WEBVTT - We're Back (With a New Show!) 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:04.160 Hey, game Plan listeners, it's me Rebecca Greenfield and me 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:08.719 Francesco Leavie. We're back. We wanted to tell you about 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:13.480 our new show Works for Me. If you loved Game Plan, 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:18.000 you'll love this show. This is game Plan on steroids. 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:23.040 Instead of talking about work culture, we live it. We're 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:27.960 human guinea pigs trying out productivity experiments on ourselves. And 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:31.760 we're going to play the first episode right here, right now. 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:35.640 But if you want to get the full experience, subscribe 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.519 to Works for Me on Apple Podcasts or wherever you 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:40.920 listen to podcasts. Yeah, that way you won't miss a 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:47.400 single episode. We hope you'll love it. Bye. I'm Rebecca 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:49.959 Greenfield and this is how good I would be at 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:56.520 my job if I had my life in order. Becca, 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:01.800 this article you wrote is the best ever. Wow. Thank you. 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:09.399 It was all thanks to my to do list. Hey Becca, 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:13.039 congrats on your promotion ahead of the writers. It's easy 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:21.120 to be productive when you're this organized. Tweeter and the 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:26.440 pulitzer goes to Rebecca Greenfield for her groundbreaking series on 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:33.600 a very important topic. I'd like to thank being organized. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:50.520 It has changed everything. M tweeter. Of course, this is 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:54.840 a ridiculous idea, but that kind of wish fulfillment drives 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.680 a ten billion dollar self help industry. We're told that 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:01.760 one productivity hack will not just clean up your inbox 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:06.840 but change your life. But what tools actually work and 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.000 what hacks are worth it? That's what we're here to 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:23.959 find out. Welcome to Works for Me, the show where 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:26.639 we try to fix our workplace problems to find out 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:30.120 what strategies will work for you. I am Franchise Believe, 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.600 and I'm Rebecca green Gale. We all wish we could 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.520 be the best versions of ourselves, and lucky for us, 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:41.360 there are countless articles, apps, videos, and books that promised 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.240 to make us better coworkers, or spouses or human beings. 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:46.840 Here's the key to do this. Anyone that has a 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:49.880 goal and they're moving towards it, they're successful in this phase. 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:52.200 I wish someone would have grabbed me and said, I 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:54.120 showed you already how you do it. Number one, you 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:55.799 gotta believe in me, and number two, you gotta believe 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.000 in the possibility. And so I'm here to say I've 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:01.640 actually made a lot using these technique. I know how 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:06.000 they really work. But does any of this stuff actually work? 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:09.560 On this show, we're going to try out tools and 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.560 methods that promise results. Yeah, we're going to be human 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.120 guinea pigs. This is how we're going to do it. 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:20.160 Each week, one of us, either Becca or Me, will 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:24.079 present a real work life issue that she's having. Then 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.280 we'll try out a self help method to solve it 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:30.480 and report back. This week, it's Becca's turn. Becca, what 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:34.320 is the problem you were trying to solve? So? I 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:38.040 have trouble keeping track of all of the things that 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.520 I have to do. For a long time, I didn't 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:44.280 have a calendar app on my phone, I didn't have 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:48.560 a dedicated notebook for taking notes, and I like sporadically 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:51.119 made to do lists. And I have this idea that 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:54.560 if I were better about writing things down, then I 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:56.520 would be more on top of my stuff and my 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.520 work would be better. Okay, so you want to write 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:04.160 things down more? There are a million ways to do that, right. 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:07.560 People have apps, people have books, They've written about it. 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:12.920 What what is your chosen method of getting there? Bullet journaling. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:17.520 Bullet journaling sounds violent, what is it? It's not violent. 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:22.400 A bullet journal is a journal, a calendar, and a 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.160 to do list all in one. It kind of reminds 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:27.200 me of one of those planners that you get at 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:29.800 the beginning of the school year in high school, but 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.280 you get to decide what goes in it for your 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:36.760 own purposes, so it's customized. Weble the pages have these 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.360 dots on them instead of lines, are a blank page. 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.359 That's why it's called a bullet journal, and the doctrid 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:46.320 makes it easy to create different types of calendars or spreads, 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.359 so it's like a planner that you could buy in 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.599 a store, only you kind of have to draw it yourself. 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:57.159 Correct So what made you want to be a bullet journal? 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:01.880 Or I first saw bullet journals all over Instagram. There 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:04.839 are tons of people who post pictures of these hand 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:08.719 drawn journal pages with the hashtag bou joe, which is 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:14.440 short for bullet journal Joe. I get it. And the 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:18.400 drawings are super high quality or nate. They look incredible 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:21.400 and like a lot of things on Instagram, it feels 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:25.960 totally inaccessible for normal people like me who have zero 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:30.560 artistic ability, but that is also the allure. If thousands 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:34.480 of people can do this, why can't I. It's aspirational, 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:38.280 so it's easier to understand if I show you so 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.080 I'm going to pull up a video from a popular 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:47.160 bullet journaler named Amanda rachel Lee. Everyone, it's Amanda, Welcome 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.320 back to my channel. October is coming. Every month, Amanda 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:52.680 puts up a YouTube video of her setting up her 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:56.760 bullet journal with that month's calendars, to do lists, trackers, 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.000 and all the spreads. And so here's one from October. 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.320 To the voice over. Now, okay, so for this month's theme, 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:05.440 we are doing something that you guys have been asking 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:08.400 me to do basically since I started bullet journaling. We 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:13.640 are doing magic and wizardry. I actually also so she 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:19.440 has very skillfully drawing witch and wizardry themed things on 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.240 her journal. There's a scroll, there's a cauldron, there's a hat. 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:27.040 It looks like something I could never ever do. This 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:31.159 does not This doesn't seem like something I would spend 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.080 time on, and it looks like it takes a lot 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:36.600 of skill. And I'm also struggling to see how this 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.320 makes anyone more efficient since she seems to be spending 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.120 a lot of time making drawings. Yeah, this is just 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:46.120 the aesthetic part of the bullet journal. On the other page, 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.200 I decided to do a quote, and of course I 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.159 had to do a quote that was said by the 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:54.400 legend herself, JK. Rowling. It says we all have magic 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.520 inside us, which I thought was obviously very fitting for 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:01.800 this theme. Inspirational quotes from Harry Potter are also a 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.960 part of this organizational system. It's not a requirement, but 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:08.000 that is definitely part of the vibe. It's like, you 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:10.880 have to have beautiful handwriting, be really good at trying, 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:15.040 and also be into inspirational quotes like you want your 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:16.960 life to be better. It's part of the culture like 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.120 geist of the bullet Journal. Yeah, it definitely. It seems 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.160 like a lot. Yeah, So the decorating part which we're 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:26.480 watching is just the beginning of setting up the journal, 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:30.120 and she goes on to hand drop calendars. She makes 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:32.880 something called a mood tracker to keep track of her 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:36.600 mood throughout the month, and it's all hand drawn and 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:41.440 decorated on theme to Harry Potter. And this happens every month, 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:45.800 right every single month. So it's a lot. I can't 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:51.160 imagine trying to get organized by committing to this level 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:55.920 of like artistry and perfection. I could never do that. 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:57.760 That's my worst nightmare. You see that and you think 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.760 I want to say anything, Oh my I'm I'm not 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:03.640 good at this kind of thing at all. But I 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.640 think that these people are probably so on top of 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:10.440 their okay, right, Like, don't you just want to be 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.520 the type of person that keeps a beautiful hand drawn 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:18.120 weekly calendar and does it every week and fills it 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:31.840 out every week, and then you've achieved all of your goals? Okay? 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.839 So what we do on this show is experiment on 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:39.000 ourselves to see if these methods really work. So you 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:41.720 want to be better at writing things down. You've decided 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:45.840 to try bullet journaling. So what is your experiment? What 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:48.440 are you gonna do for my experiment? I have decided 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:52.199 to use a bullet journal for two full months. I'm 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:55.800 going to see if using this journal makes me any 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.800 better at writing stories are doing my job. And at 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:00.960 the end of your experiment, how will you know if 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:04.840 bullet journaling has in fact made you more organized? I 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:07.320 think if I can stick to it and use it 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:20.760 every day, then it's proven to be worthwhile. I immediately 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.719 discovered that there is a high barrier to entry for 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:27.840 bullet journaling. The setup is a lot There are YouTube 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.960 videos explaining how to do it. But the possibilities for 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.000 what a bullet journal can be or look like our endless. 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.880 A given journal can have multiple to do lists, calendars, 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.400 and trackers, so it's hard to know where to start 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:44.320 or what to put in it. Also, there is a 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:49.400 lot of jargon and bullet journal specific rules. This is 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:51.640 what's called the future log. Is what we're getting into. 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:55.040 A future log, you just kind of like at a glance, 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:57.000 you know, you've got your dates down the left side 0:09:57.000 --> 0:09:58.679 of it. You could also add a second column that's 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:00.839 kind of just like, okay, if you do a less 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:03.960 than symbol that is for things that you schedule. UM, 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.240 an open circle is kind of like the core idea. 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.160 But I do a swear to do when you finish 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.160 the thing, you put an X through the dot. It's 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:14.920 complicated to explain. It's not that complicated to do. And 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.199 I think that's after I did it and I was 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:19.079 trying to explain it to other people, they just their 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:20.720 eyes sort of glaze over, and but as soon as 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:21.880 you've got it, you're just like, oh, this is not 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:26.960 complicated at all. That's Rachel will Kerson Miller. She's one 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:30.000 of the celebrities of the bullet journal world. She wrote 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:33.640 a book called dot Journaling, a practical Guide. I asked 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:35.440 her to help me set mine up, which I know 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:41.360 is kind of cheating, but it was super helpful. All Right, 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.520 we got a term November. Wait, my, I miss, I 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:48.120 think I forgot about that. I forgared to lie. Yeah. 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:51.319 She decoded the language and helped me decide what spreads 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.079 I might find useful. And after an hour and a 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:57.079 half with her, I had a basic layout. I had 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:01.160 a monthly calendar, an activity tracker for documenting how often 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.640 I do certain habits like cleaning my apartment and making dinner. 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.200 And then she showed me how to make daily to 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:11.160 do lists and daily journal entries. The journal it's the 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:14.280 brand called Lois term cost me twenty dollars, and then 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.840 I spent another fifteen dollars on pens. I bought the 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:21.600 Pilot Precise V five retractable pens in black, and then 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.600 another pack of Pilot pens in an assortment of colors. Okay, 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:27.840 so you spent a lot of time on the set up. 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.800 How did it go from there? At first I was 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:34.080 very into it. About a weekend I got into the 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.800 studio to talk about it. That's how excited I was, 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.760 I've used up eighteen pages in one week, which I 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:45.400 don't know what the measurement is, but that seems like 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:49.559 a lot. And I just kind of like look forward 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:51.640 to opening it in the morning and making my to 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.320 do list, um, and then I really look forward to 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:56.600 at night when you needed to write your little night 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:59.040 notes or I call them nine notes. It's like your journal. 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:03.560 You look forward to writing and you wake up thinking 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:08.080 about writing in your journal. That's yeah, that sounds into it. Yeah, 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:10.319 I was. I think, you know, when you started a 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.160 new project, you get really into it, like predictably I do. 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:14.960 I don't know about you, you know. I was like, 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:17.240 I'm going to commit, and I did, and one weekend 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:20.240 I was all about it, high end life. But pretty 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.640 soon I developed a love hate relationship with it. A 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.520 few weeks in, I still liked it, but it quickly 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:29.480 started to feel more like a rewarding chore, like going 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.920 to the gym. I know it'll feel good once I 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:34.480 do it, but most of the time I'd rather just 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.400 sit on the couch. And then it only devolved from there. 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.480 In a matter of weeks, I started having trouble fitting 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.080 it into my life. Here's me less than a month 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:47.400 into it. I have a confession to make. I haven't 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:53.959 done the journal part of the bullet journal. And let's see. 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:58.440 It's opening it up. Let's see. Okay, I did it 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:05.480 one week ago. I wrote some notes so kind of 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:09.240 a failure, also called behind on my activity tracker, and 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:13.440 was unable to remember all the things I did. But 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:16.400 it's really hard because I come home at night and 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:21.080 it's so late, I just don't do it. But tonight 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.679 I'm home at like a reasonable hour, it's eight, so 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:29.640 I'm gonna do the journal part. So I started developing 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:34.760 these two conflicting feelings. On the one hand, I get 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:38.520 really mad at myself for not using it, But then 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.360 I started getting mad at the journal for when I 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.920 did end up using it, because I felt like it 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:47.760 was getting in the way of my life. Okay, so 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:52.679 there's been a major bullet journal development. Um, I'm at 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:58.760 dinner at an Italian restaurant. It's my birthday, and I 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:00.920 thought of something I had to write now my bullet 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.120 journal to put it on my to do list, but 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:07.000 just talk to the lawyers at work about something important, 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:09.000 and I put it in my bullet journal, and then 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:15.720 I got olive oil all over, But like tassels, it's 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:20.920 just a mess anyway, just like a just a bad 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:25.520 thing that happened. It's like I don't use my bullet 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:30.200 journal when it's convenient, Like I should be doing this 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:32.440 like every night and like checking in, but like I'm 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.360 not going to check in tonight. It's Friday night, so 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:43.040 instead I got breaking olive oil all over anyway, Happy 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:49.280 birthday to me. Wow, that was a low point. That's 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.800 a little it was a little self pitying. But okay, 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:57.120 you went from being excited to get up in the 0:14:57.120 --> 0:14:59.640 morning so that you could write in your bullet journal 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:03.000 to it sounds like being angry at your bullet journal 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.680 for existing and demanding that you write in it at 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:08.120 dinner when you it's your birthday and you'd rather just 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:13.560 be having fun. Yeah. I really went downhill so quickly. Yeah, 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:17.240 at this point, I'm a little demoralized, and I'm wondering 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:20.520 why am I doing all of this? Doesn't take any time. 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:22.720 To have a good idea, or to be creative or 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:26.320 innovative or strategic does don't take time? What those do 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:31.240 requires space. That is David Allen. He's arguably the creator 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.680 of the entire life hack industry. He wrote a book 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.840 called Getting Things Done in two thousand one and it 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:41.280 sold over a million copies since I called him up 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:43.680 at his home in Amsterdam to ask about the benefits 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.800 of writing things down in my bullet journal. If your 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:48.840 head is still wrapped around food you should have bought 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:50.960 this morning or the last meeting you were in, and 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.520 you didn't write down all the stuff that you promised 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.400 somebody that you would do, or if you've got stuff 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:58.680 that you've committed to do, then you haven't tracked that 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:00.840 and you're still trying to use your head is your office. 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:04.240 Your head is an absolutely crappy office, and most people 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:06.200 are trying to use their head as their office, and 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:10.040 it didn't evolve or is not designed to remember, remind, prioritize, 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:12.640 or any of that. So in David Allen's theory, the 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.200 bullet journal would be the thing that is supposed to 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:17.200 hold all of the things that are cluttering up your 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.160 head right now and keeping you from doing your best 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.840 work exactly, And in some ways my bullet journal was 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.240 doing that. Like I was really good at the daily 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.920 to do lists. We were working on this big project 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.000 at the time, the paycheck and any series podcast about 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:32.760 the gender pay gap that I hosted and you also 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:36.760 worked on plug Go Listen, and keeping the lists helped 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:38.600 me stay on top of what could have been a 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:43.480 very stressful and overwhelming project. In other ways, it wasn't 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.880 working for me because I wasn't using it. And the 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:50.040 thing that was particularly difficult for me to get into 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:54.120 was the tracker. Like I said, the bullet Journal can 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.880 do a million things, but I'm going to talk about 0:16:56.920 --> 0:17:00.000 the tracker for a little while because I really struggle 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:29.320 with it. More on my struggles after the break, I 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:31.960 had made a very basic habit tracker where every day 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:34.280 I was supposed to track if I made dinner, or 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.400 clean my apartment or did a series of other good habits, 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:41.240 and I wasn't using it. I was really beating myself 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:45.000 up about not using this tracker. But as Rachel, my 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:48.919 personal bullet journal sherpa told me, the whole point of 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.600 the bullet Journal is that it's customizable and that you 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:55.480 can and should create something that works for you. So 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:57.159 it's kind of like you need to customize it for 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:01.360 yourself and just sort of be realistic about your own 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:05.199 limitations and figuring out if something's not working for you, 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:07.920 like really narrowing in on like what the problem is, 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.639 you can fix it without scrapping the whole thing. I 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:12.840 think to like the whole point is that like you 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:15.359 kind of set it up one page at a time, 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.320 and like you can embrace the flexibility where it's like 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:20.479 if a weekly spread isn't working for you, you just 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:23.320 start something new the next page and you move on. 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:26.720 So Rachel said, I really had to figure out what 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.080 my specific problem was and then I could change it. 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:34.040 So I decided that my tracker was the problem because 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.800 I was putting in all this work to collect this 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.080 data of how many times I did X, Y and 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.160 Z things, and then I wasn't really doing anything with it. 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:45.560 So I decided that I needed a new tracker that 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:50.199 collected more interesting data. Here's me explaining the tracker I 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:54.480 chose to my boyfriend Danny. So basically, I'm going to 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:58.600 track how much I drink every day and ounces but 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:01.960 ounces are cups? How many cups I drink every day? 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.719 And then how much I spend on it? Why did 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:12.479 you choose to track your alcohol intake? Um? I just 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.000 felt like the tracker as it was was not specific enough. 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:21.520 Like I tracked my activities back in April, way back when, 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.040 and I was just like, well, I don't really care 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:28.240 how often I drink. I'm moren't care about how much 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:30.680 I drink and how much I spend on it. Are 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.280 you trying to reduce the amount of alcohol you consume? 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.840 Why are you asking me so skeptically? This just seems 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:43.760 like a tracker for people who want to reduce or 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.280 want to drink less. No, I just want to know. 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:50.480 I feel like you really just did this so you 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:53.520 could draw that picture of a cocktail. I didn't even 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:57.480 know I was going to do that until the end. Rude, 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:05.920 Well what would you track? I would track my sleep? Yeah, 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.280 I don't care about that. You should track the amount 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:15.560 of time as you nag me. Oh man. I got 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:17.639 a lot of pushback on the drink tracker from Danny. 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:20.320 Yeah you did. He I mean, I can sort of 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:22.840 get what he's saying, which is like, why even pay 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:25.200 attention to a habit if you're not if there's nothing 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:26.960 about the habit that you want to change. But I 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:29.240 could also see you said you were going to track 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:31.639 how much money you were spending, right, So, like, if 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:36.200 you can see how much money you're spending, you might 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:39.760 shock yourself into spending less, right, Like the expectation is 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:41.119 that the number is going to be Like, oh, I 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:44.000 didn't realize. I thought the original tracker was dumb and 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:46.520 I was gonna do Yeah, So I wanted better data, 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:50.640 better data, And despite the guff I got, I ended 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:52.560 up liking that a lot better than my other tracker. 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:55.240 I did it every day, and I actually was into 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:57.399 the data I was collecting, which turned out to be 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.879 incredibly revealing. At the end of the month, I tallied 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:02.920 up how much I drank and how much I had spent, 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:06.080 and it added up to a d do Here's me 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:08.960 talking to our producer tofor about it. Do you think 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:13.280 you're going to do anything with that information? What am 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:15.000 I going to do with that information? I think it 0:21:15.080 --> 0:21:17.840 kind of makes me feel okay about how much I'm 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:23.080 spending on this recreational habit and how much I'm doing 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:27.159 it to say to myself, like I wasn't really checking myself. 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:30.600 I wasn't like you can only spend ten dollars a day, 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:32.600 or like you can only drink this much a week, 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:36.080 But left to my own devices, that I'm like spending 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:40.320 a reasonable amount of money on drinking. You began this 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:44.080 thing as a way to clear space in your mind 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:47.560 so that you can focus on other things. And I'm wondering, 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:52.520 you know, does having that tracker, having this information help 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:55.280 accomplish that goal of freeing your mind up for other things. 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:57.040 Or maybe it's giving you a piece of mind so 0:21:57.080 --> 0:21:59.240 you're not spending as much time thinking about it. Yeah, 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:02.000 I think so, as I have anxiety around money, like 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:05.760 I have anxiety around spending money and when even when 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:07.320 I buy a round of drinks and I do it 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:11.560 willingly and happily because it's like nice to buy people things, 0:22:11.800 --> 0:22:14.679 and um, in the back of my mind, I'm like, 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:18.640 like a fifty dollar bill for drinks stresses me out. 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:21.960 But now, seeing like how it balances out in a month, 0:22:22.040 --> 0:22:32.440 I think I can feel a little better. So that, 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:36.560 I think that is the beauty of the bullet journal. 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:40.600 The things cluttering up my mind aren't just tasks, but 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:44.800 anxieties and guilt about my work, and the trackers and 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:49.040 calendars and journals and to do lists help me manage 0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:53.760 those feelings. Oh wow, that's pretty deep all that. I'm 0:22:53.760 --> 0:23:14.520 a drink tracker. M Okay, So it sounds like you 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:16.680 had a lot of ups and downs, but at the 0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:18.359 end you kind of came around to feeling like maybe 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:20.320 this was even more useful than you thought it was 0:23:20.359 --> 0:23:22.760 going to be. But at the beginning you did say 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:24.959 that you would think it was a success if you 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:28.119 wrote in your bullet journal every day for two months. 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:31.199 So did you do that? Yes, if that is the 0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:34.360 measurement of success, then yes I did that. I used 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:38.160 the to do list every day. But did I become 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:43.159 the aspirational bullet journal user? No, let me show you 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:48.920 my journal. This is a real reveal. Yeah, so wow, 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:51.480 this is how it started. This was the first bread 0:23:51.520 --> 0:23:55.240 I made with Rachel. That's the calendar, that's the habit tracker, 0:23:57.000 --> 0:24:01.480 you know, mm hmmm, some of are things to do list. 0:24:01.640 --> 0:24:05.400 It looks okay, yeah, we're looking at something that's very 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:09.080 well used. It definitely shows that you used it a lot. 0:24:09.760 --> 0:24:13.560 I'm gonna say your handwriting is not like that great. 0:24:14.119 --> 0:24:17.480 So yeah, here's a March recap. I tried to channel 0:24:17.600 --> 0:24:22.200 my inner creative person. This is the artistic part. You've 0:24:22.240 --> 0:24:26.440 drawn three stars, like not even fancy stars, they're just 0:24:27.600 --> 0:24:29.920 they're just a little five pointed stars that you colored in. 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:33.160 And you've kind of squiggly underlined some of the cursive 0:24:33.240 --> 0:24:35.640 writing that you did. But like, this doesn't look like 0:24:35.960 --> 0:24:39.280 the professional calligraphy that you see in the Instagram pictures. 0:24:39.760 --> 0:24:43.360 Let me show you that the infamous drink tracker. Yeah, 0:24:43.480 --> 0:24:47.040