I’ve struggled with staying organized for as long as I have been accountable to others. In college, I used a very specific Moleskine planner that combined calendar pages with note-taking space. In the working world, I switched to a digital calendar, but no combination of systems, apps, or programs (including Evernote, Todoist, and Wunderlist) worked for merging my planning with my organizing. I ultimately resorted to an assortment of sticky notes, notebooks, and phone reminders.
Then I read about the Bullet Journal, a pen-and-paper productivity system that involves segmenting tasks into lists organized by type and timeframe. Intrigued, I decided to try it for myself, and explained how to set one up in a video for Quartz. Two weeks later, I’m still hooked.
I’m not alone: the Bullet Journal is popular because of its flexibility and customization—and, wow, do people customize. To inspire (or intimidate) you, here is a collection of some of the most beautiful and creative #bulletjournal designs on Instagram.
And lest you think this system only works for English speakers, here are a few non-English journals.
And for one last treat, a tutorial on how to draw lovely banners.