The Bullet Journal Method

I've been bullet journaling for 4 years, but I figured I should at least speed read this book. I ended up skimming most of it.

I didn't expect all the self-help motivational stuff. I read a lot of that, but it was irritating here because I've already heard every anecdote, study and scientist's name like 6 times. It felt like productivity 101. That being said, I don't think I'm the target market for this book. I neither want nor need hand-holding. I stumbled onto bullet journaling, just started doing it and made it up as I went along (which is kind of the point). I'm very utilitarian about it and I already have my own systems for goal setting and such.

The type of person I see inclined to pick this book up: (30+ woman with kids, busy and overwhelmed, not great at scheduling, spends time on Pinterest, likes the idea of journaling, does not read business or pop science books for fun). So the short, here's-a-helpful-productivity-fact chapters are probably great. But if you're more my type, just read Part 2 - The System and Part 4 - The Art. The rest is just fluff.

Overall I don't think I learned anything particularly groundbreaking about the method, but my goal was just to get a better grasp of the official system. Ironically, I've never much used the bullet system of bullet journaling (rapid logging), so I wanted to see more of that in practice.

I highly recommend bullet journaling in general, but if you're a self starter you can pick up the method from bulletjournal.com. If you prefer more elaborate explanation and like the idea of motivational goal setting exercises, check out the book, which does a good job of showing how the system works together as a whole.

The Bullet Journal Method is the promise of organized life.

I started my first this year along with my reading of this book, is like a next step to handle the Getting Things Done Method on a paper form.

Making a daily reflection on paper, leaving the screen for a couple of minutes a day gives a calm and a hope to give order to the whirlwind that is the daily grind of work and personal life. Looking back at the achievements of the day, and what's next gives me a sense of accomplishment lacking in the neverending scrolling of my digital ToDo list.

The lost star is because the chapters dedicated to general happiness, purpose, and meditations read kind of a filler on what would otherwise be a fully practical book.

I recommend this book for those productivity enthusiasts looking for the perfect agenda, template, pen, and notebook, and figuring out that the perfect template was there for you to create copy from the community of ‘BuJoists'.

The system is good, this book is okay.

Part I “The Preparation” is your standard throw-away lead-in stuff about why anyone should track/journal and Ryder's origin story.

Part II “The System” is where all the good stuff is, about how to actually bullet journal.

Part III “The Practice” gets pretty life-coachy about goal setting, stoicism, wabi sabi, finding meaning, acknowledging mortality, etc.

Part IV “The Art” offers some tips to non-beginners about how to optimize things.

Overall I'd say if you just want to get a solid grasp on HOW to bullet journal, you don't need this book. Just read a blog post on how to make Tasks, Events, and Notes and use the Daily, Monthly, and Future Logs, and Index. I actually think Rachel Miller's book “Dot Journaling” does a better job explaining it than Ryder himself does here.

If instead you want to read a self-help book that tells you a bunch different ways how starting a bullet journal is the key to a better life, then you'll like this book.

This book exceeded my expectations. It not only talked about how to bullet journal — which I've been doing for a couple years prior — but it also talks about why. In those sections, Ryder brings in many useful techniques. Most were familiar to me from software development, but he applies them more generally than I've seen and to good effect.

No review would be complete without mentioning the prose in this book. It is crisp and quotable. Ryder was a way with words that shows he crafted each sentence with care. Since this is one of his selling points for the method, the book is living proof that being intentional and mindful with your life allows you to imbue deep meaning to your speech. Bravo!

Honestly, I wanted this book to be more structural/ idea-spawning rather than inspirational.

I'm glad that Ryder got a lot out of his organizational method. I do not expect to find the meaning of life in a notebook that I keep. I expect it to reflect my life, in whatever way is best for me. That's it. I found the rest of the claims pretentious.

I've been tinkering with bullet journals for about a year and a half. I've been having a lot of fun with it, and it's been useful too. I've mostly been winging it. Reading this was very interesting & slightly frustrating - so many ideas. I had a plan for what to do in my next one (which starts in January), but now I think I have to do some thinking and maybe change some things :)

THIS is the only advice you need on bullet journaling. don't take advice from anyone or anywhere else.

It was pretty cleverly written for this kind of book...but I'm not going to talk about this yet, need to take this method out for a spin for a while before I decide what I think.

Bullet Journaling has recently been the “new hotness” and with that comes a multitude of remixes, recaps, and spin-offs. I really appreciated this view into the “WHY”s of bullet journaling, more than the “How”.

That isn't to say that the book is not an excellent primer/tutorial on setting up a BuJo, but, for me, the gold in this book comes with the reminders why bullet journaling could work for you as a system, reminders about the modular nature of the system, including the welcome reminder that art and creative inking can be considered a module.

My bullet journal is simple - the pen color I am using that day (frequently black, blue, or the occasional blue/black) and a “wall of text” ... and I liked the reminder that this approach is as legitimate as the pinterest/tumblr driven layouts that are gorgeous, but that i have neither the time nor inclination to implement.

Like any productivity book, this may or may not fit into your life and mindset, but if you find yourself pulled toward analog solutions, I highly recommend this book for its thoughtful look at why analog is still a viable option today.

On my fourth BuJo but still a lot to learn. A beautiful book that's also packed with wisdom. Begs another reading to cull all the helpful tips and advice, plus reminders on elements I've not yet incorporated.

some of the chapters were really unnecessary and seemed like fillers otherwise the instructions were pretty simple, intuitive and perfect for minimalistic, simple journaling

This is one of my life changing books. I started Bullet Journaling sometime in 2016 and bought this book when it first came out as a bundle along with the official Bullet Journal notebook. This method has been the mainstay of my life since then. It makes me happy, keeps me organised and grounded and is a great place for me to reflect and re-calibrate my priorities. Online, one finds so many complicated versions of Bullet Journals. But this book details the essence of bullet journaling, the mindfulness part. I often need that reminder myself. Highly recommend this book, both for newbies and for seasoned bujo-ers. 

Сразу скажу, я осилил первую четверть, но так и не узнал как же вести буллет-джорнал. Автор красноречиво все это время рассказывает какой же классный это метод и как он изменит вашу жизнь. А также там куча историй про других людей и о том, как он к этому пришел. Я даже не могу назвать это “водой”, потому что читать интересно благодаря легкому слогу и постоянно одобряющему и оптимистичному тону — у вас все получится и вот заживем! Но в итоге, я устал ждать, когда же вынесут торт.

Поэтому план такой. Метод наверняка неплохой, но пока у меня не все так плохо. Для ознакомления можно осилить статью в википедии. Поэтому оценку ставить не могу, так как в идеале надо потом книгу дочитать, но скорее всего руки не дойдут — жизнь слишком короткая, а интересных книг много.

Like the concept, now will need to try the process before commenting any further. Gave it 4 stars because it's written in an easy to understand manner and makes you want to at least try the method and see if it works for you. So, going to give it a try.

This would be a fantastic book for someone just starting out with a Bullet Journal. I've been neck deep in my “BuJo” for several years so there wasn't that much here for me. Still, I recommend it.

The book is well written and the method is intriguing. I may never use it though. If I do, digitally for sure. I live my life by a no-paper policy and keep my notes and things in a distributed and synced-across manner. But, I can imagine that for many other people this is a very good way to live a more organized life.

My personal journey with bullet journaling starts with seeing pages on book journals. I was reading a lot of stuff, and I felt like I was staring at a screen a lot of the time, so I decided to write down my review outlines in a journal. Then I found myself taking screenshots of important appointments for work onto my phone so I didn't have to use data. Then, I discovered Bullet Journaling on Pinterest, and I began to see the appeal. I had always had anxiety about not having enough room for notes I may need, but I still liked the structure of a planner. This seemed like the best outlet for me. Using the guides I found on Youtube and blogs, I managed to make my own and have been using one for over a year.

Then I discovered that I could get the book by Ryder Carroll. I decided to take the plunge on it since I am always wary of books promoted by famous people. Many times it feels like these people who become famous for X thing want to publish their book if only to diversify their income and be able to add “Best Selling Author” to their Twitter bio. But in this case, I needn't have worried, as Carroll's book seems to want to help the reader than sell any particular product. Despite this, however, I have to wonder, is there any point in actually reading it?

One of the best aspects of this book is that Carroll writes it with an air of being helpful, and wanting to use this system he has created to improve your life, without the usual junk that gets in the way. Many authors who write books like this tend to either sound self-serving, or they want to upcharge you on another course or both. Not here. Carroll asks that we have a notebook and a pen, regardless of if that notebook is the one he made to sell online or not, and not caring if we use his method or someone else's for the bullet journal. Carroll simply uses what he knows to show a system that can help us, with testimonials from people who have benefitted from that system. This is something that I find refreshing in the world of self-help books.

I also liked the layout of this book. Carroll uses the medium of a novel to show us how the pages should be laid out in the actual bullet journal. This makes for an effective example page and a good way to get the basics to the reader. I also like the other elements of the book such as the font changes to denote testimonials and the different graphs and charts to explain his more abstract points. This means that I would suggest the physical book, as it tends to bring to the reader a level of reality to the text that the audiobook or ebook just can't match.

One major negative is that this book is filled with ways to help you to “Plan for the future” using the bullet journal. This is beneficial in that it helps you to get the most out of the system. However, more often than not, Caroll descends into Self-Help territory, with advice and platitudes outside the system of a notebook and pen. This can make these sections drag for me, and worse yet, they tend to take up almost a third of the book, making that section a bit of a slog to get through

As I read this, however, one question kept intruding into my mind: Is there any point to this book?

With Pinterest, Youtube, and blogs, the bullet journal, in general, has taken on a life of its own. It is featured in countless guides, Plan-with Me's, and other videos showing how one can adapt the simple notebook to almost any situation. This includes basic guides on the system, as well, some of them created by Caroll himself. With that being said, some may wonder what the point of this book would be, when many people prefer getting guides for free on youtube.

My response can only be that this is an excellent option if you want not only to work offline, but also if you want the extra stuff Caroll includes in his text. If you want an existential look at your life, along with how the bullet journal can assist you in your self-discovery, then this book should be for you. If not, then you would be better served to watch Youtube videos on the topic.

And to go along with that, perhaps you would be better served to rent this book from the library, as it is one of those books that is good, but not that good. I give it a three out of five.

I thought the first portion (the “how”) was helpful. The “why” portion felt like a bit of a slog. Carroll's videos on YouTube seemed just as helpful.