SO THEN, now we’re almost two thirds of the way through 2016, how are those New Year’s resolutions working out for you?

Back in January (you remember January? It was after the floods, but before the world really turned its insanity/tragedy amp up to 11), I wrote a piece on these very pages which included the following lines:

“At this time of year, it’s very easy to talk and joke about resolutions. They’re made and broken as an annual tradition before the shops have even started selling Valentine’s Day cards.

“When people around you are talking about losing half a stone by their summer holiday, or trying not to drink as much as they usually do, the usual tactic is to smile and nod and remember never to ask them about it again.”

Of course, that piece followed on from the floods, so resolutions seemed even more trivial than usual, but that didn’t stop us making them, right?

Personally, I said I’d try and lose a few pounds – a target I had more or less managed to achieve until I had a week off in June – and would make an effort to read more books than I did last year.

I set myself the not unreasonable target of reading 12 books in 2016, and started my eighth on Thursday. Considering four of them were written by George RR Martin and were each about two inches thick, I’m debating whether they should count double – we’ll see how short I fall come December 31.

A lot of people begin a new diary or journal every year, which is something I find particularly admirable. Especially if they manage to make it through the entire 12-month period without missing a day.

I have friends who have drawers or shelves filled with notebooks chronicling decades of their lives, a former colleague who writes a brilliant daily opinion piece, and Twitter followers who manage to find time between work and family to write funny and relatable blogs.

While I admire every one of them for it, I know I couldn’t do it. Personally, while I like the idea of a daily record of thoughts, experiences and events, I’ve never had the determination to make it through more than a couple of weeks before putting down the book and not realising until it’s covered in dust that I’ve failed to maintain yet another diary.

This week, I was intrigued to read about a new journalling fad – The Bullet Journal.

Proclaiming itself “the analogue system for the digital age”, it’s essentially a combination of diary, to-do list, sketchbook and notebook, and while there are tips online for how best to make use of it, users are encouraged to sort of make up their methods and rules as they go along.

As near as I can fathom, you’re not supposed to write long, detailed entries, just short, bullet points with ideas, memories, tasks or important dates, and decorate the pages with elaborate doodles if you feel like it.

You know, like you would with a traditional diary.

Then, as I understand it, you take to Instagram or Pinterest or some other arts and craft social media, and post high-resolution photos of the pages of your diary to bask in the adoration of others.

You know, like you absolutely would not do with a traditional diary.

Yes, yes, I get it – it’s the best of both worlds. Neater than having a computer monitor plastered with sticky notes as I currently have (both tangible and virtual), an outlet for creativity (albeit in a limited and structured way), and a way of connecting with people online that’s less likely to draw out the trolls in the manner of Facebook or Twitter.

The creators of the Bullet Journal technique encourage everyone to give it a go, don’t wait until the start of a year to get round to it – you’re starting with a blank notebook, not a January to December calendar.

Rereading the column I wrote back in January, I realised one of my suggestions instead of making resolutions was “sit down with a blank piece of paper and a pen and see what happens”, so maybe I should take my own advice – even though the nature of my job kind of means I’m already doing that on a daily basis. Sitting down every night, weekend or month to recap what’s happened would be whatever you’d call the written equivalent of a busman’s holiday (answers on a postcard).

Personally, I’m back and forth on whether I’ll bother. As much as I like a nice notepad, if I were to try it, I suspect it’d just end up another surface gathering dust with a few scrawled entries many days apart.

But hey, at least I’m pretty much on track with the books.