Ryder Carroll's 5-4-3-2-1 Framework for Realistic Productivity [Interview]

Summary

In this video, the creator of Hey Creator interviews Ryder Carroll, the inventor of the Bullet Journal. They discuss the 54321 exercise, a method to align with long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals by mapping them onto a timeline. The conversation touches on the importance of focus and the courage to prioritize, emphasizing the need to let go of less important tasks to concentrate on what truly matters. The video also highlights the benefits of the Bullet Journal community, Bujo, and the use of Mighty Networks for community building.

Takeaways

• 📝 The importance of using checklists and the friction they create to recommit to actions is highlighted as a beneficial aspect of running a business.
• 🎥 The speaker had an opportunity to interview Ryder Carroll, the creator of the Bullet Journal, through their involvement with a new company called Hey Creator.
• 🗓️ The '54321' exercise is introduced as a method to align with one's goals by breaking them down into long-term, mid-term, and short-term categories.
• 🤔 The exercise encourages a realistic approach to goal setting by acknowledging the finite timeline available to achieve them.
• 🔍 The process of mapping goals onto a timeline can lead to a sobering realization that not all desired goals can be achieved, prompting prioritization.
• 🔄 The concept of removing tasks to be fully present with what matters is emphasized, aligning with the idea of focusing on the essentials.
• 💡 The speaker mentions the 'two-list strategy' by Warren Buffett, which involves identifying the top five priorities from a list of 25 goals, with the remaining 20 being avoided.
• 🗣️ The value of community is underscored through the mention of the Bullet Journal community, Bujo, and the use of Mighty Networks for community building.
• ✍️ Journaling prompts such as 'Is this in my control?' and 'Is it vital?' are suggested to help clarify and prioritize tasks and goals.
• 🚫 The conversation touches on the courage required to let go of exciting but non-essential tasks in order to focus on what truly matters.

Q & A

What is the main benefit of using checklists in a business setting as mentioned in the transcript?

The main benefit is that checklists can help run a business on autopilot, providing a structured way to manage tasks and actions, which reduces the need to constantly recreate them and ensures a consistent approach to business operations.

What is the Bullet Journal method and who is its creator?

The Bullet Journal method is a productivity system that helps individuals organize their tasks and goals using a notebook. Its creator is Ryder Carroll, who was interviewed in the transcript.

What is the purpose of the '54321' exercise in the Bullet Journal method?

The '54321' exercise is used to break down long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals by assigning them to specific time frames: 5 years, 4 quarters, 3 months, 2 weeks, and 1 day. This helps in prioritizing tasks and understanding the time required to achieve them.

How does the '54321' exercise help in managing one's goals?

The '54321' exercise helps by providing a chronological context to the tasks and goals, making it clear how much time is needed for each and allowing individuals to prioritize and focus on what truly matters, while also recognizing the limitations of time.

What is the significance of the community aspect in the Bullet Journal practice?

The community aspect, such as Bujo you, provides a platform for individuals to share their layouts, discuss strategies, and support each other in their Bullet Journal journey, enhancing the overall experience and effectiveness of the method.

Why is it important to regularly review and potentially eliminate tasks from one's to-do list?

Regularly reviewing and eliminating tasks is important to ensure that the focus remains on what is truly vital and meaningful. It prevents being overwhelmed by tasks that may no longer be relevant or important, thus maintaining clarity and direction.

What is the 'two list strategy' mentioned in the transcript, and who is it attributed to?

The 'two list strategy' is a method of prioritization where one lists their top 25 goals and then identifies the top 5 most important ones. The remaining 20 are considered 'avoid at all cost' tasks. This strategy is attributed to Warren Buffett.

How does the Bullet Journal method encourage letting go of tasks?

The Bullet Journal method encourages letting go of tasks by promoting the idea of focusing on what is truly important and necessary. It allows for the realization that not all tasks need to be completed and that it's okay to leave behind those that no longer serve one's goals or values.

What is the role of the question 'Is this in my control?' in the Bullet Journal method?

The question 'Is this in my control?' helps in identifying which tasks or goals are within one's sphere of influence, allowing for a more focused approach on what can be directly acted upon, thus reducing stress and increasing productivity.

Why is it suggested to ask 'Is this optional?' when reviewing tasks in a Bullet Journal?

Asking 'Is this optional?' helps in discerning which tasks are truly necessary versus those that can be skipped or delegated. This question aids in decluttering the to-do list and focusing on tasks that are essential or contribute significantly to one's goals.

Outlines

00:00

📝 The Power of Checklists and the 54321 Exercise

The speaker discusses the simplicity of running a business on autopilot with the help of checklists, emphasizing the importance of friction in the process to reevaluate and recommit to actions. The introduction of an interview with Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal, is highlighted. The 54321 exercise is introduced as a method to align with long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals by mapping them onto a timeline, which can be eye-opening and help in prioritizing tasks. The exercise encourages focusing on what truly matters and being present with those tasks, suggesting that less is more when it comes to productivity.

05:03

🗂️ Prioritization and the Two-List Strategy

This paragraph delves into the concept of prioritization through the lens of Warren Buffett's two-list strategy, which involves identifying the top 25 goals and narrowing them down to the top 5, with the remaining 20 being considered 'avoid at all cost'. The discussion touches on the mental overhead of trying to do too much and the importance of focusing on what truly matters. The speaker also mentions Oliver Burkeman's work, '4,000 Weeks', and how it aligns with the idea of clearing the decks to be ready for meaningful work. The conversation also explores the challenges of letting go of exciting but non-essential tasks in favor of focusing on what truly matters.

10:04

✍️ The Role of Journaling and Self-Reflection in Productivity

The final paragraph focuses on the role of journaling and self-reflection in enhancing productivity. The speaker shares questions that are often asked during journaling sessions, such as 'Is this in my control?' and 'Is it vital?', which help in clarifying priorities and focusing on what is truly important. The conversation with Ryder Carroll is noted for its insights on the challenges of realizing that not all desired tasks can be accomplished within a lifetime, and the importance of intentionally focusing on great tasks over good ones. The speaker also mentions the benefits of the Bullet Journal community and Mighty Networks as platforms for like-minded individuals to connect and share their experiences.

Keywords

💡Bullet Journal

The Bullet Journal is a productivity system developed by Ryder Carroll. It involves creating a physical notebook to track tasks, events, and notes in a methodical and organized manner. The system uses a set of symbols to categorize entries, making it easy to review and plan. In the video, the Bullet Journal is central to the discussion on productivity and goal-setting, with the creator, Ryder Carroll, being interviewed and providing insights into its methodology.

💡Autopilot

In the context of the video, 'autopilot' refers to the state of running a business or personal tasks without active thought or conscious effort, often relying on routines and checklists. The speaker appreciates the Bullet Journal method because it introduces 'just enough friction' to force a recommitment to actions, preventing the process from becoming too automatic or mindless.

💡Checklists

Checklists are mentioned as tools that help in running a business or managing tasks efficiently. They provide a structured way to ensure that all necessary steps are taken care of. However, the video also highlights the potential downside of checklists, which is the risk of falling into a routine without reflecting on the importance or necessity of the tasks listed.

💡Recommit

Recommitting, as discussed in the video, is the act of reaffirming one's commitment to a task or action. It is highlighted as a crucial aspect of the Bullet Journal method, where the physical act of writing down tasks repeatedly can lead to questioning and reassessing their importance, thus deepening one's commitment.

💡54321 Exercise

The 54321 Exercise is a goal-setting technique mentioned in the video, which involves breaking down goals into different time frames: five years, four quarters, three months, two weeks, and one day. This exercise helps in providing a chronological context to aspirations and tasks, making it easier to prioritize and manage time effectively.

💡Timeline

A timeline, in this video, refers to the chronological sequence of events or tasks. It is used to map out goals and tasks across different time frames, from daily to life goals, helping to visualize and manage time more effectively. The concept is integral to the 54321 Exercise discussed in the video.

💡Presence

Presence, as used in the video, refers to the state of being fully engaged and focused on the current task or activity. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being present with the tasks that matter, suggesting that trying to do too much can lead to a lack of presence and reduced effectiveness.

💡Priority

Priority, in the context of the video, denotes the importance or urgency of tasks or goals. The speaker discusses the need to identify and focus on high-priority tasks, often at the expense of less important ones. This concept is linked to the idea of letting go of tasks that do not align with one's current priorities.

💡Community

The term 'community' in the video refers to a group of like-minded individuals who share and discuss common interests or practices. The Bullet Journal community, 'Bujo you', is highlighted as a place where people can connect, share layouts, and discuss productivity strategies, reinforcing the social aspect of personal development.

💡Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is mentioned as the platform that powers the Bullet Journal community and other creator communities. It is described as a robust community platform that enables creators to build and manage online communities, emphasizing its role in fostering connections and discussions among community members.

💡Journaling

Journaling, as discussed in the video, is the practice of regularly writing down thoughts, reflections, and tasks. It is presented as a tool for self-reflection and goal-setting, with the speaker mentioning specific questions to ask oneself while journaling, such as 'Is this in my control?' and 'Is it vital?', to enhance clarity and focus.

Highlights

The importance of using checklists to run a business on autopilot and the friction it creates to recommit to actions.

Interview with Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal, discussing its benefits and practices.

The 54321 exercise for breaking down long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals.

The realization that not everything is possible within a finite timeline and the need to prioritize.

The practicality of the Bullet Journal method in giving chronological context to goals.

The concept of removing tasks to be fully present with what matters.

The idea of dividing tasks between personal and professional life for focused action.

The encouragement to let things go in the Bullet Journal practice.

The challenge of writing down the same task repeatedly and the self-reflection it prompts.

Warren Buffett's two-list strategy for identifying top priorities and avoiding less important tasks.

The need for courage to focus on what truly matters and the sacrifices it entails.

Oliver Burkeman's concept of 'clearing the decks' and the importance of being ready to do meaningful work.

The practice of asking oneself if a task is within one's control to focus on actionable items.

The question of vitality in tasks and whether they matter to oneself or loved ones.

The optional nature of tasks and the avoidance of infinite busy work.

The difficulty of saying no to good things to pursue greatness.

The Bullet Journal practice's role in prompting deeper questions about task importance and commitment.

The benefits of pen and paper for the Bullet Journal method in creating accountability.

The future plans for more content with Ryder Carroll and the Bullet Journal on the channel.

Recommendation to check out Bujo you, the exclusive Bullet Journal community, and Mighty networks for community building.

Transcripts

it's really easy to run your business on

autopilot because you have checklists

and that's one thing I like about this

again to come back to like having to

recreate my checklist is that it's

there's just enough friction for me to

have to recommit to the actions that I

write down okay special treat today you

already saw a little bit of the preview

of it but I had the opportunity to

interview Ryder Caroll creator of the

bullet Journal you know what I'm talking

about anyone here on on this channel

loves it uses it and the way that I got

to talk to him is I'm a part of a new

company I started a new company called

Hey Creator and I'll tell you more about

it in videos to come but one of the

things that we did and probably a good

number of you attended was we did a hey

creator online Summit in January Ryder

was one of the speakers bullet Journal

was one of our sponsors and so I got to

work and uh like talk to Ryder for a

good bit before during after and this is

one of my favorite clips from the

interview so I hope that you like it I'm

going to just let you go on it and then

we'll come back and we'll talk about a

little bit once it's over one thing that

I wanted to ask you about that I thought

like from a goal Vision intention a

standpoint has been really really

helpful for me to stay aligned with what

matters to me is uh the

54321

exercise and um it's basically a way of

breaking down long-term midterm and

short-term goals so can you tell us

about like what that what that practice

is like yeah if you're anything like me

like you're you're you're very excited

like life is full of infinite

possibilities the problem of course is

that there's a

very finite timeline in which to realize

these possibilities right so anything

may be possible but not

everything and for me what was really

helpful is actually think about all the

things that I want to do on a timeline

everything so one one of the exercises

that we do inside the bullet Journal

method is have people write down

everything they want to do from you know

what they want to do today till like

life goals all of that just at once a

big mess and then start to map it onto

54321 which I have adjusted since then a

little bit so you five years you have

four

quarters right and then uh three months

two weeks one day okay so you just like

give the things you want to do some time

context chronological context and it can

be really eye openening when you realize

like oh wow like I want to do 10 things

that are going to take me five years and

then you have to get very real with the

fact that you will not be able to do

everything that you want to do that's a

a really sobering and important and

Incredibly practical thing to

embrace you know and the more studies

come out about this it's just like

people try to optimize to get more and

more stuff done but the more they work

on the less they're actually present

with everything that they do so the idea

is actually to remove as much as

possible to be able to be fully present

with the things that actually matter to

you and realizing that these things take

time and then realizing that the next

step here is to figure out where you're

going to take time so he these 20 things

are going to take five years these 20

things are going to take one year like

all of a sudden I have 99 years worth of

things I have to do what's that going to

look like so once you get that all

straight um i' like to I'd like to

divide this between personal and

professional so you fill in all your

tasks into this chart and then you pick

one from each and then you don't get to

do anything else until those things are

finished right and or you decide to

leave it behind which is something that

we encourage a lot in bullet Journal is

to let things go I want to interrupt

real quick because you should be a part

of Bojo you that is the exclusive bullet

Journal Community I think it's 4,000

people maybe more that are active and

sharing their layouts and talking about

the things that we're discussing with

writer here in this video so the 54321

we're about to talk about the kind of

the challenge uh the annoyance but the

good kind of frustration that comes from

writing down the same task over and over

again of asking yourself why am I doing

the things that I'm doing there's a

whole community of people that are doing

this work together as a part of Bujo you

you can find links to join the community

and start the course in the description

below and also like another thing that

this reminded me of is that uh Warren

Buffett had told a story it's called his

two his two list strategy and he had

like one of his like Associates or

managers he's like hey make a list of

your top 25 like goals or priorities

it's like okay makes that list of 25 he

like all right now I need you to

identify the top five these are the

things that are most important so he

he's like okay so I've got and then you

know the not Buffett is like okay so

I've got these five things but I've also

got these other 20 things things that I

can like kind of work on on the side and

buff is like no so you have your

priority list which is the FI and then

those other 20 are the avoid at all cost

list because you're giving yourself so

much more mental overhead thinking like

well maybe Stars a line in the way that

I hope I'll be able to do all these

things and like thinking about and

coming to an understanding of the

reality of like time constraints prior

prorities what we like really want to

put our mark on like having having that

understanding and like courage to to an

extent that's come up a few times today

in in our conversation that you at some

point have to be brave enough to say

this is what I'm going to like Focus my

attention on doesn't mean you can't

leave it behind at some some point I'm

glad you I'm glad you brought that up

but being able to say like hey this is

what I need to focus on will give you a

lot more power confidence and direction

Oliver burkeman talks about this as well

like clearing the decks we can spend our

entire lives ready to like do the work I

love the way that he puts that and I

find myself often in that place where

I'm like well if I do these 10 things

then I can finally sit down and write

and this year for example like I just

took an axe to my calendar it's like no

no more small things like it doesn't

happen if it doesn't get done it doesn't

get done we make less money we make less

money if I want to create if I want to

work on things that are meaningful to me

that comes with real sacrifices and

those sacrifices are not a bunch of like

oh that sounds fun it's a bunch of

things that I would really really work

on that's the tough part it's like these

are like ah you know of course it's it's

easy to be like oh well that's kind of

okay I don't mind leaving behind

something that's okay it's the leaving

behind of the thing that is exciting

that is really

difficult yeah I'm glad you brought up

that um Oliver uh Burk Ben's work his

4,000 weeks was one of my favorite uh

books of the last couple of years is

like a very very the most sobering

productivity book that I've ever read uh

which is like why I really also really

enjoyed it the Bujo Community runs on

Mighty networks and mighty networks is

the best community platform that you can

find on the internet it Powers Bujo you

it also Powers uh Lauren Dag's like crew

pass Community she's a musician here in

Nashville it also Powers uh yoga with

Adrian which is my wife's favorite yoga

YouTube channel and then I also saw that

Mel Robbins runs uh her community on

Mighty as well so a ton of great people

incredible creators authors musicians

trust Mighty networks to run their

community so just check out the link in

the description below you'll get to see

everything that you get everything that

you can do if you're Gathering a group

of like-minded people together what kind

of prompt questions do you use when

you're journaling uh in your when you're

writing in your bullet journal

and I often ask questions in my

journaling practice like what could I do

better next time or what would this look

like if it were easy which is you know a

borrowed question for

sure one question I ask myself often is

is this in my control which is a really

powerful forcing function because

sometimes I write things down that just

aren't in my control and then it helps

me shift the way that I write it down or

frame this action or focus on get very

clear on what I can actually control and

do that thing so those are a

couple I also ask myself regular

questions about things to get rid of

which are is it vital you know is this

something that's actually vital to my

life and sometimes the answer is no and

so I ask myself the second question is

like does it matter does it matter to me

or somebody I love that's a little bit

more of a great question because I think

that we often task ourselves with a

bunch of things that we were excited

about at one point in our life uh and

then we just don't revisit it anymore we

don't think about it again and it keeps

on showing up in our to-do

lists and we never really check in with

that how does it make you feel do you

still want to learn French you know do

you still want to hit this amount of

subscribers do you still X Y and Z and

the answer most of the time is no

like young Ryder was yeah Ryder was

really excited about this thing a week a

month a year ago but no longer so I get

rid of that stuff yeah um another thing

that I ask myself is like is this

optional right a lot of time just

because something can be done doesn't

mean that it needs to be done and often

especially if you run your own business

you can get trapped in infinite busy

work and it's not always clear until you

slow down it's like wait a second this

just doesn't need to be done I really

don't need to optimize this notion page

I really don't need to set up yet

another meeting it's just I can do it it

will take time from everyone but it it's

it's

really it's really easy to run your

business on autopilot because you have

checklists and that's one thing I like

about this again to come back to like

having to recreate my checklist is that

it's there's just enough friction for me

to have to recommit to the actions that

I write down to two things really stood

out to me in this particular part of the

conversation with Ryder and the first

one is sometimes the sad realization

that you can't do all the things that

you want to do if you add it up the time

that you estimate that things will take

be like I can't do this in a lifetime

and probably the hardest thing about

that is not that you have to say no to

things that are just okay it's not hard

to say no to things that are okay what's

hard is to say no to things that are

good so that you can pursue something

great especially if the thing that is

great is harder and it takes longer

that's really challenging but it's part

of the intention and the focus and the

clarity that bullet journaling provides

is that you know we talked about this

right at the end when you're having to

write down the same thing day after day

after day this is something that you

really only get with pen and paper

because like if you don't check

something off in your Reminders app or

like you have a to-do box in notion it

just kind of stays there and it's easy

to forget about but if you're really

like doing the bullet Journal practice

of writing down hey it's day four it's

day five it's day 10 of writing that

daggum thing down that I'm not doing o

that that opens up a lot more questions

that you have to ask yourself of like

why why am I not doing this is it not as

important as I thought did I want it to

be more important than it is am I scared

to do it for some for some reason I

don't know but it's those kind of

questions that get asked when you're

recommitting yourself to the task day

after day I'm going to have more Clips

like this from Ryder we talked for over

an hour and we still kind of chat from

time to time so I'm going to be bringing

him in for some more stuff on the

channel which is which is really cool

and exciting because obviously the

bullet Journal has been a huge part of

this channel so to have like some you

know intermittent conversations or clips

from Ryder is is really really cool I

also again highly recommend that you

check out Bujo youu their community and

if you want to set up a community for

your own work then I highly recommend

you check out Mighty networks thanks so

much for watching this video and I'll

see you next

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