It’s very possible you’ve heard of the bullet journal system. You may have even seen some examples of pages or spreads from bullet journals somewhere online. The bullet journal system (created by Ryder Carroll) is a popular analog tracking system that lives inside of a notebook you use several times a day.

I’ve been bullet journalling since January 2017 (two years at the time of writing). I wanted a better system to keep track of things, such as my freelancing, chores, exercise, self-care, and goal setting. I had all of this information in various places both on paper and on the computer, but never in a centralized place.

The problem was, none of this was working well for me or was even sustainable for me. I went a couple of years without really maintaining any planner at all. I would write my daily to-do lists on random sheets of paper or in digital to-do list apps. Nothing would work or be functional enough for me to use on the daily basis.

For a long time, I felt like I was the only one that dealt with the lack of mental clarity, but I’ve learned I’m not the only one. So I’m sure there are others like me who’ve felt the burden of undone tasks, distracting things, important decisions, catastrophic events, or any other thing that keeps us from thinking clearly and staying focused and on task.

This is all mental clutter, the stuff keeps us from getting things done, from staying focused, from moving forward.

I read quite a lot of articles focused toward entrepreneurs and small business owners. I also follow quite a few of them on social media. One clear thing stands out in pretty much all of the things I read – they focus so much on the goals, or an end game, or a milestone, and less about the journey you’re on to get there.

Having goals to work toward is great: they keep you motivated and they help you grow. But in an endless pursuit to reach them – we start to lose sight of what we really should focus on day in and day out.

Ever feel like those around you are achieving more, getting more things done, being more productive, and/or launching more things than you are? Find yourself comparing your productivity to someone else’s?

As someone who has spent way too much time comparing her level of productivity to others, I feel we get this feeling of not doing enough, not achieving enough, or otherwise not making as much momentum as others.