03:54
days weeks months and years that really
00:03:56
adds up and it's also super easy to
00:03:58
transform that into other shapes see
00:04:01
most things that we do have more than
00:04:03
two states things start they pause they
00:04:05
get delegated they get moved become
00:04:07
irrelevant and so on we can easily
00:04:10
signal these different states using the
00:04:13
action dot let me show you how turning
00:04:15
the dot into a single Arrow indicates
00:04:17
that the action has been moved to
00:04:19
another part of your notebook either
00:04:20
forward or backward double arrows
00:04:23
indicate when an action has been moved
00:04:25
outside of your notebook like into a
00:04:26
digital task manager for your team or
00:04:28
calendar for example example a line
00:04:30
means that this action is no longer
00:04:32
relevant last but not least an X through
00:04:35
the dot means that the action has been
00:04:37
taken x marks the spot next is the mood
00:04:40
bullet whereas the note Dash helps us
00:04:42
connect with our mind the mood bullet
00:04:44
helps us connect with our body it helps
00:04:46
us check in with how we're feeling those
00:04:48
feelings can either be emotional like
00:04:50
sad or excited or they can be physical
00:04:53
Sensations in the body like tired or
00:04:55
shaky all these feelings are signals and
00:04:57
we want to pay attention to them we
00:04:59
record the mood entries with an equal
00:05:01
sign to remind us that our feeling is
00:05:03
the result of something usually what
00:05:05
we're thinking or doing right you feel
00:05:08
tired for a reason or you feel anxious
00:05:10
for a reason so rather than getting lost
00:05:13
in that feeling we keep it short we keep
00:05:16
it to one sentence that helps us to
00:05:18
practice to observe what we're feeling
00:05:20
simply naming it sad frustrated excited
00:05:26
tired that way we can acknowledge it
00:05:29
without getting stuck in it we get so
00:05:32
caught up with what we're doing we
00:05:34
rarely check in and see on how it's
00:05:36
impacting us documenting how we feel
00:05:39
offers valuable Clues into what is and
00:05:41
is not working in our lives and we can
00:05:43
use that awareness to start taking
00:05:45
intentional actions to either cultivate
00:05:48
what is working or prune what is not and
00:05:50
we do this on a regular basis and all
00:05:53
that information comes to us simply by
00:05:55
tracking how we feel this awareness
00:05:57
helps us go from Simply getting things
00:05:59
done done to getting to do things that
00:06:02
actually matter to us things that we
00:06:04
know through experience light us up or
00:06:07
bring us down next is the event bullet
00:06:10
we use event bullets to record things
00:06:12
that happen outside of us examples
00:06:14
include a good conversation with a
00:06:16
friend or an argument with a coworker a
00:06:19
dentist appointment this is what happens
00:06:22
we record events with an open circle
00:06:24
then add a single sentence journal entry
00:06:27
about that event again we're keeping it
00:06:29
as short and objective as possible we
00:06:32
want to write down what is observably
00:06:34
true so that we can create the most
00:06:36
accurate record of our life possible I
00:06:39
can't overstate how powerful the skill
00:06:41
is of Simply learning how to observe
00:06:44
something without judgment it's a core
00:06:47
skill of the bullet Journal method and
00:06:49
this is one of the ways that we practice
00:06:50
that skill logging what happened simply
00:06:54
observing it without judgment okay so
00:06:56
now we've learned about notes actions
00:06:59
moods and events the real magic for all
00:07:03
this comes together when you just start
00:07:05
using them as it makes sense when it's
00:07:07
relevant you can mix and match all four
00:07:09
of these bullets in any order simply
00:07:11
write them down as they come up
00:07:12
throughout the day you can even Nest
00:07:15
bullets to give one bullet more context
00:07:17
for example say you have a meeting you
00:07:19
log that meeting as an event then
00:07:21
indented below it you can add notes and
00:07:24
moods and actions to give it context
00:07:27
this is what I felt this is what I
00:07:28
thought this this is what I have to do
00:07:30
documenting your life this way is what I
00:07:32
call Rapid logging and it makes
00:07:33
capturing what you're thinking what
00:07:35
you're doing what you're feeling and
00:07:37
what you're experiencing really quick
00:07:39
and simple this is a great and
00:07:41
lightweight way to start taking notes on
00:07:43
your life of course we don't just take
00:07:46
notes to take notes we take notes to do
00:07:49
something with it and that's where the
00:07:50
rest of the bullet Journal method comes
00:07:52
into play how do we process these notes
00:07:54
how do we make them work for us so if
00:07:57
that's something that you're interested
00:07:58
in consider taking the bullet Journal
00:08:00
course which I will link down below
00:08:02
thank you for taking the time see you in
00:08:04
the next one happy bullet journaling
