Bernice Nikki is a planner person. As a musician in her 30s, who juggles jobs from vocal coach to metal vocalist, Bernice needed a tool to manage her manifold activities that often require her to travel across Jakarta.

She would jot down her to-do items in her planner. Once, Bernice ran out of space and had to move online — to a digital calendar. But it fell short of her expectations.

“I kind of got lost in the digital reminder app,” Bernice says. On one eventful day, she recalls, she had three appointments: to check a new place for a private vocal class and to see her new students at two different venues.

But her schedule crumbled because the plans conflicted with each other. “I made an incorrect estimation,” Bernice says. “It was impossible to do them all in time.”

Realizing that the analogue way of scheduling worked better than digital, she browsed the internet for some DIY planner inspirations. She came across the bullet journal method and decided to start her own.

Emotion in check: Musician and vocal coach Bernice Nikki uses a mood tracker in her bullet journal to record and see the pattern of her moods for a month. (Courtesy of Bernice Nikki)

Bullet journal has been de rigueur in recent years. Check out the #bulletjournal hashtag on Instagram and you will find over 3.5 million posts from across the globe.

Bullet journal is a note-taking system developed by digital product designer Ryder Carroll. It is a methodology to record information or ideas in bullet form for daily logs or other kinds of lists, such as “books to read” or “restaurants to try”. The notebook can also track progress, habits, goals, projects and daily expenses. All these to-do lists and trackers are kept in one single notebook.

Dubbed the mind-decluttering version of Marie Kondo’s minimalist approach, Carroll’s bullet journal aims to prioritize and structure daily activities, including discarding unnecessary tasks.

And bullet journal works for Bernice. In love with her habit, in which she spends some time to reflect on what has happened today and to plan for tomorrow, she says she lives a more mindful and well-organized life.

“It helps me organize my tasks and remember things or appointments,” she says.

Stay organized: Musician Bernice Nikki, who has multiple jobs, writes down her weekly activities in her bullet journal. (Courtesy of Bernice Nikki)

Bullet journaling is also suitable for students handling their many academic assignments. Nata, a 21-year-old law student in Bandung, West Java, is a case in point.

Realizing that she can be forgetful sometimes, Nata neatly rewrites her rapid notes from class and structures her weekly activities in to-do items on her notebooks. She then uploads them on her Instagram account @natastudies.

“I’ve become more organized and it is easier for me to track my progress,” she says.

Bullet journaling users swear by its flexibility. People can customize their journal by adopting their preferred styles and leaving out content that does not work for them. Many journal devotees also get artistic with their pages.

For Agustin Nur Rosyidah, 21, the bullet journal is useful to express her artistic flair. She used to make crafts out of flannels. Now she works as an administrative staffer at a private elementary school in Bekasi and has less time for cutting and sewing flannels.

With pen in hand: Agustin Nur Rosyidah, 21, regularly writes inspiring quotes, such as one from an ustadzah (Islamic female teacher) above, to lift her spirits. (Courtesy of Agustin Nur Rosyidah)

Bullet journal turned out to be a good solution — it takes less time and space. Agustin also gets motivational boosts from making bullet journal; it helps her foster a positive outlook and improves productivity.

“I benefit from the powerful quotes I write in my journal,” she says. “And it definitely makes my notes look tidier and prettier.”

Practitioners also report that bullet journaling helps them achieve mindfulness, too. Nata says the process of decorating her pages with colorful stickers and motivational hand-lettered quotes has a positive effect on her. Occasionally, she adds reflective journal entries in her journal. “[Such activities] can reduce stress levels,” she says.

Journaling, a common therapeutic practice in psychology, can be an outlet to overcome emotional exhaustion, says psychologist Ratih Ibrahim of the Personal Growth counseling center. Writing, in a way, is a cathartic experience that can discharge intense emotions, such as anxiety and anger.

“People can regulate their emotional overload in journaling,” Ratih explains. “For certain people, the act of writing things down and rereading their entries is a very effective way to relieve stress.”

Pretty notes: Nata, a 21-year-old law student, uploads her lecture notes in pastel color palettes to her bullet journal Instagram account @natastudies. (Courtesy of Nata)

But different folks have different strokes. If writing on paper does not seem to work optimally, technology can function as a convenient tool.

“It’s fine to start journaling with our social media accounts instead of a pen and paper,” Ratih adds. “People can even explore their journaling experience with modern features, like sound and videos — all things that can’t be captured on paper.”

The most important thing is for people to have a platform to express themselves and take time to reflect on things.

But in the digital age, for people like Bernice, an analogue approach is therapeutic. Unlike typing notes on a mobile phone or laptop, writing by hand makes people think at a slower pace, which eventually leads to mindfulness.

“The beauty of bullet journaling is that it slows down time,” Bernice says.

Optimistic circles: Bullet journal practitioner Nata finds the act of making and decorating her bullet journal relieves her stress. (Courtesy of Nata)

For her, there is nothing new about handwritten journals. She has written diaries since she was at elementary school. But unlike a traditional diary full of paragraphs, bullet journal allows her to play around with various kinds of content, such as book and movie logs, a gratitude log and habit trackers, among other things.

New variations also bring new results. A mood tracker, for example, enables Bernice to rate her daily mood, and that helps her observe her mental state with concrete records. She noticed that she would repeatedly have “blue days” on certain dates every month. Once she saw the pattern, she managed to spare some time for herself and tried not to indulge in isolated work for too long.

“I know when I’m close to burnout and I know when I have to take a break to take care of myself,” Bernice explains. “Bullet journal is like therapy but cheaper.”

“If my friends are feeling down, I would ask them, ‘Have you ever tried bullet journaling?’” Bernice says. “I’m a hardcore fan of bullet journal.”

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How to start bullet journaling

Bullet journaling is a form of self-expression, the art of trial-and-error. “Just do it” is the number one tip. Here are more helpful tips for bullet journals from practitioners I interviewed.

* Prepare the material

Basically, bullet journaling requires a pen and book but there is no need to go all-out in your first days. Get a Leuchtturm1917 notebook if you fancy something cozy. Muji notebooks also offer high-quality paper at more than affordable prices.

Faber Castell has a number of great pen collections, such as its Pitt Artist and 0.5 air gel pens. Muji has a good collection of pens as well. However, any usable pen and a blank book will work well for beginners.

* Start simple

Bullet journaling offers endless possibilities for content and style. But to avoid getting overwhelmed during your trial run, start simple.

Fill the first blank pages with a weekly log and short-term goals before committing yourself to a yearly log and ultimate lifetime goal list. You do not need to draw doodles or practice calligraphy skills to decorate your pages. A plain journal is functional and good for newcomers. It allows you to explore what you actually need.

* Look for inspirations

Google it. Pin it to your boards on Pinterest. Or take a peek at the bullet journal community on Instagram, search for the hashtags: #bulletjournal or #bujo. YouTube has countless tutorial videos, too.

* Remember, you do this for yourself

At any time you get intimidated by other people’s posts of their beautiful journals, try to take Nata’s advice: “The point of doing bullet journal is it must be useful for ourselves.”