Try this 2-in-1 productivity system.

My current setup is a mixture of two productivity systems — The Bullet Journal and Getting Things Done systems — with a personal touch of using the flip-up notebook.

“Simplicity equals sanity.” — John Meada

I love experimenting with digital tools such as Trello, ClickUp, and TickTick. After many attempts at finding “the one” for me, I ended up settling on the basic approach to tackling my tasks. That is: pen🖋️ and paper📄!

Nope, not any fancy paper notebook. I ✨specifically✨ searched for flip-up coil notebooks on Shopee Singapore application. There were many variations — A5, A6, blank, grid, lined. Well, I wanted something small (hence, A6) and I love the grid style after trying out The Bullet Journal Method.

Side thought: The flip-up coil notebook looks like the Blues Clues’ handy-dandy notebook! 😂

Blues Clues’ Handy-Dandy notebook GIF from https://tenor.com/en-SG/view/blue's-clues-blue's-clues-joe-blue's-clues-donovan-patton-donovan-patton-blue's-clues-the-alphabet-train-gif-7866278713020179009

Here is how the notebook works for me: Firstly, it flips upwards. I write my tasks on it, and it turns into a super long list. I drew this picture (below) to elaborate.

Assume page A is the first page. Once the page is filled up, I will flip it upwards and go to page B without flipping the entire notebook around. This is so that when I go over to page C, I can see both page B and page C at a glance!

If we compare this to printing documents, it is short-edge printing in portrait mode.

Image on differences between long edge binding and short edge binding from https://getnews360.com/flip-on-long-edge-vs-flip-on-short-edge/

Side thought: My to-do list reminds me of this scene from SpongeBob SquarePants. 😂

SpongeBob SquarePants with a long list GIF from https://tenor.com/en-SG/view/hodhodaa-gif-22538581

Secondly, I use the rapid logging legends shared by The Bullet Journal Method — Bullet for tasks, Circle for events and Dashes for notes.

Image of Rapid Logging in “The Bullet Journal Method” book (Photo from Author).

Psst, I talked more about using Bullet Journal in a digital space in this article!

Thirdly, I migrate the tasks after every two to three pages. The idea is that I don’t have to flip back many pages to refer to remaining open tasks. And yes, it is a lot of effort to rewrite items, but that is the intention! The migration concept is from The Bullet Journal Method. During migration, we will assess whether the remaining open tasks are still relevant. If not, they do not deserve to be copied over!

“It may seem like a lot of effort to rewrite items over and over, but that’s intentional. This process makes you pause and consider each item. If an entry isn’t worth the effort to rewrite, then it’s probably not that important. Get rid of it.” — Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal

Lastly, I have a list of all work projects on a post-it, stuck between my notebook. This concept is from Getting Things Done (GTD)’s trigger list. The purpose is to prompt your memories of things in your care or work portfolio. The “things” here could also refer to projects or teams under your responsibility. During the week, I would refer to this list to ensure that the tasks in my lists cover the project that I am handling.

With these 4 main considerations, here is my working to-do list for work! It is a mixture of two productivity systems — The Bullet Journal and Getting Things Done systems — with a personal touch of using the flip-up notebook. I am really glad with my current setup. What are your thoughts? Which productivity systems have you tried and adopted? Let’s chat; let me know in the comments below! 🙂

Psst! This is the link to get the same notebooks if you are interested (I am not affiliated)!

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