How To Use A Bullet Journal Index—However You Want

Use Your Bullet Journal Index To Index Your Favorite Recipes, Or Your Least Favorite Neighbors.

“Mrs. Betsey Fremantle (née Wynne) kept diaries throughout her life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, diaries that were later published by her great-granddaughter Anne Fremantle. The index to volume I, prepared by Anne, contains the following entry:

dislikes Bombelles family, 119, 157, 164, 165, 170, 174, 175, 177-9, 183, 184, 186, 187, 190, 191, 202, 207, 208, 211, 213, 220, 224, 225, 229, 230, 231, 235, 236, 254, 260, 261, 271

I’m not saying you should create an index entry for every time you trash-talk someone or something . . . but I’m not saying you shouldn’t do that, either.”—Rachel Wilkerson Miller

And that right there is my very favorite quote about the bullet journal index.

Use it for whatever you want.

“It may seem like a hassle to keep updating the index, but in a few months, when you’re flipping through your journal trying to find something important that you could swear you wrote down–and when your brain keeps telling you “Just type it into the ‘search’ box!” and you realize that computers have ruined our damn minds–you will be glad you have an index.”—Rachel Wilkerson Miller

These two quotes are from one of my favorite books—the first book I read about bullet journaling. It’s funny, short, and easy to understand. It’s Dot Journaling, A Practical Guide by Rachel Wilkerson Miller.

So how do I use an index?

In two ways.

How To Use A Bullet Journal Index: Starting A New Line

When I’m rapid logging throughout the day, if I get an idea, I’ll write the idea down with a lightbulb next to it and then I’ll grab the page number and go write it in my index and then I’ll write down what the idea relates to. E.g., A’s Birthday Party.

Another example of Way 1 is a recipe. My sourdough bread recipe and my daughter’s favorite breakfast bars are both indexed in my bullet journal.

How To Use A Bullet Journal Index: Adding Page Numbers When A Topic Comes Up

The other way is to keep adding a list of page numbers, as Mrs. Fremantle did above, every time a certain topic comes up.

My index has saved me many, many times.

I use it for work notes. I use it for projects, ideas, and just randomness. Currently it says, “Psalm 31” in my index with every page I mention this prayer.

An index is both highly personal and highly practical. Use it however you want.

And whenever you wonder if you should index something, think of Mrs. Fremantle and go for it.