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TRAVIS FARRAL
MAINTAINING SANITY AND
CONQUERING STRESS
BULLET JOURNAL
TRAVIS FARRAL
WHO AM I?
Formal information security career since mid-1990s
Technically stretches back to teenage years - 1980s
Nokia, ExxonMobil, XTO Energy, Anomali, etc.
CISO at LEO Cyber Security
Linkedin.com/in/travisfarral
No longer on other social media
BACKGROUND
Status meetings, one on ones, all-
hands meetings, vendor meetings,
project meetings, planning
meetings, update meetings, team
meetings, etc.
Product rollouts, data center moves,
product updates/upgrades, major
patches, new buildings,
acquisitions, divestitures, etc.
Service outages, product problems,
DNS problems, unknown/unplanned
configuration changes, infections,
accidental deletions, deliberate
deletions, electrical outages, etc.
Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash Photo by William Iven on Unsplash Photo by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash
MEETINGS PROJECTS PROBLEMS
SANITY IS HARD
WHAT I TRIED…
MEMORY
Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash
NOTEPAD
By Jonas Petersson (UU) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64608056
NOTEPAD
DAY-TIMER
FRANKLIN PLANNER
LOTUS ORGANIZER
PALM PILOT
By Rama & Musée Bolo - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36959631
AND MANY, MANY MORE…
WHY DIDN’T THEY STICK?
Too complicated - Had to use some complex “system”
Not portable enough - Do I really need to carry my laptop everywhere?
Not flexible enough - simple to do lists and task lists never seemed to work well
Too flexible - 50 fields, tags, dates, assignees, parent tasks, children, description, etc.
Constantly changing my methods - Once day I do things this way, the next day it’s a little different…
Chasing shiny things - Ohhhhhh, the latest and greatest task tracking app everyone is using!!111
Getting Things Done™ - FFS…
UNTIL ONE DAY…
ENTER THE BULLET JOURNAL
WHAT’S A BULLET JOURNAL?
AND ARE THEY LEGAL IN MY STATE?
THE BULLET JOURNAL METHOD
History
Developed by Ryder Carroll for his own use
The method was honed and eventually shared freely at bulletjournal.com
Made headlines at lifehack.org, lifehacker.com, and many others in 2013
Grown tremendously in popularity since
Details
Requirements: Notebook + pen or pencil
Method is a way to track events, tasks, notes, drawings, etc in an organized manner
It is meant to be analog (physical pen and paper notebook)
It is also meant to be simple - very simple, or it won’t stick
THE NOTEBOOK
RECOMMENDATIONS
THE BULLET JOURNAL NOTEBOOK
Can be literally any notebook
Page numbers a plus
Dotted pages work best but lined is ok too
Any size
Tassels, pockets, other features a bonus
My personal preference: Leuchtturm1917 dotted A5
Also available: official Bullet Journal notebook
THE BULLET JOURNAL METHOD
INDEX
It’s just as important to find things as it is to jot them down
Lives at the first 4 pages (2 spreads) of your notebook
Basic list of collections and page numbers
Additional pages dedicated to a particular topic can simply be added
to that entry in the index
FUTURE LOG
A way to keep track of upcoming events outside of the current month
Simple list of months with space to add entries
Recommended to use 4 pages (2 spreads) after the index
Entries are just a day of the month and the title of the event
THE FIRST PAGES
MONTHLY SPREAD
MONTHLY LOG
Start each month with two pages (a left and a right)
Left side is Monthly Events
Right side is Monthly Tasks
Left side includes scheduled things
But also includes events as they happened
Can be used for lookup - specific meeting details for
example
Meeting was on the 12th according to the log
Lookup the daily log for the 12th to see meeting notes
Tasks are the monthly goals and things to focus on
DAILY LOGGING
DAILY LOG
After the monthly log, start making daily entries
Use the date and day of the week as a title
Then rapid log details for that day
Events, tasks, notes, etc.
The next day, make a new title and continue on
Make sure there is a page number if there isn’t one
RAPID LOGGING
Bullets
The basis of Bullet Journaling
Broken down into Tasks, Notes, and Events
Tasks
Starts with a centered dot next to the task description
Modified into an X, left arrow, or right arrow
Or can be struck through if no longer relevant
Events
Signified by a circle
Can use space under an event to log tasks, notes, or drawings
RAPID LOGGING
Notes
Signified by a dash (-)
Should be short and concise - no paragraphs
Nesting
Related tasks and notes can be nested under main entries
Different colors are optional
Signifiers
Used to add extra context to logged items
Use ! For inspiration and * for priority items
LISTS, PROJECTS, DRAWINGS
COLLECTIONS
Collections are just that - collections of notes, tasks, etc.
Can be…
- a shopping list
- details for an upcoming trip
- Project details
- any other kind of list or collection of ideas
KEY CONCEPTS
REFLECTION AND MIGRATION
Reflection
A time for planning and for review
New tasks added, others removed or consolidated, notes reviewed and taken
Should be done daily - perhaps multiple times
Morning/evening… lunch time… whatever works
Unburden your mind; appreciate progress made
Migration
At the end of the month and end of the year
Review the previous month and migrate tasks
Add items from the Future Log for that new month/year
Also a time to reflect
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
EXAMPLE
Add to the daily log each day
Include events and any notes/tasks from them
Use signifiers as necessary
Create new collections on blank left and/or right pages
Use nesting to keep things organized
Don’t worry about wasted space - keep it organized
Remember to reflect
Migrate at the end of the month
FURTHER THOUGHTS
FURTHER THOUGHTS
Make it your own
Custom bullets, layouts, signifiers, etc.
Keep it simple
Personal trick: Field Notes
Is it possible to go digital? OneNote? Yes, but…
Advanced options: threading, dedicated indexes, highlighting, trackers
Benefits
Better able to stay on top of things at work and home
Less stress
Able to find details when needed
Feeling of being in control
4
3
62
5
8
7
1
The Pen Addict
www.penaddict.com
The Bullet Journal website
bulletjournal.com
Leuchtturm1917 Notebooks
leuchtturm1917.us
The Bullet Journal Method book
amzn.to/2MmXsZn
The Bullet Journal Facebook Page
www.facebook.com/groups/thebulletjournal
The Bullet Journal Notebook
www.leuchtturm1917.us/notebooks/special-notebooks/bullet-journal/
Field Notes
fieldnotesbrand.com
Slideshare (this presentation)
Slideshare
RESOURCES
ONE OF MY OLD BULLET JOURNALS
TRAVIS FARRAL
THANK
YOU

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Maintaining Sanity and Conquering Stress with a Bullet Journal

  • 1. TRAVIS FARRAL MAINTAINING SANITY AND CONQUERING STRESS BULLET JOURNAL
  • 2. TRAVIS FARRAL WHO AM I? Formal information security career since mid-1990s Technically stretches back to teenage years - 1980s Nokia, ExxonMobil, XTO Energy, Anomali, etc. CISO at LEO Cyber Security Linkedin.com/in/travisfarral No longer on other social media
  • 4. Status meetings, one on ones, all- hands meetings, vendor meetings, project meetings, planning meetings, update meetings, team meetings, etc. Product rollouts, data center moves, product updates/upgrades, major patches, new buildings, acquisitions, divestitures, etc. Service outages, product problems, DNS problems, unknown/unplanned configuration changes, infections, accidental deletions, deliberate deletions, electrical outages, etc. Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash Photo by William Iven on Unsplash Photo by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash MEETINGS PROJECTS PROBLEMS SANITY IS HARD
  • 6. MEMORY Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash
  • 7. NOTEPAD By Jonas Petersson (UU) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64608056
  • 12. PALM PILOT By Rama & Musée Bolo - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36959631
  • 13. AND MANY, MANY MORE…
  • 14. WHY DIDN’T THEY STICK? Too complicated - Had to use some complex “system” Not portable enough - Do I really need to carry my laptop everywhere? Not flexible enough - simple to do lists and task lists never seemed to work well Too flexible - 50 fields, tags, dates, assignees, parent tasks, children, description, etc. Constantly changing my methods - Once day I do things this way, the next day it’s a little different… Chasing shiny things - Ohhhhhh, the latest and greatest task tracking app everyone is using!!111 Getting Things Done™ - FFS…
  • 16. ENTER THE BULLET JOURNAL
  • 17. WHAT’S A BULLET JOURNAL? AND ARE THEY LEGAL IN MY STATE?
  • 18. THE BULLET JOURNAL METHOD History Developed by Ryder Carroll for his own use The method was honed and eventually shared freely at bulletjournal.com Made headlines at lifehack.org, lifehacker.com, and many others in 2013 Grown tremendously in popularity since Details Requirements: Notebook + pen or pencil Method is a way to track events, tasks, notes, drawings, etc in an organized manner It is meant to be analog (physical pen and paper notebook) It is also meant to be simple - very simple, or it won’t stick
  • 20. RECOMMENDATIONS THE BULLET JOURNAL NOTEBOOK Can be literally any notebook Page numbers a plus Dotted pages work best but lined is ok too Any size Tassels, pockets, other features a bonus My personal preference: Leuchtturm1917 dotted A5 Also available: official Bullet Journal notebook
  • 22. INDEX It’s just as important to find things as it is to jot them down Lives at the first 4 pages (2 spreads) of your notebook Basic list of collections and page numbers Additional pages dedicated to a particular topic can simply be added to that entry in the index FUTURE LOG A way to keep track of upcoming events outside of the current month Simple list of months with space to add entries Recommended to use 4 pages (2 spreads) after the index Entries are just a day of the month and the title of the event THE FIRST PAGES
  • 23. MONTHLY SPREAD MONTHLY LOG Start each month with two pages (a left and a right) Left side is Monthly Events Right side is Monthly Tasks Left side includes scheduled things But also includes events as they happened Can be used for lookup - specific meeting details for example Meeting was on the 12th according to the log Lookup the daily log for the 12th to see meeting notes Tasks are the monthly goals and things to focus on
  • 24. DAILY LOGGING DAILY LOG After the monthly log, start making daily entries Use the date and day of the week as a title Then rapid log details for that day Events, tasks, notes, etc. The next day, make a new title and continue on Make sure there is a page number if there isn’t one
  • 25. RAPID LOGGING Bullets The basis of Bullet Journaling Broken down into Tasks, Notes, and Events Tasks Starts with a centered dot next to the task description Modified into an X, left arrow, or right arrow Or can be struck through if no longer relevant Events Signified by a circle Can use space under an event to log tasks, notes, or drawings
  • 26. RAPID LOGGING Notes Signified by a dash (-) Should be short and concise - no paragraphs Nesting Related tasks and notes can be nested under main entries Different colors are optional Signifiers Used to add extra context to logged items Use ! For inspiration and * for priority items
  • 27. LISTS, PROJECTS, DRAWINGS COLLECTIONS Collections are just that - collections of notes, tasks, etc. Can be… - a shopping list - details for an upcoming trip - Project details - any other kind of list or collection of ideas
  • 29. REFLECTION AND MIGRATION Reflection A time for planning and for review New tasks added, others removed or consolidated, notes reviewed and taken Should be done daily - perhaps multiple times Morning/evening… lunch time… whatever works Unburden your mind; appreciate progress made Migration At the end of the month and end of the year Review the previous month and migrate tasks Add items from the Future Log for that new month/year Also a time to reflect
  • 30. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
  • 31. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER EXAMPLE Add to the daily log each day Include events and any notes/tasks from them Use signifiers as necessary Create new collections on blank left and/or right pages Use nesting to keep things organized Don’t worry about wasted space - keep it organized Remember to reflect Migrate at the end of the month
  • 33. FURTHER THOUGHTS Make it your own Custom bullets, layouts, signifiers, etc. Keep it simple Personal trick: Field Notes Is it possible to go digital? OneNote? Yes, but… Advanced options: threading, dedicated indexes, highlighting, trackers Benefits Better able to stay on top of things at work and home Less stress Able to find details when needed Feeling of being in control
  • 34. 4 3 62 5 8 7 1 The Pen Addict www.penaddict.com The Bullet Journal website bulletjournal.com Leuchtturm1917 Notebooks leuchtturm1917.us The Bullet Journal Method book amzn.to/2MmXsZn The Bullet Journal Facebook Page www.facebook.com/groups/thebulletjournal The Bullet Journal Notebook www.leuchtturm1917.us/notebooks/special-notebooks/bullet-journal/ Field Notes fieldnotesbrand.com Slideshare (this presentation) Slideshare RESOURCES
  • 35. ONE OF MY OLD BULLET JOURNALS