In the months that I’ve been active in the bullet journal social media community, I rarely see/encounter bullet journalists who thread their collections. I’m not sure if it’s just me or if this is actually an underrated feature of the bullet journal. I wanted to take some time writing about threading – what is it and how do I use it to organize my bullet journal.
First things first, what is threading?
Threading is a bullet journal technique used to organize similar collections or ongoing projects.
As Ryder explains on his website,
Using Collections in the Bullet Journal is a great way to organize ongoing projects. Some longer-lived projects will spread throughout your book. Though indexing helps you keep track of where your collections occur within the book, it can be a hassle to keep referring to your Index, that’s where Threading comes in.
Let’s say you have a collection that lives on pages 2-6 then reappears on page 14-21, and then again on pages 45-62. To “thread” this collection, simply add the page number of the previous or next instance of that collection next to the current page number. That way, when you’re working on this collection, you don’t have to refer to Index anymore.
– Ryder Carroll, bulletjournal.com
Read about the Index: What You Should Understand About the Bujo Index
Threading “links” your pages and it is also simple way of writing a “to be continued” or “previously on…” in your collection page.
Does Threading Actually Work?
I’d say it would depend on the bullet journalist. I think this works great for those who rapid log and do not have pre-made layouts. Oftentimes, working on a blank slate comes with unpredictability. It is possible to get lost in a sea of pages especially if you cram everything in one notebook.
Threading also works for bullet journalists who have long-list collection pages such as “movies to watch” or “books to read”. These pages can be threaded because they fall under the same category and can be used as reference in the future.
I use threading for collections that are long-term such as notes – meeting/project/academic. I keep my casual reading notes in my bullet journal so they’re pretty spread out all throughout my notebook. Threading is helpful because I don’t need to go back to the index just to look for the next set of notes.
Learn more about the Bullet Journal method! Check out Ryder Carroll’s book.
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