There’s something satisfying about a fresh notebook.
The sound of the pen scratching across the page.
The freedom of a blank spread.
The dopamine hit of ticking off a task manually.
For a lot of people, bullet journaling is more than a productivity tool—it’s therapy.
It’s how they stay organised, creative, and calm in the chaos.
But in a world of productivity apps, smart calendars, and AI-assisted planners, it’s easy to feel like analogue systems are outdated.
So, is bullet journaling dead?
Hell no.
In fact, when done right—and used intentionally—it can be the perfect complement to a flexible system like DROP.
Bullet journaling is where I started in my productivity journey and it worked like a charm… mostly.
This post isn’t about choosing one over the other.
It’s about showing how DROP and bullet journaling work together—and why the tool you use doesn’t matter nearly as much as the process behind it.
What Is Bullet Journaling, Exactly?
Originally created by Ryder Carroll, bullet journaling (or BuJo) is a flexible, analogue system for managing your tasks, ideas, goals, and notes in one place.
There are no rules—just a core method that you customise to suit your brain.
Most bullet journals include:
- Daily, weekly, or monthly logs
- Future planning pages
- Habit trackers
- Notes and brain dumps
- Symbols to mark tasks, events, priorities, and ideas
It’s part to-do list, part planner, part journal—and for some people, part creative outlet.
If digital planners give you whiplash, and your brain switches on when you write things by hand?
Bullet journaling probably feels like home.
Why Bullet Journaling Still Works in 2025
In a world of screens and constant pings, analogue productivity has one powerful edge: focus.
Writing by hand slows you down.
And that’s a good thing.
- You can’t scroll
- You can’t swipe
- You’re not multitasking
- You’re fully present with your thoughts
Studies have even shown that handwriting improves memory and recall. So when you write down a task, you’re more likely to do it—and remember why it matters.
That’s not just romanticism. That’s neuroscience.
So no—bullet journaling isn’t dead.
But without structure, it can fall into the same trap as any other tool: chaos disguised as planning.
That’s where DROP comes in.
Where Bullet Journaling Falls Short
Let’s be honest:
- It’s easy to get lost in designing pages instead of using them
- You can end up spending more time setting up your system than actually executing
- Without a weekly process, the notebook becomes a graveyard for unfinished tasks
- There’s no built-in rhythm—it’s what you make of it
Bullet journaling gives you a blank canvas.
DROP gives you a proven weekly rhythm to follow.
So instead of creating a system from scratch every week, you use your journal to run the DROP process:
- Dump – Create a brain dump spread
- Review – Use a priority page to figure out what matters
- Offload – Create a delegate/defer/delete list
- Plan – Build a weekly plan that reflects your reality
It’s not a choice between the two.
It’s a killer combo.
DROP Doesn’t Care What You Write On—Only That You Write With Intention
Some people love Notion.
Others swear by Google Calendar.
And some still carry a battered Moleskine everywhere they go.
DROP is platform-agnostic.
It’s not tied to any app, tool, or format.
If you’ve got:
- A place to dump your thoughts
- A process to review your tasks
- A way to offload what’s not yours
- A method to plan and follow through
Then congratulations—you’re running DROP.
Whether that happens on paper, screen, or whiteboard… doesn’t matter.
What matters is consistency.
How to Bring DROP Into Your Bullet Journal
If you’re already a bullet journal user, here’s how to merge the two:
1. Create a Weekly DROP Spread
Use a single spread each week with four sections:
- Dump – Everything in your head
- Review – Circle or highlight what matters
- Offload – Create columns for delegate/delete
- Plan – Block out your week across seven days
2. Use Signifiers to Track DROP Actions
Create symbols for:
- Tasks you’ve offloaded
- Tasks that align with your weekly focus
- Tasks that got moved or re-prioritised
Keep it simple—but make it yours.
3. Make It a Weekly Ritual
The real power of DROP is repetition.
Every week—same process, same rhythm, same clarity.
The bullet journal becomes the place you do the work.
DROP becomes the system that makes it stick.
Why Analogue Productivity Isn’t Going Anywhere
There’s a reason people keep coming back to pen and paper:
- It helps them think clearly
- It reduces screen fatigue
- It’s private, personal, and tactile
- It encourages deeper focus
- It gives a sense of ownership that apps just don’t match
And for a lot of people, writing it down is half the battle.
DROP doesn’t replace that—it harnesses it.
It takes what’s already working and gives it structure, rhythm, and follow-through.
That’s how you move from creative chaos to consistent progress.
Want to Make Your Bullet Journal Actually Drive Results?
Whether you’re an old-school notebook loyalist or just starting out with paper planning…
You don’t need to ditch what’s working.
You just need to anchor it in a weekly process that turns thoughts into action.
That’s what DROP does.
Here’s how to get started:
- Buy the book – Control Your Time or Stay Stuck: You Choose
- Join the DROP System training and build a system that fits the way your brain already works
Because analogue isn’t dead.
It just needs a system.
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