Читать книгу The Bullet Journal Method: Track Your Past, Order Your Present, Plan Your Future - Ryder Carroll - Страница 19

The first step in Rapid Logging is to frame the content you’re about to log. You do this by giving your page a Topic name. It can be as simple as “Shopping List.” Even here—as with most things BuJo—there is more than meets the eye. Topics actually serve three functions:

1 They identify and describe content.

2 They serve as an opportunity for you to clarify your intention.

3 They set the agenda for the content.

How many meetings have you sat through that have little to no agenda? Generally, they’re not very productive. Pausing to define the agenda before you start allows you to focus, prioritize, and use your time far more effectively.

Giving your page its Topic provides that opportunity to pause. What will you capture in this space? What’s its purpose? What value will it add to your life? These may seem like superfluous considerations, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down to make yet another list, only to realize that it simply wouldn’t add anything meaningful to my life. Does tracking the TV shows I’ve watched this year add any real value? No. I can reinvest that time I saved into something that does. Other times, that pause has helped me refine my aims, keeping the content of my Bullet Journal focused and relevant. Topic by Topic, pause by pause, we’re honing our ability to focus on what matters.

Often all it takes to live intentionally is to pause before you proceed.

Lastly, a good Topic turns your Bullet Journal into a more useful reference. Who knows when you may need to look back through your journal to find a specific Topic? “Oct 13, Meeting 4 notes” says little, whereas “10.13.TH (month/date/day) / Acme Co. (client name) / Website Relaunch (project name) / User Feedback (meeting priority)” provides you with a useful description.

Once you’ve defined your Topic, write it at the top of the page. Now you’ve laid the foundation for what you want to build, but you can’t locate a building without its address. That address in your Bullet Journal is the page number, so be sure to add them as you go. Page numbers will be critical when we get to Indexing (this page). Spoiler alert: Your Index helps you quickly locate your content.

The only time we don’t use a descriptive Topic is for our Daily Log (this page). It’s a catchall for our thoughts, so the daily Topic is simply the date, formatted as month/date/day. This will help you quickly orient yourself when flipping through your pages.

All this is more complicated to explain than it is to do. In practice, you’re just taking a few seconds to think before putting pen to paper. Now, with the Topic and page number in place, your page is prepared to handle anything you throw at it.

04.01.TH

Keith: Call re: Saturday dinner

Acme Co: Release forms

Heather: Email to get forms

Email forms to participants

Get signatures

Acme Co: UX presentation — Feb 12

Leigh: Reply Apr 21 party

Office closed Apr 13

Margaret: Volunteered to help with assets

Showing more incentive and engagement

Increased participation effort

04.02.FR

Cancel yoga

Kim: Get birthday cake

Celiac: Needs to be gluten-free

The party’s on Thursday

Acme Co: Log hours

Broadway blocked, had to take long way

Found new coffee place

Much prettier drive

Felt more relaxed when I arrived

Plan trip

Don’t forget to number your pages!