Week 16: Signifiers and Custom Bullets
/Hello Sunshine!
This week is all about Signifiers and Custom Bullets.
Resources:
Buy The Bullet Journal Method.
Hardcover | Audiobook | Ebook | Bullet Journal Notebook
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This week’s behind the scenes:
Dee took this photo, wrote out the title for the week’s topics, and created the lovely background full of Signifiers that Ryder covers in his book and mentions in his website.
Signifiers and Custom Bullets
Pages 80 - 83
Welcome to Week 16 of The Bullet Journal Method Book Club, everyone!
Dee: This week we delve into the last component of the Rapid Logging concept that drives the Bullet Journal system - Signifiers and Custom Bullets.
Ryder explains that Signifiers are symbols that highlight specific entries in your Bullet Journal to give them additional context. These are usually placed in front of the Bullets so they stand out from the rest of your list, making it easy to identify when scanning your page.
Two Signifiers that Ryder has written about in the book are:
- Priority: represented by an asterisk (*), used to mark a Task bullet as important.
- Inspiration: represented by an exclamation mark (!), used to mark Note bullets as being a great idea, genius insights, and personal mantras.
Ryder also mentions another Signifier on the Bullet Journal website the 👁 Signifier - to explore ideas, websites, etc.
Custom Bullets can be added to quickly capture entries that are unique to your situation such as the forward slash (/) used as delegated/assigned to another. Custom Bullets also don’t need to be icons, letters can also be used; what matters is that they help you remember.
Discussion points to consider from Donna:
- Are you currently Rapid Logging using the basics or have you started to incorporate a few of your own Signifiers? Please share your Signifiers that you use to highlight your Bullets.
- Have you experienced having too many Signifiers that brought on confusion or stress of remembering each or perhaps lack the time of drawing them out? What have you don’t to rectify the added stress?
- Do you have a Key in front of your journal that you refer to or do you just have it listed as a reminder for your future self?
This week’s action list from Dee:
Go through your Bullet Journal (or your Bullet Journal key - if you have one), and determine whether your Bullets and Signifiers help or hinder your planning. Decide which ones you want to keep and do away with those that complicate your planning.
Alternatively, do you think there are Bullets and Signifiers that could enhance your planning but still keep it simple? Try these out for a few weeks and then tweak it if you need to.
