Noisy Deadlines

journal

I started a personal Bullet Journal in June 2026, so it’s been a little bit over 2 months.

I read the book “The Bullet Journal Method” by Ryder Carroll and watched some online videos. This is the second time I’ve tried Bullet Journaling, the first time was roughly a year ago. As I wrote in this post I’ve been drawn to paper more and more lately.

I followed the basic Bullet Journal (or BuJo) setup steps, which include:

  1. Choosing tools: notebook and pen

  2. Doing a mental inventory (very similar to the GTD mind sweep) and separating items into 3 sections: Doing, Need to do, and Want to do (these are used to populate the BuJo lists)

  3. Adding your name and phone number to the notebook (in case it gets lost)

  4. Setting intentions

  5. Setting up the Index

  6. Setting a spread for the Future Log

  7. Starting the first Daily Log and rapid logging

  8. Doing a Weekly Reflection at the end of the week

  9. Setting up a Weekly Plan and a Monthly Log

  10. Adding new Collections as needed

The Tools

I chose a Hardcover Leuchtturm1917 size B6+ with 80g/sqm paper. I like the size, not too big, not too small. I carry it with me together with my Kobo Libra. I added a pen loop so that I always have my Pentel EnerGel 0.5mm in blue with it.

But I also use additional assorted highlighters (Mildliners), colored pens and black Micron pens for titles.

Initial Pages

The Leuchtturm1917 notebook already comes with dedicated pages for Index, so that was easy. I added a post-it on the back cover with my “Key” which is simply a quick reference that lists all the symbols I’m using for rapid logging.

Then there is the Intentions page, which is emphasized a lot by the Bullet Journal author, as it encourages us to clarify what we hope to accomplish and keep our daily actions aligned with our broader goals.

After that I have the “Future Log” which covers the next 6 months from the date I started the journal. In this case, it was from July to December. This spread holds future dates, planned events, planned start of projects.

Because I am a GTD’er I couldn’t start without setting my “Projects List” and my “Waiting For List”. I also setup “Someday Log” page. These are considered “Custom Collections” in BuJo lingo.

Daily Logs

I spend most of my time with the Daily Logs. These are setup the day before or early in the morning. One thing that I like to do is have my core habits at the top everyday (Yoga/Stretching, Meditation, Reading) so that I check them daily.

Then I add events from my calendar from the day, and any actions I want to get done. The interesting thing about BuJo is that it works as both a journal and task manager tool. So I jot down ideas, tasks, thoughts, feelings and reflections on the daily log.

I am using the original notation system, as described in this page:

  • Notes: Indicated by a dash (–), are for logging ideas, insights, dates, data, and facts.
  • Actions: Indicated by a simple dot (•), are for logging actions. As opposed to checkboxes, Actions can have multiple states, like completed (X), moved(>), canceled, delegated(/), and so on.
  • Moods: Indicated by the equals sign (=), are for logging feelings. These can be emotional or physical feelings like joy, pressure in the chest, butterflies, anxiety, fatigue, excitement, etc.
  • Events: Indicated by an open circle (◯), is for experiences, such as appointments, meetings, parties, or deadlines.

An example of my Daily Log spread

Weekly Reflection / Plan

Similar to the GTD Weekly Review, BuJo recommends a Weekly Reflection.

I start with:

  • Tidy Records: go back and review the past week to update any information, check completed actions, migrate any items to different logs (future log, monthly log), cross off any canceled actions.
  • Process Inbox: this comes from GTD, and I process my physical inbox and my email inbox.
  • Check Calendar: I review my digital calendar and add dates to my Bullet Journal for the following week.

Then I reflect on the past week and take some notes answering the following questions:

  • What went well?
  • What could go better?
  • What will I do this week?

An example of my weekly reflection/plan

Next, I create a page with my week action plan. I like to create my core habits tracker, a space for upcoming events/dates and then the next actions I plan on doing that week. I’ve started adding the books I will be reading as well.

Monthly Log

I really like the Monthly Log collection. It helps me get a birds-eye view of what’s coming ahead and it also functions as a record of milestones and wins.

I set the left side as described in the book with the list of the days of the month. Very simple. This video from Ryder Carroll explains the different time horizons and how they work together.

On the right side I add the books I want to read, the focus of the month and then a list of next actions. Every week I will review this list to migrate actions to Week Plan. Some of them go directly to my Daily Plan as well.

Monthly Log

Custom Collections

I can use any other page of the notebook to add custom collections, like this one I created for Blaugust. Or add notes from a book I’ve read. Or plan a project. It can be anything! And then I add the page number to the Index so I can come back to it.

I also use sticky tabs to mark pages I want to quickly reference, like the current Monthly Log.

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And that is my current setup!

I don’t prepare any week spreads in advance, and I don’t reserve any blank pages. It all goes sequentially, whenever I find the next blank page. I will occasionally use stickers, something I got from using Happy Planners. But other than that, I try to keep it easy to use. No crazy decorations.

And here are some of the references I used in this journey:

References

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Post 10 of #Blaugust #Productivity #journal #journaling #bujo

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I used to give the same level of importance to a lot of things in my life: a failed brownie recipe, a delayed email reply, missing a phone call, right alongside a critical project deadline or a major construction estimate mistake that could cost thousands of dollars.

Here is something I learned through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that helps me a lot.

I used to have intense reactions to simple things at work, like an email about a new incoming task or project. I would read it and immediately feel overwhelmed, as if I had to finish the task/answer right away. I had a CBT coach who taught me to pause and analyze what I was feeling by asking these questions:

  • How am I feeling? Anxiety, lightheadedness, butterflies in the stomach, sweating, dizziness, a headache.

  • Why am I having these feelings? I think I need to answer right away, but I don't have the answer. I have to stop and search for it.

  • What happens if I don't answer the question or demand right away? The subcontractor won't have the right information, so they won't price it correctly and will miss part of the scope.

  • What happens if a trade misses part of the scope? What will happen to me? I'll hear complaints from a project manager telling me I missed the scope, which makes the project go over budget.

  • Why is that a problem? How much of that is up to you? How would you feel about it? I'd feel ashamed and blame myself for the error. People will think I'm stupid for having missed that.

And that was the realization: I feel so overwhelmed because, in my head, I process any delay as a complete failure and imagine the worst possible outcome: being considered stupid or incompetent.

That was a cathartic moment for me during the session. I was sweating, trying to articulate a comment, and stumbling over my words. It was a revelation.

Then the coach asked me, “What would be the solution?”

He suggested a simple one: just reply to the incoming email with, “I will look into that and reply as soon as I can.” Boom! Simple. Obvious. I felt like an idiot for not having thought of it myself.

That just showed how many underlying thoughts I've had and how much they have been blurring my vision.

The coach had me imagine a good outcome. He said I was having avoidance issues and needed to take steps to overcome them.

A good outcome looks like this:

  1. Reply to the message, saying I'll take a look at it. That way, I get part of it out of my head. It's the first step to taking action.

  2. Note the request. Write down what is needed and the steps required to resolve it. Define the next actions.

  3. Look at all the other actions I planned for my day. Can I move any of them around to focus on this new one? Decide how to prioritize. Maybe I need more time and can wait until the next day or the end of the day to take action. Prioritize.

  4. Realize it's not a big deal! Cultivate a feeling of confidence and self-efficacy. That's how I want to feel. It's just a request. I process it, plan it, and solve it. NO BIG DEAL!

Post 09 of #Blaugust #journal #health #mentalhealth

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I created a collection page in my Bullet Journal to track and plan my 2026 Blaugust posts.

It's dead simple, with my goal number of posts at the top followed by a weekly plan/log. I am loosely using some ideas from the festival calendar prompts but I'm not following them too strictly.

For writing, I'm mostly drafting posts on a dedicated lined notebook that I set up just for blogging. (I wrote about this notebook here.) I have a page with ideas, and then I just have drafts. When I'm done drafting, I type the post into Write.as and that's where I do some final editing/corrections/add images before publishing.

I don't carry this big lined notebook with me, so I only use it at home. This actually works great because I enjoy having some quiet time to sit down and write without pressure or interruptions.

Very rarely, I will start writing a post while I'm at work. If I do, I just type it in Standard Notes. Sometimes a full post comes out of it, and other times I'll flesh it out later in my notebook at home.

Here is a picture of my current Collection page in my Bullet Journal. As you can see, I've already had to shift some planned posts to a different week, because that second week was a bit crazy for me. So I’m not planning too much ahead, I’m going week by week.

But anyway, that's how I'm doing it. It's a work in progress, but keeping it simple is giving me a clear overview of my progress and keeping me stay accountable.

Post 06 of #Blaugust #Productivity #notes #journal

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I was talking to my partner the other day about how I am becoming an analog person: paper notebooks, pens, highlighters, etc.

And right off the bat, he told me:

“You are not becoming a paper person, you are just getting back to being one. You were always analog.”

That was interesting to hear from a person I've known and interacted with for 27 years.

So, I'm rediscovering my analog side. I've always been into handwriting, doing lettering and drawing when I was younger.

After university and when I entered the workforce, in the early 2000's, everything was about high efficiency and productivity with these amazing digital tools: emails, computer-aided design tools, messengers, chats, word processors and spreadsheets. Of course that trend continued, and nowadays it has all become digital.

I got fully into digital note-taking around 2013 with Evernote. From that point on I became a bit obsessed with digital productivity. I wanted to have everything digitally, work or personal, from photos to notes, task lists, calendars and books.

But at the same time, I've always kept one single paper notebook with me at work. A notebook that worked as a daily planner where I would just add the day and take meeting notes or list the things I was working on. So even though 99% of my information world became digital, I still kept that one analog piece with me (which I still use to this day).

I would say that my “re-awakening” to the analog world started when I tried Cal Newport's Time Block Planner. I realized how different it felt to write things down with pen and paper. I noticed that re-writing my digital calendar appointments onto paper made me less anxious about my day. It felt more real and manageable.

Then I tried the Happy Planner last year because I was missing having a personal analog place to draft and view my monthly and weekly plans. Even though I use the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology, I missed a visual planning tool. Attempts to plan digitally did not give me the clarity I experienced with paper.

But then I started finding the Happy Planner too bulky to carry around and also too restrictive because of the fixed template. I wanted to have more space to write on some days and less space on others.

And that's how I've landed on Bullet Journaling. It's been interesting to see how paper gives me this contained space, while at the same time providing freedom. With digital tools I became an information hoarder. It's so easy to dump articles to read, actions, websites to visit and random references into a digital list. I end up capturing things that don't REALLY have my attention, they are just noise. Paper acts as a great filter, because capturing becomes slower and more intentional.

I would say that one experience during my recent trip to PEI pushed me towards paper. While I was at the Charlottetown Public Library, browsing the dedicated shelf of the author L.M. Montgomery, I saw that all her personal journals were published as books. I read a couple of entries while I was there, and it really inspired me to have some sort of analog journal. For years I thought that not having paper made me a true minimalist, because why would I create a pile of used notebooks taking space in my house?

You know what? Now I am thinking that handwritten notes and journals are these precious personal things that are worth keeping.

Post 05 of #Blaugust #Productivity #notes #journal

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

⛸️ Today all the 7.8 kilometres of the Rideau Canal Skateway opened! The weather was not too cold (1C) and the ice condition was rated “Very Good” which is not something I’ve seen often. It’s been 2 years since I’ve been there. Last year it only opened for 10 days, and I didn’t get a chance to go and the year before it didn’t even open because of weather conditions.

I went there with my partner, and we skated for almost 2 hours for a total of 13 km! The ice was very good indeed, with just a few cracks and bumps. And I was glad I could happily glide along it. It’s the farthest we’ve ever skated. A light snow started to fall halfway through our route, and it started to get wet, with the snow melting on the surface of our clothes. But we made it back where we started! I was exhausted at the end, feeling like I had run a 10k, even though we took breaks along the way. But it was energizing and fun. I did fall once because of a bump on the ice, but it was very slow motion, and I used all the training I had on how to fall safely. I was okay!

I love my recent pair of figure ice skates; they are comfortable and warm. I finally found ice skates that don’t hurt my feet!

We went ice skating on the Canal in the morning, then in the afternoon we had our weekly Ice-Skating class. I definitely had less energy during the class, but I made it all right. I’m still working on my forward crossovers, backwards skating and 1-foot glides.

The weather forecast looks good for the Canal for the next couple of weeks, so I’d like to skate there again before the end of this winter.

Now I need some hot chocolate ☕.

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Post 69/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge! #100DaysToOffload #100Days

#winter #iceskating #noisymusings #journal

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

During a therapy session recently, I realized I have not been journaling deeply. Meaning, using writing to tap into my deeper thoughts. Journaling or writing practice has been one of the building blocks of my wellbeing and I’ve always preferred to do it by typing. And I don’t see it as blogging, where my words are out in the world for anyone to read. I see this practice as an intimate form of brain dump, to get thoughts unstuck and get more clarity. But lately I’ve been only writing quick notes of more superficial things, and I was not going deeper.

I’ve used Evernote, the Journey app, 750 Words and Standard Notes before. For the past year or so I’ve been using Standard Notes: I have 478 entries so far. But most of those entries are quick logs of what I’ve done for the day, with 1 or 2 paragraphs. I want to get back to free writing and writing for longer periods of time. One service that I love is 750 Words because it gives me incentive to keep on writing. The service is online, it’s paid, it has cool badges and stats. All the entries can be exported to .txt. It has a simple and beautiful interface. It is maintained by 2 people, Buster Benson and his wife Kellianne. They create cute badges and there are also monthly challenges. It’s distraction free and it’s only text, no images.

So, I got back to 750 Words this week. The goal is to write at least 750 words a day, and I can see how many words I’m typing and then check some stats like: how long to write 750 words, total time, total number of words written, my badges, etc.

I was surprised that I can actually write 750 words in under 30 minutes if I just keep on typing whatever comes to mind with no filter, no editing. That’s the idea I’m going for here: throwing it all out, unfiltered. It’s basically what Julia Cameron calls “Morning Pages” or the writing practice Natalie Goldberg describes in her book “Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within”. Only after these brain dump sessions I’m able to open myself to write for my blog for example.

This practice nourishes my creativity, and I feel less afraid to publish words out in the open. If fits perfectly in my morning routine and it gives an extra boost of incentive to write every day.

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Post 36/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

Every day I carve out time to read on my Kobo. It can be during breakfast in the morning, 15-20 minutes during my lunch break, 10 minutes in a medical office waiting for an appointment. But most of my reading I do at night, after work, that's when I can have 30 minutes to 1 hour or more to sit down and read.

And I've been really focusing on this habit. It's now part of who I am. But I gave up other things to be able to keep reading that much. I don't have the habit of watching YouTube, except for when I want to research about a topic, like an author interview or a book review I am curious to watch, or the occasional video my partner will invite me to watch with him.

I also gave up mainstream social media years ago. I still have a Mastodon account that I've been using less and less. I've been feeling I'm not getting too much out of it, and I get overwhelmed by the different topics going on, all showing up one after the other, I don't like the Twitter-like format that much.

I still subscribe to a few newsletters, and I still use a RSS feed reader. I think RSS feeds are great for the “consume at your pace” type of deal. But even this will overwhelm me. I have been adding personal blogs feeds to my reader and now I have 70 feeds I'm subscribed to. And it's a lot for me! I want to get it down to a more manageable number.

So, I guess, what I want to say is that I've been experiencing information overload, and it's competing with my favorite downtime activity, which is reading books.

Maybe I've been so much time away from the current noisy and chaotic internet feeds that my level of comfort with new information coming at me has changed. I want some space.

I've deleted my RSS feed app from my phone. I will read my feeds only when I'm at a computer, once or twice a week. I think it will make this activity more mindful. My next step will be do some curation on my list of feeds to make it less overwhelming.

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Post 35/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I’ve been registering all my meals and symptoms in a small notebook (10 cm x 14 cm) since Friday. Yes, in a paper notebook, small enough for me to carry around with my Kobo. I leave the pen attached to the notebook’s spiral so it’s easy for me to take notes of symptoms any time of the day. Sometimes it’s only after a couple of hours that I will feel something.

A friend asked me why I am not using an app for my Food Diary. This is what I responded:

  • I’m only doing this for a couple of weeks, so I wanted the simplest and easiest way to take notes. Nothing beats paper. (I will probably transfer the notes to an Excel spreadsheet later because… Excel nerd here).
  • I hate typing/writing on a mobile device. See above.
  • Apps will ask me to create an account and then they will bother me offering a premium subscription. No, thanks.
  • Also, there might be ads in the app itself. Nope.

My Food Diary with my Kobo (yes, they match colors!)

After starting this Food Diary I’ve been able to notice nuances to my symptoms. I’m paying more attention to what I’m eating. And I noticed that I was ignoring some of my symptoms because I just got used to them.

The Food Diary was a task given to me by my Registered Dietitian, but I’m also seeing a Naturopath for other related health things. I saw my Naturopath today and she’s super interested in my Food Diary because it will help her to figure some of my other problems as well.

I don’t want to get into too much detail about my health issues, but I needed to address some hormonal alterations that started showing up 2 years ago. I was seeing medical doctors all this time and none of them were worried about my blood test results. I’ve been living with some hormonal imbalances that I really wanted to investigate, but doctors always dismissed my concerns and symptoms.

And that’s why I decided to see a Naturopath again. I used to see one back in Brazil years and years ago and they can help when “conventional” medicine isn’t working well or as complement to it. At least there is somebody really listening to me and investigating the root cause of my imbalances. And taking a broader view by connecting the dots between my diet, the medication I’ve been taking for years, my symptoms, my gut health.

I was really weak the past few years with my anemia getting worse, and the doctors just telling me to “eat more meat” and “greens” even though my body wasn’t (and still isn’t) able to absorb iron properly. It took me 2 years to finally get a referral to see a Hematologist and get an IV iron injection to replenish my ferritin levels.

I feel much better now after getting the IV iron, but I’ve endured so many years in a weakened state that I don’t even know if now I’ve reached my normal energy levels. Based on what’s going on with my hormones and digestion system, my Naturopath thinks I’m still not at a 100%. I got some work to do, but I will get there!

The start of the journey is always awareness!

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Post 33/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I got a nasty blister on the underside of my left pinky toe. I don't know exactly how it developed but I think it was during my long walk/run downtown last week. I was wearing a thicker pair of socks (that I don’t usually wear for running) and I’m assuming those socks, and the heat/sweat got something to do with it. The blister was painful for a couple of days, and I couldn’t walk normally on my left side. It’s amazing how a pinky toe problem can disrupt our whole walking ability!

Anyway, I decided I needed to replace my running shoes because they were beaten up anyway. I went to the store to get a new one, and I wrongly thought that half a size smaller would be best. The size of my previous shoes felt too big at the store.

But then I went for a run with my new shoes and… yes, big mistake, they are too small for running. I had to stop midway because other parts of my feet started to hurt (toes rubbing against the front end of the shoes), and my recovering blister was not enjoying it. I was also too enthusiastic to go running again and I didn’t give enough time for the blister to heal 😕.

So, I took some rest from running and went for some light walks with my new running shoes. I don’t know why I thought the smaller size would be better. All my 2 previous running shoes were half a size bigger. I totally forgot the rule of leaving some space between my toes and the front of the shoe, because our feet expand while running. I can’t return the new ones now, so I will just use them for walks/day to day errands.

I’ve never had this type of blister problem with my running shoes, and I always stick with the same brand because they’ve been working for me for years. But now I’m thinking I will go to a more specialized store and get some advice on which type of running shoes to get. By looking at the wear on my old shoes, my pronation type should be “underpronation” (there is always a wear pattern on the outer soles of my shoes). I’ll go talk to someone to help me decide which shoes to get next.

Left: new running shoes – Right: my old beaten-up pair

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Post 20/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

I’m going to Montreal today for a small literary conference called “Scintillation”. I took a Lyft to go the train station and the Lyft driver was super friendly, we started chatting, and I mentioned I liked sci-fi and fantasy. I talked about my favorite books of all time, classics like “Lord of the Rings” and “Foundation”, and then he mentioned the Apple WWDC 2024. As I haven’t watched it, he said it was amazing, and that everything will change in 10 years. Our phones will be unrecognizable in 10 years because of Artificial Intelligence. We will all live in a different world.

I made some comments about how scary that future looks, with constant surveillance and being always online. But he was super excited about it, he was not scared at all. I then made a comment about Microsoft’s Copilot, which will be included in all their applications, and that my workplace is testing it out. And then I asked him if he remembered Microsoft’s failed office assistant called “Clippy”, and he didn’t have a clue!

He didn’t know that Word and Excel existed (I was shocked😱) and then I realized how old I am! I mean, “Clippy” was discontinued in the early 2000’s but this guy started using computers in 2009 or so. Oh, I felt like a dinosaur! 🦕

He also didn't know that “Dune” was a series of books written in the 60’s by Frank Herbert. He loved the new movies, which I agree. I still want to watch the last one, though.

Anyway, it was a fun conversation, continuing my trip now.

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Post 15/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!

#100DaysToOffload #100Days #NoisyMusings #journal

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.