You can turn any note-taking app into a Bullet Journal. But you have a lot less work to do if you start with an app that comes with all the right ingredients for bullet journaling.
But where do you find such an app? Start with our list of five. We've narrowed them down because they give you three key benefits:
Now to those app recommendations.
Trello's cross-platform availability is a huge plus for bullet journaling, as are its automation capabilities. You can configure the app to create boards (for modules) and cards (for dates) on a schedule.
You don't need the index module or page numbers, because the powerful search features in Trello make it easy to quickly find what you need.
To get a bird's eye view of your tasks for the month, you can assign due dates to entries to highlight them. Color-coded labels can double as bullet points and significants to add context to your journal entries.
Does this change from paper to trello sound complex? Actually, it's not, as you'll see in our step-by-step guide to Using a Bullet Journal in Trello to Plan Your Day How to Use a Bullet Journal in Trello to Plan Your Day How to Use a Bullet Journal in Trello to Plan Your Day It's time to show you how to turn Trello, if that's your main note-taking app, into a Bullet Journal. Read more . The guide shows you how to bring all aspects of your paper journal to Trello. It also provides you with a sample monthly check-in table that you can clone and add to your Trello account.
Trello isn't the only popular note-taking app that takes your journal from analog to digital. You can also use Evernote for bullet journaling. If you are a Mac user, you can use Reminders, Calendar or Notes as a Bullet Journal.
Download: Trello (Free, Premium plans available)
NotePlan comes with a calendar, Markdown notes, and To-Do lists. The Calendar view allows you to see the big picture just like the Monthly Record does in your printed diary.
When you want to expand your entries for a particular day, switch to Notes view. Here, you can use a combination of tasks, lists, reminders, events, and general notes to plan and reflect on your days.
With color-coded to-dos, tags, linked notes, and linked dates, it's easy to jump to the right entries in your journal at any time. It also has iCloud sync, so you can keep your bullet journal ready to go across all your Apple devices.
Overall, NotePlan doubles up as the perfect journal and is used as such by many of the app's users.
Download: NotePlan for macOS ($20, trial available) | iOS ($15)
It's helpful if you can use Taskade as a guest before signing up. The app allows you to add checklists, outlines, and notes to your bullet journal. You can also choose from several bullet formats, making it easy to combine bullets and signifiers in your journal.
The app has basic formatting and emoji options as well. To schedule your plans, Taskade gives you Due Date and Add to calendar options The last feature allows you to connect with Google Calendar and Yahoo Calendar.
Attachments, templates, comments, tags, search-Taskade has it all. It is a versatile application that lends itself to all kinds of notes. We recommend starting with Taskade's Bullet Journal template to save time setting up your journal.
Download: Taskade (Free)
You should use the Bullet Journal companion app in conjunction with, and not in place of, your analog bullet journal. That makes this simple mobile app from the creators of Bullet Journal the only one on this list. But it's the perfect solution if you're not ready to ditch your print journal entirely in favor of a digital one.
The companion app prompts you to reflect on your plans and notes with reminders twice a day. (You can adjust the times to make these reminders work for you.) It also has a Library section that allows you to search through your old newsletters.
If you're away from your notebook, you can use the app for logging and then migrate the entries to your notebook during your brainstorming time. You have a 48-hour window to move your tickets from the app.
The Bullet Journal Companion includes a set of guides that cover all aspects of bullet journaling. It is sure to appeal to Bullet Journal beginners and veterans alike. If you like the community aspect of Bullet Journal, you'll appreciate the in-app compilation of official blog posts.
Download: The Bullet Journal Companion for iOS ($3), Android ($3)
Dynalist is one of the best bullet-based to-do list apps and it is quickly becoming popular. It includes support for Markdown, tags, expiration dates, and internal links, among other features.
The tree structure of the app is great for managing your daily check-ins. For bullets and signifiers, you can use regular keyboard characters or suitable emoticons. Because Dynalist allows you to bookmark items, you can keep your most important current modules easily accessible at all times.
The demo version of Dynalist gives you a detailed overview of how the application works. It's the perfect testing ground to find out if the app can function as your bullet journal.
Download: Dynalist (Free, $10/month premium version available)
We have prepared some additional options that you can work with, in case the applications we have listed above do not appeal to you:
If you need a reliable system for quick note taking, a Bullet Journal is up to the job. It gives you a nice framework to start with, but it's not so inflexible that you can't customize it.
For those of you who want to go digital with your diary, we've shown you apps that can make the switch easier for you. If you're looking for inspiration, try these four places to gather ideas for your Bullet Journal 4 Places to Find Inspiration for your Bullet Journal 4 Places to Find Inspiration for your Bullet Journal Starting with a newsletter can be overwhelming at first, but the magazine community of cartoons online is incredibly active and full of inspiration. Read more.
