So after reviewing the video Limey posted and a few related others, I realize I’ve been doing a form of bullet journal for the last 30 years.
First, I had to start taking detailed field notes when I was in school. It’s just one of those things you have to do as a field geologist. So I became pretty good at writing things down, highlighting what’s important, and weeding out the crap.
One of my first professional field jobs was at a USEPA Superfund site, which required very specialized field notes…pages sequentially numbered and everything indexed and cross-referenced. These were basically legal documents. I also got into the habit of identifying what I wrote with “signifiers”…the dash for notes, stars for action items, etc. All of that’s carried over into how I write down notes today. I don’t quite go as far as including a “future” page, but I note action items, due dates, etc and transfer them to a calendar so I don’t lose them. About the only thing I’ve changed is the size of the notebook. I can’t use those little “Rite in the Rain” books anymore because I can’t see to write that tiny anymore.
