If there’s ever been a simple, powerful tool, it’s a bullet journal. Though they’re no longer center-stage, bullet journals are just as popular as they ever are—and for good reason. They’re used by CEO’s and the most productive people because of their flexibility. You can write whatever you need, in any format you want.
While bullet journals are great organizational tools, they do still have some problems. Every page will run out before you finish writing. You run out of room, you run out of paper. And what if you finish a section, and start a new one—only to realize you forgot to add something to the first section, that you now don’t have room for? Plus, it’s easy to lose information. You know you wrote down the notes from that meeting—but you have to flip through your entire notebook to find them. It’s easy to forget your notes. Additionally, there’s no way to connect links or important documents.
That’s where WorkFlowy steps in to fill the gap. It’s an infinite bullet journal in an online format—so it has the best of both worlds. You can have the powerful simplicity and customization of bullet journals, without any of the limitations. Jump into our WorkFlowy review to see if it’s right for you!
What Is WorkFlowy?
WorkFlowy is a “zoomable document that provides unprecedented flexibility in organizing your ideas.” It was started by Mike Turitzin and Jesse Pahl during a startup camp, because they were frustrated at the lack of useful tools for project management.
But it’s not just for project managers—it’s used by students for organizing their classes and outlining their papers, by authors for researching, plotting, and writing their books, by lawyers to keep their cases organized, and by business to run social media and sales.
How Does WorkFlowy Work?
The premise behind WorkFlowy is simply—it lets you write what you need, in whatever format you like, with a few added tools to help integrate it into your life. It’s simple and intuitive to use, just like writing in a word document.
You sign up for WorkFlowy using your email, and providing the verification code they send you.
As you start, you go through WorkFlowy’s onboarding process—but the site is so intuitive, you barely need it. But they’ll show you how to create new bullets, search through all your notes, and some templates for your own use.
To create a new “node”—a space for you to keep all your notes, simply press the + button on the far left of your dashboard.
To create a new note, just click and start typing! Create a new bullet by hitting “enter,” or make it an indented sub-note by hitting “tab.” Want to have less clutter on your front page? Click on a bullet to “zoom in” on it, and start a new list there. You can zoom out by using the arrow on the left—and go back to your main page. Don’t worry about losing those hidden lists—their bullets are marked with an extra circle, so you know there’s more to see.
Want to reorganize your notes? Click on a bullet to drag and move it somewhere else. If you click on the three dots right next to a bullet, you’ll get even more options. You can mark a bullet as complete, (great for to-do lists), and it’ll draw a line through that task. You can also add a note to a task, duplicate it, mirror it, share it, or even copy its link.
WorkFlowy also uses tags to help you make the most of your notes. You can use any tag that you can think of, like #assignments, #work, or #grocerie, and include it in each bullet. If you click on a tag, you’ll instantly be able to see everything marked with that tag—so you can see all the groceries you need to get, all that you need to finish for that article, or all the prep work from that meeting.
You can assign things to people as well, tagging them with the @ symbol, and WorkFlowy will automatically suggest your other team members. If you’re on WorkFlowy’s Pro account, you can share your lists with anyone that has an email address!
Finally, WorkFlowy wants to make it where you never have to lose anything—simply hit search in the top corner, and you can search any word, tag, or assignment! And you have access to your notes on any device—both on the web, or through Android or iOS apps.
It sounds simple—and it is! But the great strength is how you can customize WorkFlowy to your needs.
You can set up a list for your work—and have one bullet for your goals, another for specific projects, another for your tasks, and another for ideas. You could track the stats from each different project. You can have a template bullet, for those emails you send out so often, or a meetings bullet, where you keep both the agendas, and the follow-up notes from all your meetings.
You can have a personal list—where you track things like your shopping lists, your exercise logs, or your trips you’re planning. Find a great place to visit? You can include the link to its site right in your WorkFlowy bullet! Additionally, while it may not be a dedicated to-do list app like Todoist or Any.Do, WorkFlowy does offer the ability to keep a to-do list as well, organized by month.
You can even have a notebook list in WorkFlowy. Use this for random things—ideas of what to get your spouse for Valentines day, good coffeeshops you found, or things to just remind yourself of (use the #reminder tag to find it easily later!)
How To Best Use WorkFlowy
While WorkFlowy works great for project managers, there’s other ways to use it as well.
Do you have a big project or goal you want to accomplish? Maybe it’s taking that trip, writing that book, or redoing that room. Here’s some tips to use WorkFlowy to help get it done!
First, write down your goal, and use WorkFlowy to zoom in on it. Starting is often the hardest part—so just do it! Second, get everything out of your head. Use WorkFlowy’s type-and-hit-enter to get it all out as quickly as you can, all those things you might need to do, hope to do, and worries about it you might have. Don’t worry about answering or researching things right now—that will just slow you down and get you stuck at this stage. Then, once that is finished, single out one next action—and then do it. Maybe it’s just researching where to buy your materials, maybe it’s picking paint colors—but just do it! Once you do, you’ll come up with more action steps, and be able to cross more things off your list!
How Much Does WorkFlowy Cost?
Is WorkFlowy free? It can be—but even its paid option isn’t that expensive. WorkFlowy offers a free option, that allows you to create 250 new items each month, and access to all their features.
Pro only costs $5 per month—and it gives you unlimited items, the ability to backup your lists through DropBox, share lists with people through email, adjust your themes and fonts, as well as access to premium support. When you first sign up, you’re given Premium Pro for free for a week—but don’t worry, they don’t take any of your payment information, so you won’t have to pay if you forget to downgrade.
Conclusion: Is WorkFlowy Worth It?
WorkFlowy is simple—but that’s the beauty of it. It’s incredibly easy to use, lets you make lists of any length, and link to things easily. You can share your lists with no problem, and search through everything to find what you need. Their free option is powerful on its own—and their paid option costs as much as a cup of coffee. WorkFlowy keeps all the elegance and efficiency of a bullet journal, with the accessibility and searchability that we demand in our modern age. WorkFlowy is a powerful tool for any professional, student, or everyday person.
