It is more important than ever to be creative in today’s world. And with the best iPad note taking bullet journal anyone can be creative with little or no effort.
The best way to be creative is to build the habit of writing in bullet journals
A planner or journal is a safe place to store your bullet points, a future log, your best mood tracker or your work bucket list. Pick a dot grid or a simple blank page to scribble your grocery list, create an index page for your projects or even to write for mental health.
It can be a weekly planner, a project book, or a simple lined notebook. It’s up to you what template you pick.
I trust a bullet journal is a perfect tool for marking your journey in today’s world. Don’t you think?
What is the bullet journal system?
The bullet journal method, or “bujo” for short, is a planning method created by Ryder Carrol, to help you organize your tasks and intentionally plan your schedule.
What’s the Deal with The iPad and The Perfect Digital Bullet Journal?
Unlike paper bullet journals, digital bullet journals can be used on Apple devices, meaning you can take them wherever you go.
So, if you are looking for a way to be more creative in 2023, using a digital version of bullet journal, look no further than the iPad. It is the best tool for digital bullet journaling, and it will help you keep track of your thoughts, ideas, and progress inside a digital planner.
Additionally, a digital bullet journal is easy to use and will easily sync across your iOS devices.
iPad Pro-the perfect digital bullet journal in 2023
..for many reasons:
First, the iPad has a large, high-resolution screen that is perfect for keeping track of your projects and notes.
Second, it is highly portable, meaning you can take it wherever you go.
Third, it has several built-in features that make it perfect for use as a bullet journal, such as creating notes, setting reminders, and tracking your progress.
Finally, it is incredibly user-friendly, making it easy to use a digital planner and journal template.
Yet, that’s not all I love about using the iPad…
The problem is that … handwriting on a tablet is hard, and it’s not the same as writing with pen and paper.
However, you don’t have to give up your love of handwriting if you decide to use an iOS tablet instead of an Android tablet.
Why?
Several note-taking apps let you create digital planners and write on your iPad with the Apple Pencil. They can be just as natural and easy to use as writing on paper, especially if you’re using a paper-like screen protector.
These apps are so fascinating, that back in 2018 I decided to start selling digital planner templates for productive work notes.
TOP 3 note-taking apps for digital bullet journaling
GoodNotes 5
GoodNotes app is one of the most popular note-taking apps for digital journaling and for a good reason. It has some beautiful brush pens and many features that make taking notes inside digital planners super easy and drawing fun. You can choose from various pens, highlighters, and markers, and you can even create custom colors. GoodNotes app also allows you to insert images as digital stickers (like using a digital washi tape), and documents inside your digital planner (PDF file) making it a great app to keep a pretty future log. If you’re interested about Goodnotes, check these 10 best goodnotes templates to write better notes at work.
Noteshelf
Another note-taking app for all Apple devices (including the Apple Watch) is Noteshelf. This app also has a variety of pens and colors to choose from, and you can insert images and PDFs into your digital bujo. One of the most remarkable features of Noteshelf is the ability to create a custom toolbar with favorite pen colors, which can be a great way to personalize your experience. Also, Noteshelf has built in sticky-notes that you can use for bullet points inside a simple dot grid notebook.
Notability
Notability is an excellent note-taking app to start digital bullet journaling and sketching ideas. You can choose from various paper templates and add images and voice recordings to your handwritten notes. Notability also makes it easy to share notes with others, which is very handy.
Want more? I wrote a detailed article about the best digital note-taking apps. Check it out.
Try them free. Upgrade to enjoy the whole experience
GoodNotes, Notability, and Noteshelf apps offer free versions with basic features. Still, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid versions to access all features and create endless digital planners.
Want to ditch your paper bullet journal today?
If you’re looking for a more simple solution to ditch your paper bullet journal and the washi tape to go paperless, you can also use the Notes app installed on every iPad. It doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as GoodNotes or Noteshelf, but it’s still an excellent option for taking simple notes. You can choose from a variety of pen colors, and you can also insert images into your daily log.
No matter which app you choose, you’ll be able to write on your tablet with ease and less frustration. So don’t be afraid to pick up the Apple Pencil and start taking notes!
What is a digital bullet journal?
A digital bullet journal template is ideal for prioritizing tasks in bullet points, capturing photos and organizing your daily activities. It makes the design of a spread fun and straightforward, with minimal effort. And since it’s all digital, the bullets are easily erasable, so you are allowed to make mistakes! You can delete them without leaving marks.
It’s not an app; it’s a PDF template for Goodnotes
A digital bullet journal, also called a digital planner, is not an actual application.
Technically it’s a PDF file with hyperlinked tabs to help you jump between the pages quickly. You can use it on your iPad, iPhone, or Mac, but you must import it to a note-taking app first (Goodnotes 5) to start using it.
Ps: I keep mentioning Goodnotes because it’s the most popular for digital planning. But you can use Noteshelf (my favorite) or Notability apps too.
Here are the 5 steps to get started with digital planning
Step 1: grab your brand new iPad (with iOS14+)
Step 2: grab an Apple Pencil
Step 3: install Goodnotes or Noteshelf, Notability
Step 4: download a PDF template for your planner (you can download premium planners or try my best digital planners templates for free – I have weekly planners, work notebooks and more)
Step 5: import that PDF file to Good Notes and start digital bullet journaling.
(ps: If you’ll love to use a digital washi tape, you’ll need to import that too, as a sticker)
Now that you know how to get started with a digital planner, you probably ask…
Why need a digital bullet journal?
Be creative with a digital journal
A bullet journal template can help you keep track of your activities by organizing them in a way that is easy to understand. It can help you be creative and artistic with your content and help you see everything that is happening around you.
Not to mention that a digital planner allows you to use digital stickers (like a digital washi tape) to make your day more fun!
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
A digital bullet journal would be even more helpful due to its flexibility and ease of use. With a digital bullet journal, you can quickly write your daily log and delete or move that content to another page without leaving any marks.
Stay productive using the best digital planners
Ryder Carroll, the creator of the bullet journaling movement, says that it’s a great way to stay productive and motivated. He also says that it can help you organize your life and work on projects.
What to do with a digital bullet journal?
Here are some of the things you can track in your journal:
– Tasks for the day/week/month
– Goals for the day/week/month
– Things you’re grateful for
– Things you need to do
– Brain-dumping
– Projects you’re working on
– Progress you’ve made on goals
– Habits, mood, workout, and meals (you’ll find tons of digital stickers for habit trackers)
– Make future logs that can help track your home or office events, like birthdays, trips, holidays, meetings, etc.
Bullet journals can be a great way to improve your productivity, organizational skills, and motivation.
Give it a try and see how it works for you!
My favorite app to start digital bullet journaling
Noteshelf is my preferred app for bullet journaling because it’s extremely easy (and I am too lazy to learn new things), and it allows you to set up your favorite pens toolbar and make it super accessible.
The Notability and Goodnotes apps are also good options because they allow you to add photos and drawings to your digital journal entries.
However, I prefer to use Noteshelf as my best digital bullet journal app to hold my many templates!
But if you want to read the full side-by-side comparison between the best apps, here it is:
5 | GoodNotes vs Notability vs Noteshelf—Settings, Flows (coming soon)
Digital bullet journal ideas
Digital bullet journaling is a great way to keep track of your life and daily tasks.
Some of the tasks you can track in your iPad bullet journal include:
– Write daily bullet points with the things to do (that you can also share with your remote team) and keep them inside your yearly digital planner
– Keeping track of your expenses inside a monthly log
– Keep track of workouts inside a daily log
– Planning out your meals for the week, on the meal planning template
– Recording your daily thoughts and progress inside the day planner or a habit tracker
– Keep track of your social media content strategy, inside a social media digital planner (you’ll love it of you’re a content creator)
There are many different ways to set up a digital bullet journal. You can use a simple digital notebook, or you can buy a special digital bullet journal notebook.
Like when you’re using a physical bullet journal, the most important thing is finding a system that works for you. Experiment with different methods and see what works best for your digital planning.
Steps to use a simple digital bullet journal
- Download a digital bullet journal app like GoodNotes, Notability, or Noteshelf from the AppStore
- Create a new digital notebook template to use as the bullet journal (ideally using a lined or dotted paper)
- Decide how you want to organize your journal and what to include in all your pages. Some people like to use a monthly log, a weekly spread, or a daily spread. Start brainstorming ideas for your bullet journal system. What do you want to track? What are your goals? What are some things you want to remember? Are you going to use it as a habit tracker?
- Set up your notebook with sections for each area of your life that you want to track. For example, you could have a section for work, a section for personal goals, and a section for your daily thoughts.
- Add a Table of Contents (or Index) to easily find the pages you’re looking for.
- Create a Legend (or Key) to capture the colors and symbols you’re going to use for each type of entry (task, event, appointment, idea etc.) and the status (started, completed, migrated, canceled)
- Then, start filling in your journal’s sections with whatever you want! Track your goals, to-do lists, ideas, future log, project, and anything else you can think of.
- Be sure to date each entry to keep track of your progress over time.
- Use the app’s built-in features to add photos, digital stickers, and audio recordings.
- Set up the Reminders app to regularly remind you to update your bullet journal.
- Experiment with different layouts and designs. Don’t be afraid to try something new every week.
- Sync your notebook across all of your devices to access it anywhere.
- Back up your notebooks in Dropbox or Google Drive, so you don’t lose them by mistake.
Have fun with it!
Like the physical bullet journal, with the digital bullet journal templates you can express your creativity every day.
You can also export your journal templates as PDF files to print them out or share them with others when you’ve finished writing.
Benefits of using an iPad as a digital bullet journal
There are many benefits of using an Apple device as a digital bullet journal template.
Some of the benefits include:
– You can easily access your bullet journal anywhere you go, as long as you have your iPad with you.
– You can add photos, sketches, and video recordings to your journal entries.
– You can experiment with different templates, layouts, and designs. There is no need to be afraid of trying a new template every week.
– Digital bullet journaling is fun and a great way to express your creativity.
Drawback of using a digital bullet journal
The drawback of using a simple digital bullet journal on the iPad is that you can’t quickly jump to a particular section or between sections as easily as the paper journal.
A custom digital bullet journal with links may solve that problem!
This brings me to this:
BEST Bullet Journal Templates for productivity by Outline Planner
DATED Outline Planner – for iPad, fully-dated
The DATED Outline Planner is the Ultimate Digital Planner Template for iPad for Goodnotes 5, Notability and Noteshelf apps you’d need to boost productivity.
WHAT’S INSIDE:
✔ TABBED PDF file with 60K+ hyperlinks
✔ Yearly / Monthly / Weekly / Daily plans with hyperlinks
✔ Dated Jan. 1 – Dec. 31 (I create one planner for every year)
✔ DATED Monthly pages (inter-linked): Calendar Planning, Money, Tracker, One-Win-A-Day, Review
✔ DATED Weekly pages (inter-linked): Weekly Planning, Meals, Ideas (braindumping), Results
✔ DATED Daily pages (inter-linked): Daily Planning (with hourly slots), Work Notes, Notes (simple page)
✔ DATED REVIEW pages (inter-linked): yearly, 9-month, 6-month, 3-month, monthly, weekly
✔ 7x Color Notebooks (each with 12 linked chapters)
✔ Color Pallets, Fonts and Key section
✔ Tutorial on “How to Use this Digital Planner”
✔ Planner Structure & Contents (with links)
✔ EXTRA Section with 150+ built-in page templates
✔ 7 built-in notebooks (12 linked chapters each)
The real difference between the digital planner by Outline Planner and other alternatives on the market is its superb structure and content focused on work. It is a planner designed by a professional for professionals.
The DATED Outline Planner is available on my shop as a single purchase or when you join the Vault with premium digital planners (every September).
Projects Book – for iPad, Undated
The Projects Book is an UNDATED Digital Notebook to hold notes, gantt charts, budgets and details for up to 20 Projects. Best to use with Goodnotes 5, Notability and Noteshelf apps.
Video Walkthrough: https://youtu.be/mz22UJaVyZo
WHAT’S INSIDE:
— UNDATED calendar pages (yearly, monthly, weekly, daily – duplicate as needed).
— MASTER 2-YEAR GANTT CHART (to list ALL projects’ timelines, budget and progress)
— 20x PROJECT’S FOLDER with:
✔ DETAILS SECTION: Details page + Notes page
✔ GANTT SECTION: 1-Year Gantt chart + 30-Day Gantt chart
✔ PROGRESS SECTION: TODOs pages with Tasks/Deliverables progress
✔ BUDGET SECTION: Budget Management page + Costs control page
✔ PEOPLE SECTION: People Listing + People Profile (duplicate as needed)
✔ RESOURCES SECTION: BLANK pages to add your own resources and stickers
✔ 25 built-in PAGE TEMPLATES
The Projects Book is available as a single purchase on my shop, or when you join the Vault with premium digital planners.
#3. DigiBujo100 – for iPad, Undated
The DigiBujo is a custom digital planner template for bullet journaling that allows you to quickly jump between sections and find the notes you’re looking for.
It has an index page with 100 different slots, each slot linked to its corresponding section containing three-note pages. It’s extremely easy to quickly jump between sections or pages and find the notes you’re looking for.
So far, customers use my work templates to list meetings’ main topics through the year, daily gratitude themes or even list the team members’ names. You can try it too!
The DigiBujo is available when you signup to my Vault in September or, you can buy it as a single purchase in my best goodnotes templates collection.
When to write in your digital bullet journal?
We’re all different, so the digital bullet journaling routine is based on personal preference.
However, I recommend you update your journal regularly, perhaps once a day or 2-3 times a week, depending on your goals. It will help you track your progress over time and ensure that your journal remains up-to-date.
Best day-times to check with your digital bullet journal
The best times to check in with your bullet journal are typically in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
Checking in with your journal first thing in the morning can help you set your intentions for the day ahead.
Checking in during the afternoon can help you reflect on how your day is going and make any necessary adjustments.
And checking in before bed can help you wind down for the evening and reflect on your accomplishments for the day.
Experiment with different times and see what works best for you. Keep in mind that you make your rules, so if checking in with your journal once a day is enough for you, that’s fine!
I always check my journal in the afternoon.
When I come back from the lunch break, I usually check my daily progress and list the tasks I’ve done, and I will then work on adjusting the overall schedule for the following days (if there’s a need for that).
Bring life to your digital bullet journaling and make it one to remember
I know it! You will be happy to find the digital bullet journal!
Is there anything more creative than using a digital journal template?
Yes, there are other actions to help with your creativity. Yet journaling is a soft, gentile action that you can try today.
Actually… today, anyone using an Apple tablet can start a digital bullet journal template.
Ready to start bullet journaling?
To start using digital planners for journaling on the go, you will need:
– An iPad with a note-taking app installed (like Notability, Goodnotes, or Noteshelf)
– An Apple Pencil (and a screen protector to enhance the handwriting experience)
– A digital planner template like my DigiBujo100 (available when you signup to my Vault, or as a single purchase from my Etsy shop)
Not sure if digital planning is for you?
Let’s find out – I have some digital freebies templates for you! Just create an account to my FREE Vault with Demos. Lastly, no matter the source of your digital templates for iPad, make sure you’re using lag-free digital planners (optimized PDF planners) to avoid the lag when writing or scrolling the pages.
NEXT: Which is Best for Handwritten Notes?
