Twos and Bullet Journaling ✌️📓 • 5 min read
by campak · 34 things on NewTwos
- As I use Twos more, I find that it has a lot of similarities to Ryder Carroll's Bullet Journaling Method, "the mindfulness practice disguised as a productivity system (1)".
- I've tried so many different productivity apps, but what makes Twos any different? First, let's get acquainted with the Bullet Journal Method.
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- ANALOG BULLET JOURNALING IS A PLACE OF SOLACE
- I absolutely love physical notebook bullet journaling. It's the most calm and collected part of my day, because I can distill the noise of the world and organize it simply. It helps me be proactive and intentional versus my default of being reactive. And with having ADHD, I can advocate for Bullet Journaling (or BuJo for short) because it truly has helped me write, reflect, and get thing done, even when my brain is oftentimes everywhere else.
- The BuJo Method focuses around "today", around being present in the here and now. And, when I need to remember something, I write it down: notes (short and long-form), tasks, and events. After writing things down, I stay present where I am with the people and things around me. Then, when I'm able to get quiet and sit down with my notebook undistracted, I can migrate tasks over from one day to the next. I can expand on a thought I had from the day through journaling (or sometimes written venting lol). I can even take some time to be grateful for the day.
- After using my physical bullet journal, I often find myself in a place of feeling calm. I can't say that I often feel that way when using a digital todo list or note taking app.
- DIGITAL BULLET JOURNALING IS HARD
- Now, I've tried a ton of apps, A TON. And, rarely did I ever find one that works for me. I would either just find myself super distracted trying to manage some sort of todo workflow, or since I was on my device, I'd easily be tempted to leave the page or app and go to YouTube and mindlessly watch for hours. (I'm sure some of you can relate!)
- I tried Notion, Moleskine Journey (formerly Edo Agenda), Elisi, TickTick, Apple Reminders, Apple Notes, and even Bamboo Paper — a straight up digital version of a physical journal (it's really cool). You name it, and I've probably tried it. Every one of them were great for writing information down, but for some reason I was never able to find an app that created a mindful space for reflection, remembering, and getting things done.
- …until I met Twos.
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- TWOS SIMPLY WORKS
- I think because it's easy:
- to rapidly log anything that comes to mind, and then continue to be present in the day.
- to move tasks from one day to another, or even from one day into a list for the future. (also known as "migration".)
- to long-form journal when I need to unpack a thought or even vent.
- to see my timeline of daily logs throughout the week (very good spacial recognition in the digital space).
- to see my calendar events for today at a glance.
- because it's always nearby (I always have my phone on me).
- And, all of these can be done from the Today page.
- Tasks don't seem daunting, because they're just a thing that can be easily iterated on or even removed (because not all tasks written down actually need to be done). Notes are very easy, so that I can easily remember things. And, with a built-in setting to be able to automatically migrate tasks from yesterday into today, it's easy to not lose a task that needs to get done.
- To have all I need in one page, without having to jump around a lot, is probably the reason why Twos works successfully for Bullet Journaling.
- (This reflection isn't necessarily how to Bullet Journal with Twos, but more of a sentiment of excitement knowing that Twos does work well for the Bullet Journal method out of the box. I've linked the Bullet Journal methodology below for anyone wanting to learn from the creator himself.)
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- MORE ON TWOS
- Like I said at the beginning, Twos and Bullet Journaling have a lot of similarities. One thing that's wild to me is that Ryder Carroll (creator of the BuJo method) and Parker Klein (creator of Twos) came upon a similar system and philosophy of remembering and being present without even knowing one another. Ryder's turned out to be analog, and Parker's turned out to be digital. And, there's a place for both.
- To make a great digital tool that leaves people feeling calm and collected after using is difficult. There are so many competing voices saying that you need to be better than this app and have a larger market than this app to be successful. Or, you need this feature to be successful. What excited me about Twos is that Parker and Joe are so intentional to keeping Twos simple by default yet powerful and easily enhanceable for those interested.
- Twos, please keep doing what you're doing :)
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- Bullet Journal Method
- Journal graphic from Unsplash
- (This post was not sponsored in any way. I'm just a normal guy who enjoys reflection, writing, and Bullet Journaling with the Twos app.)