Ticket Journal Method

Ticket Journal Method

TJM is a way to track quickly and easily everything that comes at you, so you don’t get overwhelmed, and nothing gets lost. Inspired by the analog Bullet Journal Method TJM is digital and works with any ticketing system that supports markdown or checklists. This how-to guide uses examples from Linear (not affiliated).

Make your journal

Create a new blank project in your ticketing system called “My Journal” or “[Your Name]’s Journal”

Week Ticket

The weekly ticket is the most useful ticket in your journal. Start each week with a fresh ticket with two checklists: Daily Chores and Weekly Goals. If you have incomplete weekly goals from the previous week, copy them to the new week. Set this ticket to an active or in-progress status to keep it at the top of your list. Group headers can be created in markdown by prefixing the titles with three has marks. “### Daily Chores” for example will make a heading. If your markdown supports checkboxes, “- [ ] check asana inbox” for example should do the trick in most cases.

Month Ticket

As you are working, things will occur to you that don’t fit into your active week. The Month Ticket is a good place to record future events. It’s also a great place to reflect on your observations for the current month and inspire your future self.

Daily Comments

Weekly tickets have your checklists in the description. But where do you keep notes? Every ticketing system I’ve ever used has comments on each ticket. Use these comments to keep your active notes in one place. In markdown you can link to other resources using the “[title](https://www.example.com)” or use a link button in your editor.

Weeks, Deets, and Peeps

While you are doing your work, you will run into topics that require some personal notes. You will also have conversations with people. Keep organized by creating Deets and Peeps tickets.

Conclusions

The Ticket Journal Method is so simple it’s almost silly. It’s not meant to replace documentation or to be shared with others, that’s why its called a journal. If you are on a small team with few projects, you’ll easily fit your active work universe on a single page. Try it for a month and I think you’ll find it a hidden gem inside a tool you already use.