Ryder Carroll

For years Carroll tried countless organizing systems, online and off, but none of them fit the way his mind worked. He developed the Bullet Journal , and it helped him become consistently focused and effective. Now he shows readers how the Bullet Journal method can help you weed out distractions and focus your time and energy in pursuit of what's truly meaningful, in both your work and your personal life. -- adapted from back cover

Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future

The Bullet Journal Method

Liam Ellul

A 15-minute youtube video here will cover all aspects of this book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm15c...

The Bullet Journal Method itself is great but the book is very padded out. I get it though, Ryder has an audience so he has to build a product that publishers can sell related to the idea.

I wrote about what I learned in the book here: https://liamreads.substack.com/p/pen-...

An easy read, containing lots of great advice and inspirations around organizing your daily tasks and life goals.

Jieun Lee

erin

This is so much less presumptuous about its audience than most productivity tomes (I have been on a kick and it mostly feels like self-flagellation).

Ryder's method is simple, flexible, and focused on mindfulness. And with a lot of case studies about how being organized and thoughtful can help with various mental health things. I guess I just jive with the philosophical orientation of millennials more than boomers. Shocker. 

Also, he manages to offer advice without assuming that I'm a CEO with a secretary to delegate tasks to.

Inspiring, meaningful, intentional, and motivated me to start bullet journaling exactly in the minimalist way that Ryder does. 

Courtney

matej yangwao

** spoiler alert **
           Good start with beliefs and actions slash mindfulness. Goes to the habit of introspection, craft of mental inventory through bullet points into reflection.
Introduces structure for your mental sprints
Book got bit mixed categories but whatever.

Somehow I'm not sure if I'm still same book but it ends with self-growth and self-development stuff. Maybe author targets self-exploration and self-examine.

≥Learning to identify what is important by stripping away what is meaningless will help you reach your goals faster.

≥When you learn to be intentional about being mindful and productive, the result is an increase in your ability to identify useful material and ideas that you can use later.

≥You can turn your curiosities into goals by learning this effective strategy.

≥You can self-examine and develop a clearer mind if you’re intentional about it.

≥The heightened awareness of the present is called mindfulness.

≥Your beliefs and your actions are connected by the things you care about and do.

≥When you automatically form a regular habit of introspection, you will begin to define all the things that matter to you and devise ways to pursue those things.

≥ Mental inventory involves listing all the things you are working on, what you should be working on, and those you want to be working on.

≥Crafting effective bullets requires striking a balance between brevity and clarity. First, you can separate activities into different categories by categorizing entries:
• Things you need to do (tasks)
• Your experiences (events)
• You don't want to forget (notes)

≥Rapid logging of information will help you contend with the daily grind, enabling easy offloading or information you are bombarded with. It also allows a safe place for free expression of the mind, and it could be helpful to set an intention.

≥A daily log captures your responsibility and helps in documenting your experiences.

≥“Reflection grants the protected mental environment we need to reclaim the necessary perspective and begin to ask “why.””

>Even though we cannot make more time, we can increase the quality of time we take.

≥Timeboxing is one way we can use our time more effectively. It involves assigning an activity to an allotted slot of time. Timeboxing is designed to bring your full attention to a task by only allowing you to focus on it for a predefined period.

≥No one can control what fate drops on our laps, but we can be vigilant about what we let into our lives.

“Cultivate self-awareness because we are often a reflection of what is going on inside us.”

≥If we remain unaware and unwilling to take responsibility for our lesser qualities, we will inevitably pass them on to other people in our proximity.

≥Rather than aiming to be perfect or striving to be better than others, find opportunities to continually improve yourself, and every step you take is a step up from where you were. It doesn't matter how small those steps are or if you stumble along the way up. What does matter is that you continue to step up.

>Do not be threatened by anything you see in the world. Ultimately, you should only aspire to your own standards.

≥Daily reflection is a vital strategy that helps you get more organized. Take as long as you need for daily reflection but make sure you are consistent with it. If you find yourself not reflecting, you may reduce the amount of time you spend in reflection. Start small and then build up from there.

Sarah Schumacher

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.

Long winded, the ideas are great, orginal and simple yet could have been a shorter book. Changed my perception of Bujo since I only came across the complicated, decorative ones. But realised it's not for me. 

Ayesha 

Steve

The whole content of the book can be condensed into a simple blogpost. There are so many repeated things in the book that’s been talked over and over again. 

If you are not familiar with BuJo you can just head over to the website to find out the methodology, then refine along your BuJo journey. There’s no need to waste time reading this book. 

If you are already practicing BuJo, reading this book does not give you any extra value rather than recapping the BuJo method repeatedly.

Andrew Louis

This is a Stoicism-inspired self-help book for millennials. If you want to explore the bullet journal world, better to go to youtube and instagram where the culture is vibrant.

Savindi Jinasena

4.5 Stars! I've been Bullet Journaling since it was introduced to me two years ago by an old colleague of mine and I really enjoyed it. However I felt like I was missing something. After reading The Bullet Journal Method I can happily say I've learned so much from the book! All this time I feel like I had really under utilized my Bullet Journal. It can be so much more than an agenda which keeps track of your tasks. 

The idea of Migration in the method was something that I found so confusing before, but now I think I have better understanding of it after reading the book. I've also been incorporating Daily Recaps from the system to my November Bullet Journal spread which have been incredibly helpful. I also appreciate the fact of not needing to have elaborate spreads in your Bullet Journal. It can be as elaborate or as minimalistic as you would like it to be. 

What made this book so fun and thought provoking to read was Ryder's writing style. You could sense his warmth and enthusiasm as you read the book. I didn't find it to be preachy or pretentious by any means. It was like someone was explaining a concept in a way that was easily understandable and helpful. I also liked how the layout of the Bullet Journal was used throughout the book. 

Overall, this was a fantastic read. I'd definitely recommend this to any Bullet Journalists or aspiring Bullet Journalists.

Scott Wilson

An amazingly fun and interesting read (lots of highlights!!). I will be constantly checking back as a resource as I begin my bullet journal journey!!

linda

Flipped through this book at the library. Thought it was just ok.

IDEL

4.3! 

took me a long time than expected bcs i rlly took the time to reflect and munch on ryder's ideas alongside setting up my own bujo! it wasn't as magical as other self-help books bcs it definitely felt more like there was a lot to do, and it is 😂. but ryder's narration gave it a friendly and calm approach so he made it all less overwhelming. all-in-all, i love that it's a self-help book that reminds you to "be your own responsibility" in a sense that we can commit ourselves to our bujos all we want, but in the end, it is still up to us to bring intentionality and purpose into it. kind of brings our expectations in a practical perspective. 👍🏼

Raúl Barroso Moreno

I highly recommend reading it even you’ve been using this method for some time. Lots of good advice on getting the most out of this way of documenting everything that’s in your mind.

Elizabeth Moore

Ok. Well. I thought that reading this book was going to be a crazy, tear-inducing lightening bolt that turned my life on it’s head and flawlessly proved that someone understood my weird brain all along... it wasn’t. And also, I’m extremely convinced that every arty jackhole ( I say “jackhole” because I’m jealous and ashamed of my lack of artistic abilities and I’m projecting, OK!?) who loves this #bujo shit is just making the rest of us art-skill-less writers feel bad about our shortcomings and like we aren’t worthy of keeping a sweet journal if no one would like it in Pinterest. But still, I’m into this weird ol’ bujo method and I’m going to keep trying it. I really appreciated the author’s mental discipline, his insistence that anyone can benefit from it, and how dang clearly he explains his methods, but I do remain a bit confused and sad that the author was not exactly Kate, my Mirror Friend. Since it’s not really his fault, I’m still giving him 4 stars and I’ll check back in when June comes to see how well I stuck with this crazy whole thing. Bonus points for Bujo already getting me to work out 9/10 days in a row (coloring what kind of workout it was and getting to log it in a custom collection is so exciting!!!) and to write a letter every day (this is actual Tara Schuster from But Yourself The F*cking Lilies’ credit but Bujo book came next and got me to actually track it).

Sarah Ryan

If you’re not familiar with the bullet journal method I would definitely recommend reading this as a book rather than listening to the audiobook (which is what I did). I think this is probably a good place to start if you’re new to bullet journaling, time management, goal planning & strategic planning. I feel down the bullet journal rabbit hole in 2014 and read widely in the latter areas so there wasn’t really anything new in here for me but would be a good read for newbies.

Stefanie Sugia

"Whether you're an experienced Bullet Journalist or a newcomer, The Bullet Journal Method is for anyone struggling to find their place in the digital age. It will help you get organized by providing simple tools and techniques that can inject clarity, direction, and focus into your days. As great as getting organized feels, however, it's just the surface of something significantly deeper and more valuable."I started Bullet Journaling in 2017 and it has completely changed my life ever since. I first discovered about the Bullet Journal from Youtube and I was drawn to the minimalist concept and how the system looks very practical. At the beginning, I just jumped into it and trying out things that I saw online and modified it to fit my needs. I was really inspired by many other Bullet Journalists who poured out their creativity and made the pages in their journal look neat and pretty. After almost a year, I find myself unable to keep up with all the decorating and stuff. So in 2018, I took a more minimal approach and keep it simple so that I'll be motivated to fill it in every day. However, after reading this book, I realized that I'm not using my Bullet Journal to its full potential. So in this review, I'm going to share some things that I learned from reading The Bullet Journal Method 😊.

Whether you're new to the Bullet Journal or have been doing Bullet Journal for quite some time like me, I believe everyone can get something out of this book. The first parts of this book are about how to Bullet Journal. The latter parts are about why to Bullet Journal. I love how at the start of this book Ryder Carroll shared his struggles that led him to creating the Bullet Journal system. His resilience really inspired me and I respect him for not giving up during those difficult times. Ryder Carroll showed me that failures can be valuable teachers. Like he said in the book: 
  "We must take it upon ourselves to grow. We grow by learning, and we learn by daring to take action. There will always be risk, because we can't control the outcome. This is the way of life, and it's unavoidable."

  "If intentionality means acting according to your beliefs, then the opposite would be operating on autopilot. In other words, do you know why you're doing what you're doing?"

  "Your Bullet Journal can be your to-do list, journal, planner, sketchbook, or all of the above, all in one place."
The first thing that I learned from this book is the practice of Reflection. I personally have a Gratitude Log in my journal, in which I write a sentence of what I'm thankful for every single day. But through this book I found out that Reflection is so much more than that. It is about examining our experience, which requires us to ask questions and not take things at face value. This is definitely something that I want to add to my current Bullet Journal. So far I only kept a Monthly/Yearly Highlights, which is some sort of reflection. But I have to admit, usually I've already forgotten a lot of the details that happened throughout the month. Hopefully I'll be able to add Reflection to my daily routine.

Another thing that I think is an essential part of Bullet Journaling is having Goals. I've tried making New Year Resolution at the beginning of 2018, but I don't think it's working well for me 😂. In one of the chapters in this book, Ryder Carroll introduced the idea of Sprints, which is structured around subset goals/skills needed for the longer-term goal. For example, if the long-term goal is learning how to cook, then the possible sprints would be learning knife skills, learning how to select fresh vegetables, etc. The idea is to have smaller goals/tasks that are manageable enough so that we will be constantly motivated to achieve the long-term goal. I think I will definitely try this method for the upcoming year and see if it works out for me (because I'm quite unmotivated most of the time) 😂."Inevitably we find ourselves tackling too many things at the same time, spreading our focus so thin that nothing gets the attention it deserves. This is commonly referred to as "being busy." Being busy, however, is not the same thing as being productive."Lastly, I am so grateful that Ryder Carroll touch on the topic of striving to have a perfect notebook or Bullet Journal. A lot of people are hesitant because they don't have great handwriting, or lack the artistic ability to make a notebook pretty. He emphasized that the most important thing about Bullet Journaling is Function over Form. Your notebook doesn't have to be beautiful to be valuable. Design should always serve a purpose. It's great if it turns out to be beautiful—as long as it doesn't get in the way. As I've said earlier, I decided to go with a more minimalist approach because I couldn't keep up with decorating every single page. Even though it is less colorful now, I feel a lot more productive because I prioritize the function of my journal over the aesthetic factor 😊.

Overall, this has been a great read and I will definitely refer back to it in the future to get some ideas on how to set up my Bullet Journal spreads. If you're new to Bullet Journaling, you can take notes as you're reading through this book. I think it will help you to have a general idea on how to begin, and then you can slowly modify it according to your needs. Don't be afraid to start and don't be intimidated by all the other amazing Bullet Journals that you see online. You just have to make it work for your own benefits 😉.

Read the full review here:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2018/1...

Nadine 

As a long time user of the method I was wary as to how much more the book would add. There is a little bit of padding and repetition, but actually this is a very good book on how to systemetise a lot of advice that's floating around on how to get organised, achieve goals, be grateful, and consider where you'd like to focus your energy and attention.
I've always loved the tactile / non-digital aspect of the bujo and this outlines the process of creating the system and how it can be used in a variety of contexts.

Steven Ovadia

Some interesting ideas but perhaps not a book-length topic. It's very self-help for 2/3 of the book and while the advice is sound, it's not particularly unique. More in-depth set-up information, and perhaps even more detailed case studies, might have made this more useful.

Diana Platgalve

I've been a person keeping multiple journals, apps and calendars all at once, not talking about post notes, random A4 pages with notes- it was everywhere. Not that it was messy, rather overwhelming to locate something particular. I received this book as a gift, not knowing of all the online "community" or what BuJo actually is. 
There were several points I enjoyed: 
1.author addresses journaling as a tool for increased self-awareness, intentional living and clarity. From this perspective BuJo is offered as self-help tool (for systematical analysis rather than positive thinking);
2.author offers simple framework which is flexible enough for personalization. It can be used not only to reduce chaos, but as well to increase mindfulness.

There are some references to cognitive biases, CBT, and writing from scientific point of view, but nevertheless, the book is mainly based on personal experience. It is a tool for self-betterment or self-help if you will. It is easy to read, he offers some tools for increased clarity for you to try out, mixing some endorsement along the way. Personally, it helped me to reduce everything to just one journal and be more mindful about my every day. In short- it worked.

Rocio Rivas

I didn’t think I would get anything from this book since I’ve been bullet journaling for a year, but surprisingly, I found myself highlighting and writing down tips to apply in my next bullet journal. So I would recommend it even to experienced people. The thing that I didn’t like about it is that it sometimes delved too much into motivational, self help territory, that dragged on and frankly repeated itself even after the point to be made was clear. Funny how in doing so, the book contradicted the principle of efficiency it was teaching. I ended up skimming quite a few chapters at the end.

Yoomi

I use a very simple version of a Bullet Journal for work and it helps me keep track of all the different tasks and projects I have going on. I’ve been wanting to start one for my personal life but I guess I spent too much time looking at inspiration online. I’m so overwhelmed and intimidated that I haven’t been able to start. My handwriting isn’t great. I’m not artistic. This book was a great reminder of what the journal is for. There’s a lot of about the philosophy behind it but it was the chapters on its function that helped me. It doesn’t have to be decorated and perfect. I’m inspired to start again and this time, it’ll be just for me.

“Remind yourself it’s just a tool. It’s what you’re building that counts.”

Pam Sartain

The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll is from the inventor of the bullet journal system, and so it goes into the background of how he came up with the system in the first place. 

It's a really interesting read, and tells you about how it's evolved with Ryder Carroll, and then when he let it loose into the world, how it's evolved with others.

If you're new to bullet journalling, then this has a very good way of setting you up, and giving you insight into why certain things are done.

I've been a fan of bullet journals for a while now, and so consider this post one in a series on bullet journals and other organising tools.

The Bullet Journal Method was published on 23rd October 2018, and is available to buy on Amazon and on Waterstones. I've found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow Ryder Carroll on Twitter, or through his website.

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HarperCollins UK (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Ivaylo Durmonski

The Bullet Journal method aims to help us become mindful about how we spend our two most valuable resources in life: our time and our energy. Basically, the method presented in this books wants to help you accomplish more by doing less. All of this by writing down what’s essential for you and executing on this short list. It’s a how-to guide on how to use this flexible framework (bullet journaling) to organize your life. See more: https://durmonski.com/book-summaries/...

The Bullet Journal Method Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future

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