The Alastair Method

A column-and-dot technique for planning inside a Bullet Journal. It began as a fix for future planning and grew into a context to-do list and a paper Kanban board. This doc also covers the add-ons it's usually compared with: the Calendex, the six-box Future Log, the hybrid log and the sticky-note method.

Checked against sources on 2026-09-28. Anything not confirmed from a primary source is marked (unconfirmed). For the base system see bullet-journal.md.

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1. At a glance

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2. Summary

The Alastair Method keeps one list and marks when (or how, or where) each item happens with a dot in a narrow column, instead of rewriting items into separate sections.

• The original version. It fixed the Bullet Journal Future Log. Johnston wrote six month columns down the left edge of a page. Each future event went on its own line with its exact date, and a dot went in the column for its month. "It doesn't matter if the events are not added chronologically."
• At month change, you "scan down the column of the month, locate the dots … then migrate the actual tasks" to the new Monthly Log.
• Later versions by Johnston
  • 2020: the column idea turned into a to-do list sorted by context (email, phone, calendar, thinking).
  • 2023: a Kanban-style project board (backlog → committed → working on → waiting for → completed).
• The community adapted it to weekly plans, with days as columns, and to habit and rolling-week layouts.

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3. History and origin

Who created it

• Alastair Johnston was a Bullet Journal user who blogged his systems on alastairjohnston.com.
• His site presents him as someone who designs personal productivity systems. His profession and location weren't confirmed from a primary source (unconfirmed).
• He isn't affiliated with Ryder Carroll's company beyond guest posts on the official blog.

Timeline

Date note. The dates differ between the two copies: 20 Nov 2015 on the author's site and 2 Dec 2015 on bulletjournal.com. Most likely it was posted on his site first and syndicated later.

Cultural context

• The problem. Carroll's early system had a Future Log of month boxes. People found it hard to list many future items and to keep it "easily updatable and quick to read" without a separate year diary.
• 2015–2016 saw a wave of community fixes: Alastair's columns, Hope's Calendex, and hybrids. They made "future planning" one of the most discussed BuJo topics.
• Johnston's later posts moved from dates to contexts and status. That echoes GTD contexts (David Allen) and Kanban boards from software teams, redone on paper.

Key quotes from the creator

• "It doesn't matter if the events are not added chronologically." (2015)
• "Simply look down your context column, for say 'email'. Open up your email client and start to work down the list of tasks identified as email, crossing them off as you go." (2020)
• On limiting work in progress: "Too much and you will feel overloaded." (2023)

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4. Philosophy and principles

• Write each item once. Status, month or context is a dot that can move. The sentence doesn't need rewriting.
• Order doesn't matter. Add items as they come. The columns sort them visually.
• Scan, don't search. Running your eye down one column shows everything for this month, this context or this stage.
• Change by crossing and re-dotting. Moving an item means crossing the old dot and adding a new one (the Projects version), so the history of moves stays visible.
• Limit work in progress. In the Projects version, keep 2–3 items in "Working on".
• The problem it solves. Future planning, and to-do lists that are too long to take in, without the rewrite cost of standard BuJo migration or the space cost of a full-year calendar.

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5. Core components

5.1 Month columns (the original)

• Columns. Draw six narrow columns at the left, headed with month initials or numbers (e.g. N D J F M A).
• Items. Write each future item to the right with its date, e.g. 14 Feb – Mum's birthday.
• Dot. Put a dot under its month.
• Scan at month change. Read down the new month's column and copy dotted items into the Monthly Log. Mark them as migrated (a > or a struck dot, depending on the source; community practice varies).

5.2 Context columns (To Do, 2020)

• Headers are the situations you're in when doing the work: at the computer (email), on the phone, at the calendar, thinking, errands and so on.
• One task can have several dots. A dot in both Phone and Email means either route is fine.
• When a task's context changes, cross it off and re-add it under the new context. Johnston's example is a call that ends in a voicemail becoming "waiting for".
• End of day. Review, then migrate what's open to a fresh list.

5.3 Status columns (Projects, 2023)

• Five statuses:
  1. Backlog: tasks that "could" be part of the project.
  2. Committed backlog: tasks confirmed after reflection.
  3. Working on: limited to 2–3.
  4. Waiting for: depends on someone else.
  5. Completed.
• Moving a task. Cross through the old dot and add a new dot one column right.
• Top of the right page. Success criteria and the target completion date.

5.4 Community day columns (weekly)

• Not in Johnston's own posts as far as found.
• Layout. Columns M T W T F S S, one task per line, dots on the days you plan to work on it. Some add a summary column for done or migrated (The Hobby Scheme's "rolling week").

5.5 Symbols

• Base. Johnston uses "the standard rapid logging symbols".
• Community write-ups add:
  • • open.
  • X done.
  • > or < moved.
  • A diagonal half-slash for partly done (The Hobby Scheme).

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6. Setting it up

First setup, future-log version (10 minutes)

1. Choose a page after your Index, or on the Future Log pages.
2. Rule six narrow columns at the left edge, about 1 dot or 5 mm each. Head them with the next six months.
3. Add one line per item to the right of the columns, with the date first: 03 · Dentist 9:40.
4. Dot the month column on each line.
5. Leave room. Half a page for later additions is plenty for most people.
6. Index it: "Future (Alastair): p. 4".

First day

• Anything with a future date: add a line and a dot. That's it.

First week

• Add as things come in, in any order.
• At the week's end, glance down the current and next month's columns to see what's coming.
• Optional. Start a context to-do page (§5.2) if your task list is long.

First month change

1. Read down the new month's column. Copy each dotted item into the Monthly Log calendar (events) or task page (tasks).
2. Mark each dot as migrated. Cross it, or turn it into >.
3. When all six columns are used up, start a new page with the next six months. Carry over the undone lines only.

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7. Daily practice

Prompts

• Which column can I clear with the energy I have right now?
• What's in "Waiting for" that needs a nudge?
• Is anything in "Working on" stuck? Should it go back to the backlog?

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8. Rhythms

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9. Page anatomy

Future log (one page)

Columns are about 5 mm each on the left. Items fill the rest.

+-------------------------------------------------------+
| FUTURE  (Nov - Apr)                                   |
|  N  D  J  F  M  A |                                   |
| --+--+--+--+--+-- |---------------------------------- |
|  •  .  .  .  .  . | 03 Dentist 9:40                   |
|  .  .  .  •  .  . | 14 Mum's birthday                 |
|  .  •  .  .  .  . | 20 Solstice walk                  |
|  .  .  .  .  •  . | -- File taxes                     |
|  •  .  .  .  .  . | 21 Renew car tabs                 |
|  .  .  •  .  .  . | -- Start new notebook             |
|                   |                                   |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

Blank cells are shown as . here. On paper they're just empty dot-grid cells.

Context to-do

+-------------------------------------------------------+
| TO DO                       Cal Eml Ph  Err Thk  Wait |
| Refill request                   •   •                |
| Ask landlord about heater            X        •       |
| Bus pass                                 •            |
| Plan winter layers                            •       |
| Book eye exam                •       •                |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

• Johnston's placement: tasks on the right and contexts across the top. This sketch puts the labels left for readability; either works.
• The landlord line shows a context change. The phone call ended in a voicemail, so that dot is crossed (X) and a new dot sits under Wait.

Projects (a spread)

+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| PROJECT: Move apartments    | Success: moved by Dec 1;    |
|  B   CB  WO  WF  C          |   deposit back              |
| --- --- --- --- ---         | Target: 1 Dec               |
|  x   x   •                  | Pack kitchen                |
|  x   •                      | Hire van                    |
|  x   x   x   •              | Get deposit form            |
|  •                          | Change address (post/bank)  |
|  x   x   x   x   •          | Give notice                 |
|                             |                             |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

• Column key: B backlog · CB committed · WO working on · WF waiting for · C completed.
• Reading the rows. x is a crossed old dot and • is the current status. The status columns and task lines sit on the left page with alternating white space. Success criteria and the target date go at the top of the right page.

Weekly variant (community)

+-------------------------------------------------------+
| WEEK Oct 6-12      M  T  W  T  F  S  S | done         |
| Laundry            .  .  .  .  .  •  . |              |
| Call clinic        •  X                | X            |
| Meal prep          .  .  .  .  .  .  • |              |
| Walk 20 min        •  •  .  •  .  •  . |              |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

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10. Worked examples

A day (context to-do)

Tue 7 Oct              Eml Ph  Err Home Wait
Refill request          X   .
Heater (landlord)           X            •   <- left voicemail, now waiting
Bus pass                        X
Return library book             •
Sort winter clothes                 •

• Morning. Low energy and only 20 minutes before a shift, so you work the Ph column on the bus: the heater call goes to voicemail, so it's crossed and re-dotted under Wait.
• After the shift, the Err column on the way home: the bus pass is done and the library book is left.
• Evening. Library book and winter clothes stay open. The heater stays in Wait.

A week (weekly day columns)

WEEK 41            M  T  W  T  F  S  S
Bus pass           X
Email clinic       .  X
Support group            X
Laundry                           X
Winter coat shop            •  .  >      -> moved to next week
Call sister                          X
Walk 20 min        X  .  X  .  X  X  .

A month (future-log migration)

Future page, 6 months, looking at the N column on 1 November:

 N  D  J  F  M  A
 •               03 Dentist 9:40        -> copy to Nov calendar, 3rd
 •               21 Renew car tabs      -> copy to Nov tasks
    •            20 Solstice walk       (stays)
          •      14 Mum's birthday      (stays)

After migrating, the two N dots become >. The November Monthly Log now has the dentist on the 3rd and "renew tabs" on the task page. Nothing was rewritten apart from the two items needed now.

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11. Variations and offshoots

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12. Community practice

• Future planning. The Alastair Method is one of the standard options in most "how to future plan" round-ups, usually beside the Calendex.
  • People choose Alastair when they have many undated or loosely dated items.
  • People choose the Calendex when they have many dated appointments and want a day-level view.
• Weekly Alastair is probably the most common use today. Minimalist YouTubers and bloggers pair it with a plain daily log.
• Customisations
  • Colour or shape per column type.
  • Half-filled dots for "started".
  • Numbering columns as weeks of the month.
  • A final "done" or "migrated" column.
  • Pencil dots that get inked when confirmed.
• Aesthetic versus minimalist. It's naturally minimalist: a grid of dots and lines. Artistic versions add headers and washi, but the core stays sparse.

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13. Official products and formats

Not applicable. There are no Alastair Method products. It's a free technique described in blog posts. Any dot-grid notebook works, including the Bullet Journal Edition 2 (see bullet-journal.md §13).

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14. Tools and supplies

• Pen and notebook. Dot grid or squared paper makes columns easy. 5 mm dots equal one column each.
• Ruler for the first vertical line.
• Pencil, for dots that are still tentative.
• Optional: a highlighter for this month's column, or a sticky flag on the future page.

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15. Digital and hybrid versions

• Spreadsheets. A spreadsheet is essentially an Alastair page: rows are items, columns are months or contexts, and cells are dots. Sorting and filters replace scanning.
• Kanban apps (Trello and similar) are the digital twin of the Projects version.
• E-ink (reMarkable, Scribe, Boox): easy with a dot-grid template, or a pre-drawn column template PDF.
• Scanning. The column dots are easy for a machine to read if the columns sit in fixed positions. That's a potential fit for the Studio's scan zones: each column cell becomes a checkbox.
• Lost in digital: seeing the whole plan on one page, and the calm of paper.
• Gained: sorting, dates and automatic carry-over.

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16. Evidence and research

• No studies test the Alastair Method or column planning specifically.
• Adjacent evidence: writing plans down reduces intrusive goal thoughts (Masicampo & Baumeister, 2011), and a bedtime to-do list helps sleep onset (Scullin et al., 2018). See bullet-journal.md §16.
• The WIP limit. The 2–3 item limit echoes Kanban practice in software. No personal-productivity trial of it was found.

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17. Benefits

1. Write once, move a dot: less rewriting. Claimed (true by design)
2. The whole horizon on one page. Claimed
3. Order-free capture, so there's no need to plan space per month. Claimed
4. Easy monthly migration by scanning one column. Claimed
5. Context batching (all calls at once). Claimed
6. A visible work-in-progress limit prevents overload. Claimed
7. Crossed dots show the history of moves, which is honest feedback. Claimed
8. Minimal and calm, with no art needed. Claimed

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18. Pitfalls

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19. Accessibility and adaptations

• ADHD.
  • Everything is visible on one page and there's no daily rewriting, so it suits ADHD well.
  • Keep contexts few (3–4).
  • The WIP limit helps against starting too many things.
• Autism and sensory needs. A predictable grid. Keep headers identical every time and avoid colour noise.
• Chronic illness and low spoons.
  • Add an energy column ("low energy OK").
  • Pick from that column on bad days.
• Depression and anxiety.
  • The Completed column gives visible progress.
  • Keep the backlog out of sight, on the facing page, so it doesn't overwhelm.
• Trauma. Contexts like "safe person" or "needs support" can mark tasks that need backup.
• Dyslexia and dysgraphia. Dots need little writing. Use short item words or icons.
• Low vision. Use wide columns (2 dots), big filled dots and a thick pen. A ruled template beats freehand.
• Motor issues or hand pain. Very little writing per update. Pre-printed column templates remove the ruling.
• Trans and gender-diverse people.
  • Projects boards suit paperwork: name change, ID updates, HRT refills.
  • Use a "Waiting for" column for offices and clinics.
• Shift workers. Use shift contexts (before shift, on break, after shift, day off) instead of days.
• Low income. Free, and works on scrap paper.

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20. Comparison

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21. Combining

• With the Bullet Journal. The native home. Use it as the Future Log, or as a weekly or project collection. See bullet-journal.md.
• With GTD. The context to-do is essentially GTD's context lists on one page. "Waiting for" is a GTD list too.
• With Kanban or Personal Kanban. The Projects version is paper Kanban.
• With habit trackers. Weekly columns are a habit grid.
• With the Calendex. Some people use Alastair columns for undated items and a Calendex for dated ones.
• With Journalwright Studio printed pages. A pre-printed column strip on the week spread or month page.

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22. Ready-to-use bank

Column sets to copy

1. Months: next six months (the original)
2. Days: M T W T F S S
3. Contexts: Email · Phone · Errands · Home · Computer · Waiting for
4. Energy: Low · Medium · High
5. Shift: Before · Break · After · Day off
6. Status: Backlog · Committed · Doing · Waiting · Done
7. People: one column per person you delegate to or wait on
8. Place: Home · Work · Town · Online
9. Weeks of the month: W1 W2 W3 W4 W5
10. Quarters: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 (a yearly goal board)
11. Care: Meds · Appointments · Paperwork · Pharmacy
12. Seasons: Winter prep · Spring · Summer · Fall

Page headings

1. Future (six months)
2. To do by context
3. Project: ______ (with success criteria and target date)
4. Waiting on
5. Low-spoon list
6. Paperwork board (name change, benefits, ID)

Prompts

1. Which column can I clear today?
2. What has sat in "Waiting for" more than a week?
3. What's in "Working on" that I should put down?
4. Which month column is heavy, and can anything move?
5. What does "done" look like for this project?

Marks

1. • planned · X done · / started · > moved · – not needed

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23. Glossary

• Alastair Method. One list plus dots in narrow columns; created by Alastair Johnston.
• Backlog. Tasks that could be part of a project.
• Column. A narrow vertical strip standing for a month, day, context or status.
• Committed backlog. Tasks confirmed as needed.
• Context. Where or how a task is done (email, phone and so on).
• Crossed dot. An old status or month, left visible as history.
• Dot. The marker placing an item in a column.
• Future Log. The BuJo module for months ahead.
• Migration. Moving items into the current log (BuJo term).
• Rolling week. A continuous weekly column page.
• Spined Calendar. A later Johnston layout, several months per spread (details unconfirmed).
• Waiting for. Tasks blocked on someone else.
• WIP (work in progress) limit. A cap on "Working on", 2–3 items.
• Calendex. Eddy Hope's months × days grid holding page numbers.
• Hybrid log. Month mini-calendars plus an event table.

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24. FAQ

1. Do I need a Bullet Journal to use it? No. Any page works.
2. Why six months? That's how many narrow columns fit comfortably and it matches the Future Log spread. Use more or fewer.
3. Where do exact dates go? In the item text, date first, so scanning a column also shows the day.
4. What happens after six months? Start a new page and carry over undated or open lines.
5. Can one task have two dots? In the context version, yes. Pick whichever context comes up first.
6. How is it different from the Calendex? The Calendex puts page numbers in day cells, with details elsewhere. Alastair keeps the details on the line and only marks the month or context.
7. Is the weekly version official? Not in Johnston's posts that were found. It's a widespread community adaptation.
8. How do I show "moved"? Cross the old dot and add a new one. Or use BuJo's >.
9. What's the WIP limit for? To keep "Working on" small (2–3) so you don't feel overloaded.
10. Does it work for appointments with times? Only if you write the time in the line. For time-heavy days, use a calendar.

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25. For Journalwright Studio

Columns of dots are very compatible with printed, scannable pages. Each column × row cell is a fixed-position mark, exactly what scan zones and Data Matrix page codes can read.

a. Printed book

b. E-ink companion (X4)

c. Proposed editor blocks

d. Proposed method layout: "Alastair columns" day

Planned: it is not in the editor's "Start from a method" list yet, and it needs the proposed columns block.

1. sky
2. events
3. columns: title "Today by context", columns [Phone, Email, Errands, Home, Wait], rows 6, header icons on
4. habits: labels [Meds, Outside, Stretch]
5. review: Tomorrow only
6. body (dots): the rest

The week-spread version is a columns block with M–S, which suits the printed week page better than a day page.

e. Don't adopt

• Freehand-ruled column layouts that vary each week. They break fixed scan-zone mapping; print them.
• Colour-coded columns. The printed book is black-and-white; use icons and shapes.
• An e-ink companion "overdue" or "waiting" alert. No notifications.
• More than 7 columns on a 5.5 × 8.5 page. Targets get too small to mark, and too small to scan.
• Project boards on day pages. Too heavy, and they belong in back matter.

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26. Open questions

• Why the two sources give different original dates (20 Nov vs 2 Dec 2015). Most likely the author's site came first.
• How the "Spined Calendar" works, and when it was posted.
• Whether Johnston ever published the weekly day-column version himself.
• Johnston's professional background.
• Whether any user research compares column planning with other future-log styles.

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27. Further reading

• Alastair Johnston, "Cracking the Bullet Journal Forward Planning Problem" (2015). The original.
• "To Do: The Alastair Method" (2020). The context version, on bulletjournal.com.
• "Projects: The Alastair Method" (2023). Paper Kanban, on bulletjournal.com.
• Eddy Hope, "Calendex" (2016). The main alternative.
• Square Lime Designs, "6 Different Ways to Future Plan". A side-by-side of six methods.
• The Hobby Scheme, "How to Use the Alastair Method" (2022). Includes the rolling week.
• 101 Planners, "The Alastair Method" (2025). Weekly, habit and project templates.
• **Ryder Carroll, The Bullet Journal Method (2018).** The base system.

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28. Sources

All checked 2026-09-28. Each was opened once. Fewer than 15 primary sources exist for this method; the list includes the base-system and research sources it relies on.

1. Alastair Johnston, "Future Log: The Alastair Method / Cracking the Bullet Journal Forward Planning Problem" (20 Nov 2015, updated 18 Jun 2022). alastairjohnston.com. https://alastairjohnston.com/cracking-the-bullet-journal-forward-planning-problem/
2. Alastair Johnston, "Future Log: The Alastair Method" (2 Dec 2015). Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/future-log-the-alastair-method
3. Alastair Johnston, "To Do: The Alastair Method" (23 Jun 2020). Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/to-do-the-alastair-method
4. Alastair Johnston, "Projects: The Alastair Method" (26 Jun 2023). Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/projects-the-alastair-method
5. Eddy Hope, "An Update on the Bullet Journal Calendex" (10 Jan 2016). Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/calendex
6. Christina K, "6 Different Ways to Future Plan with Your Bullet Journal". Square Lime Designs. https://squarelimedesigns.com/blog//2017/02/6-different-ways-to-future-plan-with.html
7. Arianna, "How to Use the Alastair Method for Bullet Journaling" (21 Jan 2022). The Hobby Scheme. https://thehobbyscheme.com/how-to-use-the-alastair-method-for-bullet-journaling/
8. Nicole, "The Alastair Method Template" (28 Jul 2025). 101 Planners. https://www.101planners.com/the-alastair-method/
9. "How to Make a Future Log" (29 Aug 2023). Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/faq/how-to-make-a-future-log
10. "How to Set Up A Monthly Log" (29 Aug 2023). Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/faq/monthly-log
11. "Migration 101" (29 Aug 2023). Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/faq/migration
12. "What is Rapid Logging?" (29 Aug 2023). Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/faq/what-is-rapid-logging-understand-rapid-logging-bullets-and-signifiers
13. "How to Bullet Journal". Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/pages/how-to-bullet-journal
14. Ryder Carroll, "Yearly Migration" (2 Dec 2015). Bullet Journal. https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/yearly-migration/
15. "Bullet journal". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_journal
16. Masicampo & Baumeister (2011), "Consider It Done!". JPSP, author PDF. https://users.wfu.edu/masicaej/MasicampoBaumeister2011JPSP.pdf
17. Scullin et al. (2018), "The Effects of Bedtime Writing on Difficulty Falling Asleep". PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5758411