Ideas for connecting bullet journal index with JD

LasTr · February 12, 2024, 4:07pm

I came across the bullet journal idea quite a few years before I came across JD. The thing I liked about it was that, yes, you can keep your notebooks organized — all you have to do is keep an index and number your pages. I used that idea to great success in a job as a foreign language teacher, where research skills had to make up for no one being around to show best practices. If I open that notebook, I can still see at a glance what info its 80 pages contain and how to find what I’m looking for. That’s awesome!

I still use that system today, but I’m curious what ideas the community has about connecting bullet journal (specifically their indices) and the JD system. I like writing on paper because it gives me a reason to practice my chicken scratch. And I think cool people carry pocket notebooks .

Here are some ideas I have so far. Dated todo lists are in the bullet journal index.

       INDEX
     —————————

Todos 1, 3, 9, 12, 14
Gift ideas 2
Notes on child rearing 27-34
1/23/24 Call with HR 24
...

A note could be made in 00-09 System/03 Journals/2023-11-17 Field Notes which more or less duplicates the index from the notebook itself. I’m not sold on that idea, yet, though.

I also wonder, would it be possible to keep the actual whole JD index in the pocket notebook itself? Would it be worth copying that to every new notebook? That could mean tens or even a hundred lines to copy, which could get old pretty fast.

I guess the notebooks themselves can be disposable, depending on how one uses them. I don’t really care if my todos stick around after I’m finished with them. So, probably not a great place for an important long-term thing like the JD index.

It wouldn’t be hard to keep the notebooks around after they’re filled up especially if I stick them somewhere in my filing cabinet (if you’ve read my other posts, you might get that I’m fairly proud of it, haha). Then, the main problem is, how can I store references to information in the notebooks in my JD system? Another question is, do I really have any critical information in those notebooks worth keeping around, or should I just treat them as a sort of inbox, to be filed properly within the JD system at my earliest convenience (or not at all)? Maybe I could name each notebook, or refer to it by its creation date (which I always write on the first page).

I’m curious to hear the community’s considerations on this topic. Do you use both systems? Do you connect them in some way?

johnnydecimal · February 12, 2024, 8:20pm

Couldn’t agree more . I rarely leave the house without one. ^[1]

By the way, I finally found a solution to carrying a writing implement; long a problem that I’ve tried to solve with tiny pens and various methods of attachment.

It’s a pencil, predictably — I can’t remember the last time I used a pen — and you stick it in the back with blu-tack. I find a strip of masking tape stuck opposite helps it stick to the paper less; more a problem when you have the pencil out and you’re writing with it.

I also stick one of my debit/credit cards to mine so that I can leave the house without my phone. Also this makes people think that you have a magic notebook. (Otherwise I exclusively use Apple Pay. I don’t carry a wallet.)

This does eventually ruin the back page of the book but I’ve found that this takes roughly as long as it does to finish the book.

This sounds like an okay solution. I suspect this is one of the times when you’ll find yourself leaning on your notes’ search function; at least here if you search all notes and come up blank you’ll know that you can narrow your search to category 03 Journals and try again.

Because this feels like one of those where you’ll kinda remember that you had an entry maybe? and so it might be a bit more hunting than usual. But if you can zero in on your notebooks, at least, then that should help.

I don’t do this myself but I love the idea and might start! Please let me know how this plays out.

The ‘quality nail clippers’ were for a chicken. Though we decided to let the vet trim their nails; it’s really difficult, they hate it, and chickens bleed for ages. Not a fun task. ↩︎

LasTr · March 31, 2024, 3:56pm

It looks like you get a lot of use out of your Field Notes. IL be honest and admit I can’t really understand what you’re writing in the pictures of your notebook, but that’s okay — they aren’t for me, anyway . I am curious what the letters in a box are for and what Asian beer glasses are though. In particular, what makes them “Asian?” And with regard to chickens, I didn’t know that they needed their nails (Claws? Talons?) trimmed.

I like the pencil idea and as a language teacher, Blu-tack is a familiar tool to me. Great idea! I have a leather cover for my notebook that also holds a few cards and some cash. I had a Fisher Backpacker that I took the ring off of which fit perfectly in the cover, but I’m currently mourning its loss (after three months).

I’ll take a picture or two and share them later. I’m really happy with the notebook cover I found.

On another note, I’ve found that I end up destroying Field Notes covers about as soon as I finish using them, too, but it happens no matter how I store them!

I’ve just finished up a Field Notes, so I took a chance to decide what to do with the info inside. Like I mentioned in my first post, todo lists make up a large portion of the contents, but these can be discarded. There are a few things in the notebook that I might want to keep, though. All of these things have relevant JD IDs. Here’s what I think I’ll do:

I’ll add a category 03 Field Notes and assign each notebook an ID. Then, I’ll copy important info out of the notebook into relevant IDs in my notes app. At the same time, I’ll also add cross references for the notebook’s ID and maybe in the notebook itself, too. Then when the notebook is full, I’ll stick it in my file or eventually on my bookshelf when I have one someday.

This way, if I need to see my original notes from eight months and two notebooks ago, I’ll know where to look. Maybe there was a useful diagram or drawing like in the pictures you shared, for example.

I don’t currently keep a daily journal, but I have before and I could see adding other categories in 00-09 System, such as 04 Bullet Journals. I’m currently only using two categories in this area, so there’s plenty of room for more categories.

One category per type of notebook seems reasonable to me, but I could put them all in 03 Notebooks and have something like 03.01 Field Notes 10/23--3/24 and 03.02 Bullet journal 1--4/24. I might use five Field Notes notebooks and two or three bullet journals in a year, which means more than 12 years’ worth of space with 100 IDs.

johnnydecimal · March 31, 2024, 7:43pm

I’m trying to find a couple of beer glasses like these: literally an Asian beer glass like you’d get at a night market in Penang. They evoke memories for us (night markets in Penang!). Turns out they’re near-impossible to find, at least at a reasonable price. The search continues.

And yes, chicken claws can need trimming. We had cheap clippers and it was a nightmare. Did you know that chickens’ blood doesn’t clot very well? So if you cut the claw too deep it bleeds and it’s hard to stop. Very stressful for all concerned.

LasTr · April 1, 2024, 6:56am

Ah, I see. I had a look for glasses like that on Taobao and I found one that’s quite similar to the picture you shared. Pretty cheap, too, at 30 CNY (4 USD) plus shipping, though I don’t know if it meets your needs. I couldn’t find any other glasses with the Singha in the base of the glass. The description says it’s imported from Thailand, and that the glass feels quite heavy.

Here’s the link to the Taobao page: https://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=615930042112. Feel free to send me a message if you need any help .

And here’s my beloved Field Notes cover/wallet along with its sad excuse for a writing utensil:

Lastly, now I know more about chickens than I ever thought I would. Thanks! I have a veterinarian friend who also raises chickens but I always assumed that the extent of caring for them was mainly just making sure they have food and shelter.

johnnydecimal · April 1, 2024, 8:08pm

Taobao! Never heard of it, I’ll check it out. Thanks. Yeah you want them to have a nice heavy base that retains the chill from the freezer. Although now it’s moving in to the colder months here the need for a cold glass of beer is abating…

I think for many/most people it is. But ours have become full pets, vs. things that lay us eggs. We love them like people love their dogs. Here’s me relaxing in the garden with help from Wendy.