Starting a Bullet Journal is a really quick and simple way to boost your productivity and get a handle on your overwhelming task list.
Simply grab an old spare journal and a pen, watch Ryder Carroll’s introduction video, and you’re off!
People complicate it, but you really will get a great feel for the method and how effective it can be very quickly if you just jump in. (and ignore Instagram! Comparison will derail you early on!)
But just because it’s simple at its core, doesn’t mean that it can’t be confusing, and like anything new you try, you’re in for a vocabulary lesson.
What’s the difference between “>” and “<“?
I’ve talked before about how much I love the bullet dot, and how it can be quickly turned into an arrow to indicate that the task has been moved elsewhere in the journal. We call this “migrating” or “scheduling” a task. But why are there two terms? And which is which?
Well, I’m going to give you the short answer and the long answer.
“>” is for “migrating” a task.
(Use this if you’re moving the task forward in your journal.)
You start your day full of optimism and good intentions, with plans to get 10 things done. Awesome!
But then life happens. The baby knocks over the dog’s food. The washing machine breaks. Or maybe you just can’t seem to pull your thoughts together to get more than a few of your tasks completed.
The Bullet Journal has a simple way to indicate that a task has been moved to the next day. Use the “>” symbol, and then write your tas on the next day or page.
You can also migrate tasks to the next week, or month, or page of a collection.
But if none of that makes sense, just use the forward arrow to indicate that a task has moved forward in the journal. To the next day, the next page, or beyond.
“<” is for “scheduling” a task.
(Use this if you’re moving the task backwards in your journal.)
Say one of those ten tasks on your to-do list was to do the laundry, but then the washing machine broke. You can’t just migrate “do the laundry” to the next day, because you’ll need to fix the washer first! You still need to do the laundry this week though, so you’ll need to find somewhere else to move that task.
Use the “<” symbol to indicate that the task has been scheduled elsewhere in your BuJo. In this case, I’d probably just move “do the laundry” to the current weekly or monthly spread.
This is also a great symbol to use when categorizing miscellaneous notes and tasks from your daily page to a month or collection.
But if none of that makes sense, just use the backwards arrow to indicate that a task has moved backwards in the journal. Often to a monthly spread, master task list, or other collection.
It’s that simple!
I found the difference between these arrows to be so confusing for the longest time until I realized that it actually doesn’t matter which one you use in any given situation. Using forward and backward to give a rough indication spatially works for me. You could also ignore one symbol and only use, say, the “>” arrow in every instance.
Because both of these symbols at their heart indicate the same idea: a task has been moved away from its current page, somewhere else.
That arrow just points you in the right direction.
Journaling is my thing and I write in four separate journals. Do you write in multiple journals?
Hi,
Really simple ideas to get rid of that so confusing terminology that bothered me too.
Note that I think you made a error in the scheduling section where you written:
But if none of that makes sense, just use the forward arrow to indicate that a task has moved backwards in the journal. Often to a monthly spread, master task list, or other collection.
But should be:
But if none of that makes sense, just use the backward arrow to indicate that a task has moved backwards in the journal. Often to a monthly spread, master task list, or other collection.
In any ways, thanks for sharing your great ideas! 🙂
Thanks so much for catching that! I’ve fixed it now. 🙂