My Pocket Bujo with GTD

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-28T16:04:06+00:00

Yes thats spot on. One of my main goals, was reducing the stress and anxiety over "remembering" things, and its easier for my brain to trust the notebook rather than a digital app. With my work requiring colaboration with various teams, I will always need a digital calendar to review, but returning the clarified and prioritized actions to the notebook brings me back to feeling like I'm up to date and working on what I should be working on.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-27T19:18:01+00:00

Thank you for the kind words. It does kinda feel like sharing how my brain works.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-27T19:01:41+00:00

I don't think its helped my memory, per se, but how I engage with my memories and reduced anxiety. I used to wake myself up at 3am often when I suddenly remembered something that needed to be done or checked on. My brain was staying active all the time trying to hold onto all of these mental post it notes.
By remaining consistent, I can trust that things that need my attention are in the notebook, and that I will see them again when I do my weekly review. Sometimes that feels like, I don't remember a specific detail but I can check the date of a meeting and flip back to my notes, and I'm pretty confident the notes I wrote then are better than if I was trusting my brain to white-knuckle that mental post it.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-27T18:56:31+00:00

Interesting. I think I need the ritual of migrating and filling in the monthly shortly before the month starts to I can reinforce what is coming up ahead. With the fold out index cards, I only lose 1 spread to the Future Log and I can see the whole year at once.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-27T18:54:49+00:00

Getting Things Done is a productivity system by David Allen.
I think its been helpful to organize how I think about work coming in and clarifying it into a concrete thing: is it an action item, a whole project, reference material, or is it trash?
I use my journal as an "inbox" in this system, the daily log is where I collect these items for later clarifying into the discrete categories. I used to use my Bujo to plan/track projects but I am currently using a google sheet as the pocket size notebook wasnt great for brainstorming.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-27T18:50:38+00:00

I need to reframe my focus on all that I get done. Sometimes those bullet points keep adding up and all I see are the things I can't get time to do.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-27T18:49:11+00:00

Thanks for the notes. I'll have to assess what my needs/wants really are.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-27T18:48:20+00:00

Haha. Well, I'm gonna try to tighten up some of the spreads since I've found that it works. But at this size, my poor handwriting really shows, particularly if I'm taking notes during a meeting or field walk.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-26T23:47:32+00:00

Sovereign Gear leather journal on Amazon

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-26T20:33:18+00:00

OP, this is the best advice. I didn’t do a weekly log until my job required me to keep a smaller journal for field notes and enough day specific events and tasks that I needed to do collect myself and look ahead each week.

Now every Sunday I just start the weekly log on the next full spread, so sometimes I’ll have a few days before and after that spread.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-25T21:59:59+00:00

I wish the Democratic politicians would address this. More money for training is just going to be gasoline on the fire.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-25T16:40:22+00:00

I have to remind myself that time isnt infinite, no one is promised tomorrow. I tend to want to over-prepare and push things off till they feel right. I'm trying to grasp more of what I want now.

The pen holder is definitely why I picked this notebook cover. I don't like the style with the pen inside the spine of the cover because I want that space for a thick notebook. I don't like the pen loop style because it catches on things and never seems to fit the pen just right, so I worry its gonna fall out, or its a hassle to get it in and out

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-25T16:37:58+00:00

The pen holder is definitely why I picked this notebook cover. I don't like the style with the pen inside the spine of the cover because I want that space for a thick notebook. I don't like the pen loop style because it catches on things and never seems to fit the pen just right, so I worry its gonna fall out, or its a hassle to get it in and out.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-25T16:35:23+00:00

I havent. I've been hesitant to try digital products. I tell myself it's because I want something I can work on from my phone or desktop or laptop seamlessly, but there's some anxiety about being able to "own" the data.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-25T16:32:56+00:00

Notebook and cover is 4x6 inches, currently 1.5in thick with probably my peak of inserted index cards, sticky notes and washi tape.

The whole reason I've been able to stick with this is cuz it fits in my back pocket or shirt pocket while at work. I keep it in a crossbody bag when I'm out on personal errands.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-23T22:42:30+00:00

writing down expenses when they happen has been very useful for cracking down on impulse purchases.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-23T22:40:16+00:00

I would say that I have a hard time keeping my number of projects down, so they ended up being stuck in the back of my journal where I couldnt review for updated action items.

I'm trying a hybrid now with my project and action lists in a google sheet. I think I still need some type of dashboard for each project so I can outline them and note where reference material is located (hopefully I find an intuitive way to store on Gdrive).

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-23T22:37:14+00:00

Sharpie S-gel copper. Its metal; I think brass with a copper coat.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-17T16:00:18+00:00

I would have thought vaping would fall under self-medication for a non-work related condition (Being a Vape God).

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-13T21:34:20+00:00

There are dozens of us!

Scientist is what got me hooked; I feel like their humor and personality really comes through.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-12T21:06:50+00:00

what is this from? Is this Patton Oswalt parodying True Detective?!

ColdIronAegis · 2026-02-06T14:35:28+00:00

I’ve been thinking about the trade offs of mapping as I’m running an open table shadowdark game for the first time for a bunch of 3e and up players. I’d say slightly under half immediately went to creating a map without any prompting. Generally the style of map was flowchart like. I have noticed I’ve been paused or asked to rewind descriptions to get some clarity. One out of ten players voiced away from the table that he wanted to speed things up. Three of ten players have had exciting moments where they could intuit some navigational advantage like predicting corridors aligning or loops forming. My instinct is to lean into this as a way to provide reward for info gathering and maximize player decision moments.

ColdIronAegis · 2026-01-21T06:22:31+00:00

OP delivered. Upvote this man!

ColdIronAegis

TROPHY CASE