Bullet Journal: Pros and Cons(?)

So many entries ago, I mentioned my discovery of the Bullet Journal method. For those of you who don't know this method, the Bullet Journal method is where you create daily entries with tasks, ideas, and/or events. Tasks are usually written at the beginning of your day, while ideas and events can be recorded at any time depending if you like to write it down. After each month, a new monthly calendar page is created along with planned events. Then that month's daily entries begin again.

That entry was posted last year in August, when I was a senior in college. I can say that was one of the busiest times of my life. I had no energy to write in my journal but I really wanted to record my events for those days. The Bullet Journal was a dream come true! Well, now I have graduated and am working several part-time jobs to cover my loans. My days aren't as busy as before. To be specific, I'm still busy with work, but my current work doesn't require too much planning. Many of them are spontaneous or have too many variables to make future plans. That leaves my planner almost completely blank.

Right now, I'm looking back to consider the Bullet Journal since I was eager to use it back then. However, when I went back to review the concept, I came across some things I never thought of before. Maybe it's because of my new life style or my journal objective changed. I don't see how I would love the Bullet Journal. So let me break down my opinion for you to understand what I'm seeing.

PROS

- Daily "Bullets": This is definitely the best part of the concept. Each daily entry, there are tasks, events, and ideas marked with bullets. This allow easy tracking, recording, and planning on a busy schedule. Also, by writing this up at the beginning of the day, it helps with prioritizing certain tasks and keeping up with productivity.

- Flexibility: The Bullet Journal is very flexible. Each entry can be customized to one's liking. There is no limit to how many bullets can be under each entry (however, having so many doesn't really mean being productive since there are only so much hours each day). Also if there is a special list or entry needed, it can start right on the next blank page. There's no pre-made designated area for each entry. It's all up to the user.

- Reviewing: It is very easy to review over past tasks and events to see if anything needs to be transferred or improved. The user can look over unfinished tasks and rethink if the tasks are still needed. Some can be dropped while others are moved to the next entry. The user can also look over finished tasks and plan if improvements are needed. He/she is subconsciously reviewing over his/her productivity.

CONS

- Time wasting at certain points: Unless the user bought a journal with printed page numbers, numbering pages will take up a good chunk of time. This goes the same for writing new points in the index and reviewing old monthly entries for the next monthly calendar. The Bullet Journal was meant to save time, and indexing everything (although convenient in the long run) creates the problem many users are trying to solve.

- It's NOT that personal: This is what hits me the most. After reviewing the concept, I realized that the Bullet Journal is more like a fancy planning technique. Almost everything in the journal is task oriented. There's nothing really personal about it other than the tasks, ideas, and events are related to the user. Everything feels almost mechanical. And assuming that the user has enough tasks to fill each page or entry, will there be time to decorate ("personalize") the journal itself?

OVERALL:
The Bullet Journal is definitely something to consider. Users with packed schedules can benefit from the concept. Also since the Bullet Journal is just a technique, users can save lots of money buying cheaper plain notebooks. They are not forced to buy a fancy planner. However, for users who don't plan too much or who love writing journal entries, this is definitely not the ultimate journal technique. They will have time to personalize the Bullet Journal, but writing long entries will definitely defeat it's original concept. Fortunately, I did some research and there are many awesome creative journal writers who adapted the Bullet Journal to their own style. They kept the basic technique and added in their own flair by either adding stickers or colors. Some just added the technique as its own section into their own original journals. Either way, the technique is wonderful. I just need to find a way to adapt it to my own liking since I am already comfortable with my own planning techniques.

Trapped Souls...

Once upon a time, a young gamer graduated out of college and was searching for a job. Being jobless for a very long time, he was getting bored with his life very much. The job market was being harsh and his patience was decreasing along with his self-esteem. Barely anyone wants to hire him, regardless if he was a college graduate. It almost felt like the world did not want him. That his life was meaningless and losing his life will not stop the world from spinning.

One day, a dear friend of his introduced the young gamer to a new game. The dear friend claimed that it was no ordinary game and it will change his life forever. That he will never forget this special piece of artwork. So the gamer decided to try it out. Why not? He thought. There was nothing to lose and his boredom and unemployment were digging into his ego. He might as well detach from reality just for a short moment to relieve some stress. So he downloaded the game and started his small adventure.

On his little adventure, he met a woman by the name Felicia. Although the gamer never met her personally, he felt connected to her due to their roles in the game. However, while playing the game, the gamer realized a terrible truth. Felicia, a mere NPC, was suffering in the game. She was forced to experience her death countless times when many other players play the game. No matter if she loves or dislikes her role, she was forced to follow the game's plan to die countless times in front of the players and forget any memory of her previous deaths.  The young gamer could not accept her fate. He could not accept knowing an innocent soul had to go through such tragedies just because she was "designed" that way. He wanted to set her soul free, giving her free will and allowing her to live with no pain. So, the gamer set on a quest to figure out how to set her free. He tried many options and at some point, even talked to Felicia herself. Felicia was very pleased to know the gamer cares for her and tries to save her life. However, after many tries, the gamer confessed to Felicia that he was failing quite miserably for he could not figure a solution. Felicia appreciated his effort. She told the gamer it was okay and she understood her fate. She was happy enough that the gamer acknowledged her existence. With no other choice, the gamer bid farewell to the damsel in distress and saw her died once more. The gamer left the game alone after that. Although she remained trapped in the game, at least she was pain free.

The gamer returned to his regular life again, searching for employment while finding other things to rid his boredom, but he would never forget Felicia and hope one day another player can set her free.

http://paperdino.com/games/save-the-date/

MIND BLOWN! PEEEUUWWWW!!!!! 

Inspiration: To The Moon

So why the title "Always Remember" ? And why the description? It seems quite obvious. I want to remember thoughts and moments in my life. Sadly, my brain is not that good with details and I do tend to forget things easily. So exactly why this theme you ask again?

Let me introduce you to a video game that brought up this whole blogging/memory idea. It's called To The Moon. It is a short PC game about two doctors whose job is to create artificial memories for the dying patient. The dying patient can call on these doctors to fulfill his or her last wish. The doctors then rearrange the patient's memories so his or her last wish is fulfilled (in the virtual world). In this episode, the patient wants to go to the moon so the doctors travel in his memory to let him go to the moon by any means necessary.

It may seem like a simple puzzle game. However the message of the story is very deep. The first time I heard  about this game, it was rumored that every single person that played it had cried. I got curious about how such a video game can actually bring such emotions. What did I do? I went cheap (sorry guys). I decided to watch the walkthrough on Youtube. Sadly, I can't deny that the game brought me to tears. It made me realize that memories are what makes life special. It makes us who we are today. For this reason, I titled this blog based on that game. It is to remind me (and hopefully you) that our goals are all similar. However, the goal is not worth it without its obstacles. That's why every once in a while, it is good to just look back and appreciate what we gain.

Here's the link to the game's website: http://freebirdgames.com/to_the_moon/

If you played (or watched :P) this game, I hope you feel the same way too. If you haven't, I highly recommend you at least watch the walkthrough online. It is $12 for download. I know the puzzles seem boring but the story is worth it. I definitely look forward to the sequel and will purchase it if I have enough to spare (I'm on a serious tight budget as a college student). There are no updates on it yet so we'll just have to wait on that.