We all know that 2022 was a challenging year for many of us around the world. The stock markets struggled, inflation reached record highs, and the fear of a global recession loomed large. I was no exception and didn't fare well with financial investments last year. However, despite all the challenges, there is one thing that I did in 2022 that turned out to be the best investment for me. And it only cost me $15!
It was a bullet journal.
You may have heard about bullet journal before, but if you haven't, it's a simple journaling approach that can help you organize your life. You can read all you want about the bullet journal here. I started with a very basic approach, using it to plan my weekly tasks. Rather than planning each day, I found that planning each week worked better for me. I primarily use this approach to organize my personal life, not my work (for work, I use a similar weekly planning approach but on OneNote).
At first, it may seem like a simple concept, but I have achieved much more by just planning my weeks over the last year than I ever have before. Here are some of the things I accomplished in 2022:
- More workouts. I have been much more consistent than I have ever been in my entire life.
- More running. In fact, I completed my very first 10k run run back in September 2022.
- More walking. I completed my very first 28k walk walk in October 2022, in addition to walking my dog almost every day.
- More socialization with friends.
- Hosted more events at my home.
- Published my very first course on cloud computing fundamentals, yeah!
- More experiences, including trying out new restaurants, attending events, concerts, exhibitions, and outdoor activities.
- More done around the house, including fixing things and maintenance tasks.
- More certifications. I completed several certifications in 2021 and had to renew most of them in 2022, so with a little bit of planning, I managed to get them done.
- Increased my financial literacy by taking few courses to educate myself on the subject.
All of this was achieved simply by putting down the tasks I intended to do each week in my bullet journal. No overthinking, no fancy productivity hacks, no over-the-top system to get things done. Just a simple list of activities that I planned to do each week.
One of the best things about bullet journaling is that you can use any tool that works for you, whether it's an analog journal or a digital equivalent. What matters is the act of doing it.
So, if you're not already using a bullet journal or a similar system, I highly encourage you to give it a try. You may be surprised at how much you can get done by being intentional about your tasks. Here's to the next year and all the things we'll achieve! 🥂
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