Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi<br /> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/quotes/

Return of the Jedi is all about feelings. Having them, showing them, hiding them. Bad people use them against you. Good people have them for other good people.

You should "search your feelings" (Luke Skywalker).

Cross reference this with Ryder Carroll's method of tracking your feelings (moods) using the "=".<br /> https://hypothes.is/a/l12OgFD7Ee-LjAevth_Piw

Ryder Carroll suggests using the symbol "=" as a way of logging your feelings or moods within your bullet journal.

https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/how-to-improve-focus-using-a-bullet-journal

quote from u/Panna1207 at https://www.reddit.com/r/commonplacebook/comments/18uqjwk/my_first_spread_doing_this_i_am_so_excited_d/

https://www.reddit.com/r/commonplacebook/search/?q=spread&restrict_sr=1

First time I've seen a photo of a commonplace book referred to a "spread" which is more commonly seen in Bullet Journal contexts.

The creator of the Today System was definitely aware of GTD, Bullet Journal and likely other methods, and intended his to be an added piece on top of them.

https://incompetech.com/graphpaper/

Reminder: is there a GitHub project that has LaTeX layouts like these?

Example of someone suggesting the migration of uncompleted tasks from one day to another in 1998.

https://frankenlog.com/how-it-works/

https://frankenlog.com/

https://productivehappiness.substack.com/p/stop-comparing-your-bullet-journal

I'm just wrapping up a year of maintaining my bullet journal practice using index cards instead of the more popular notebook form factor. It's heavily inspired by the century+ old Memindex method.

AMA

https://boffosocko.com/2023/04/20/review-of-king-jim-a6-size-horizontal-flatty-works-case-5460/

Syndication Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/bulletjournal/comments/15av66m/a_year_of_bullet_journaling_on_index_cards/

https://erinflotodesigns.com/collections/metal-stencils/products/bullet-journal-monthly-circle-tracker-stencil-habit-tracker-stencil-unique-design-stencil-cleaning-tracker-stencil

Erin Floto has a metal stencil for a chronodex circular design for use in bullet journals. It's a form of circular calendar with the inner circle containing space for daily, bi-weekly, weekly, monthly and longer time horizons with succeeding rings of the circle containing space for data related to the inner categories. Some of the exterior rings also include numbered squares representing days of the month or week on which a task should be done or for which a habit on an interior part of the circle might be tracked.

The chronodex, a portmanteau of chrono (time) and index, idea is fairly simple, but can be quite complex. For actual use, one may need to be able to spin the visualization around to read and understand it.

Other stencils with habit trackers, etc: https://erinflotodesigns.com/collections/metal-stencils

https://www.3x5life.com/

Compare with other products in this category: - Analog (Jeff Sheldon productivity system) - Memindex - Bullet Journal - Frictionless Capture Cards - Pile of Index Cards

hybrid journal by James Gowans

https://patrickrhone.com/2014/03/28/extending-dashplus/

Read archived version at https://web.archive.org/web/20230128105827/https://patrickrhone.com/2014/03/28/extending-dashplus/ Rhone's website was down today??

https://kimberlyhirsh.com/uploads/2023/5976538a38.jpg

Putting a list of one's core values in the front of their notebook can be a useful reminder within their journaling or bullet journal practice.

Similar to the sorts of to do list task key in many bullet journals, the Analog system has "task signals" : - black filled circle means "complete task" - half filled circle means task is in progress - a right arrow in the circle means the task was delegated - a cross in the circle means that the task is an appointment, potentially with the appointment time added to the to do item

The system suggests that you can "create your own" task signals, though in true minimalist fashion, it doesn't give other suggestions. Presumably one could do other pattern fills of the circle or symbols within it to mean other things (example: bullet journal key symbols).

Interestingly, the to do circles start out not blank, but with a single thin line splitting the circle in half vertically. This is apparently a design choice, perhaps to make it easier to fill in half of the circle?

Example of someone using index cards as the core of their bullet journal practice on 2020-07-23 as opposed to a notebook/journal.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bulletjournal/comments/hwdwld/notecard_bullet_journal/

also posted to https://www.reddit.com/r/indexcards/comments/it3uj9/notecard_bullet_journal/

General instructions for using a Memindex

HOW IT IS USED <br /> Things to be done today, jot on face card. Things to be done tomorrow or next Friday, jot on card for that day. Things to keep before you until done, jot on opposite front card. A matter for January 10th jot on a short card put under the band till you return to your desk, then file next to card for January 10th when it will come out and refresh your memory.

Things to be done when in New York or Chicago jot on card "N" or "C." The new address of Mr. Jones, under "J." Ideas on advertising jot on card tabbed "adv." Things for your clerk to do, on his card , etc., etc. Retire today's card tonight, carrying forward things not completed and put next card in the file in has proved that almost back of pocket case. The alphabet enables one to index all jottings for instant reference. This system is very comprehensive yet perfectly simple. You soon the learn to depend on it every hour of every day.

Within the general instructions in a 1904 Memindex advertisement (next to an ad for "Genuine Edison Incandescent Lamps") we see the general ideas of indexing things into the future and carrying undone tasks forward, just as is done in the bullet journal method.

Bullet journaling works well in a noisy world because it forces people to confront what they're eventually not going to do anyway and gets them to drop it rather than leaving it on an ever-growing list.

Carrying forward to do lists manually encourages one to quit things that aren't going to get done.

I'm definitely not the only one to notice this pattern of productivity porn in the bullet journal space.

Immediate knowledge capture by highlighting, annotating, or other means when taking notes can help to decrease cognitive load. This is similar to other productivity methods like quick logging within a bullet journal system, writing morning pages, or Getting Things Done (GTD). By putting everything down in one place, you can free your mind of the constant need to remember dozens of things. This frees up your working memory to decrease stress as you know you've captured the basic idea for future filtering, sorting, and work at a later date.

Of course someone has published a zettelkasten notebook for taking notes to be moved into one's zettelkasten at a later date.

It includes space for notes as well as meta data box which includes labels and spaces for the following:

• UID
• Parent UID
• Zettel
• tags
• refs

It's also got (at least one) page for an index in the end titled "tag list" with a two column ruling

This follows the general pattern of pre-printed commonplace books which was common with at least John Locke's index pre-printed.

Other examples include published bullet journals with custom formatting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knbT8jnMnfs

Rolling weekly planning ideas

Some interesting finds Josh.

Related to some of the bullet journal (aka BuJo) and journaling space you will eventually come across the idea of "morning pages" which is a technique where you spend a block of time (usually in the morning, but ideally just before you want to do your creative thinking work) where you write for a set amount of time or number of pages. The goal of this method (and to some extent bullet journaling) is to clear the cruft and extraneous details out of your head to be able to better prioritize and focus on your creative work. There's a relatively large group of people doing this as a technique, so even knowing the phrase can help one to find the literature.

Tangentially related to this and memory (via our old friend rhetoric), I've been doing some significant research into the commonplace book tradition and general note taking with an eye towards knowledge acquisition, creation, and spaced repetition systems. This has led into research into the areas of the zettelkasten, digital note taking, digital gardens and the like. All fascinating areas which overlap memory via rhetoric. I suspect that many mnemonists in the Renaissance used commonplace books as physical written memory palaces, though I've yet to find anything in my research that directly links them other than the relationship they have in the long tradition of rhetoric in Western culture. Since you mention music and writing lyrics, I recently noted that Eminem has a commonplace technique which he calls "stacking ammo" by which he compiles ideas for his lyrics. His method is certainly less structured than a traditional commonplace book, but the overall form traces back to our friends Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian.

If you delve into some of the Bullet Journal and journaling literature you'll find a subculture of people (YouTube has hundreds of people with entire channels dedicated to the topic) who write into their daily/weekly planners and decorate them with stickers, washi tape, photos, calligraphy, drawings, etc. I've called some of this "productivity porn" before, but if you search commonplace book on Instagram or Pinterest you'll find examples of people whose journals and notes are becoming physical memory palaces where the visuals are likely helping them remember portions of their lives or what they're writing. The stickers and images to some extent are serving the purpose of drolleries seen in Medieval manuscripts as mnemonic devices.

And finally, tangentially related to all of this is another interesting sub-genre of memory and note taking called sketchnotes which combines active listening, writing, and drawing into a mnemonic related note taking activity. I'm actually a bit surprised to find so little on the technique here on the forum. Searching for sketchnotes on social media will provide lots of examples and there are many "What are sketchnotes" short videos on YouTube that will give you an idea of what's going on. Many of these talk about a memory component, but not being mired into the sub-topic of rhetoric, they're usually not using the same framings we would (here on the forum), though the effects one might expect are the same.

Some related richer resources for these areas, to help people from going down the rabbit hole within the performative social media spaces:

• How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking–for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers by Sönke Ahrens
  • This touches on note taking within a zettelkasten framing, but is also applicable to the commonplace book tradition
• Sketchnote Handbook, The: the illustrated guide to visual note taking by Mike Rohde
  • This is one of the bibles in the space and gives a solid overview of what, why, how, etc.
• A Brief History & Ethos of the Digital Garden by Maggie Appleton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX-rpV5PPQ4

Reasons people quit:

• Time 29.9%
• Overwhelm 28.7%
• Performance 14.9%
• Perfectionism 13.8%
• Comparison 12.6%

Most of the reasons relate to social media and pressure of perfectionism related to it. Definitely fits into my productivity porn thesis.

These are all things for people in the digital garden space to watch out for in the future. Presenting one's learning in public can eventually evolve into something negative if not done for the correct reasons. Bullet Journal's rise to popularity in coordination with the rise of social media can be a means for forcing people to quit it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOJdmxBAqGM

I'll note that we've seen a similar trend here in publishers making copies of bullet journals in the past several years.

Bullet Journals certainly are informed by the commonplace tradition, but are an incredibly specialized version of lists for productivity.

Perhaps there's more influence by Peter Ramus' outlining tradition here as well?

I've seen a student's written version of the idea of a Bullet Journal technique which came out of a study habits manual in the 1990's. It didn't quite have the simplicity of the modern BuJo idea or the annotations, but in substance it was the same idea. I'll have to dig up a reference for this.

A relatively comprehensive view of Wouter Groeneveld's commonplacing workflow. There are a few bits missing here and there, but he's got most of the bigger basics down that a majority of people seem to have found and discovered.

He's got a strong concept of indexing, search, and even some review, which many miss. There's some organic work toward combinatorial thought, but only via the search piece.

I should make a list of the important pieces for more advanced versions to have. I've yet to see any articles or work on this.

Some of this extends as far as what has been called “productivity porn”. See also: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/bulletjournal/?hl=en

What?! No productivity porn!!?!

How many times have I thought this myself?

My bullet journal has to be the most spartan and utilitarian book of lists ever created.