This truth is a foundational principle for Bullet Journaling as a practice. Practice? Yes, Bullet Journaling is just as much a mindfulness practice as it is a productivity system. Sure, having a system to effectively keep track of what you’re working on is important. What’s significantly more important, and more interesting, to keep track of, is the why.

In our daily lives, we’re constantly distracted by all the thing we should be doing or could be doing. We forget to think about the why. The most valuable things in life are our energy and our time. How we spend those resources is really important.

The system was designed to be flexible in both form and function to deal with our day to day but also phase to phase.

This is where reflection comes in. Set a time aside in the morning and in the evening to review your Bullet Journal. I suggest doing it first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

The morning reflection helps you to mentally prepare for the day. If you’re anything like me, it also allows you capture all the thoughts that have bubbled up during the night. The AM reflection helps clear and focus your mind.

Ideally, you keep your Bullet Journal close-by during the day so you can capture and track things as they arise, but life is life, and sometimes things don’t get written down. This what the evening reflection is for. When you’re about to turn in, simply sit down with your notebook and review the day. Reward yourself by checking all the stuff you’ve gotten done, and log things you forgot to earlier etc. It’s a great way to declutter your mind and unplug at the end of the day.

The point of reflection is to make sure that the things you’re pursuing continue to matter to you even as life changes around you. It will help you focus on the why rather than the what.

If you want to learn more, you can also check out the TEDx talk I gave below.

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Image by: Photo by Pepe Reyes