Reading The Bullet Journal Method By: Ryder Carroll
A Little Back Story
I started my very first bullet journal in 2016. My love of planners and calendars since I was little had me always looking forward to getting a new planner to start the year! While searching Pinterest and looking at planners and DIY planners one night, I came across something called the Bullet Journal. I had never heard of it and I was instantly curious. Between Pinterest and YouTube I saw so many tutorials and ways to set up my Bullet Journal. The ease and flexibility was just
Starting my Bullet Journal
My journal came in the mail two days later… thank you Amazon! I instantly added my index, future log, current month, week, and the daily log. I had also seen habit trackers and a ton of other trackers so I quickly added those as well. My motivation was high and I was using my journal every day. Then, I got sort of burnt out so the next month I didn’t add as much. I kind of gave up on my Bullet Journal for awhile. A month or two passed and I would see someone rocking their Bullet Journal and it would inspire me to pick mine back up and give it another try. This went on for awhile and I would put it down and pick it back up again. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t make the Bullet Journal work for me.
Enter The Bullet Journal Method Book
After much thought, I bought a regular planner and put my Bullet Journal down. One day on YouTube I saw a video reviewing The Bullet Journal Method Book that had just come out. I didn’t watch the video, I went to Amazon to read the description of the book. I didn’t order it, because I figured everything that was in the book could be found on the videos and Pinterest. However, I kept seeing things pop up for the book whether it was on Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube. My curiosity started to get the better of me again and long story short, I got the book for Christmas.
I started reading the book right away, because I love reading and couldn’t wait to dive in! 100 pages in on the first day and my inspiration was back! I knew the steps to creating a Bullet Journal, but I didn’t understand the meaning behind all of the steps until I read this book. The Bullet Journal was created to be a planner and a journal but also to help you realize where you are spending your time and to get you to ask yourself why you are spending your time on those things. Another thing I wasn’t doing was daily and monthly reflections. I wasn’t going back and looking at what was using my time and what I needed to be doing instead.
Starting Fresh
I decided to start a new Bullet Journal and put the things I learned to good use. I am going to use all of the things that he talks about like: the index, future log, monthly, and daily logs. One thing I didn’t use in my past bullet journal was goal setting and planning. My husband and I have big plans this year and I want use my Bullet Journal to create a plan of action so we can achieve those things.
Something that just hit my soul was the tracker section. If you look on Pinterest for Bullet Journal inspiration you see people tracking every tiny part of their lives. This sounds cool, but I tried in the past and failed because I didn’t care about half of the things I was trying to keep track of. In The Bullet Journal Method Ryder Carroll specifically states, “Keep it simple. Keep it focused. Keep it relevant.” He talks about tracking television shows and other things, if it’s useful to you and you can gain information from tracking then by all means, track it. However, tracking everything doesn’t help you work on the little things you want to work on.
Why I loved The Bullet Journal Method
The title of this book tells you everything you need to know. This book is not only about The Bullet Journal and how to set it up, but also the method behind it. Ryder Carroll tells you the purpose behind each part of the Bullet Journal. One of my favorite parts of the book is Part 3 – The Practice. This section talks about reflecting on your Bullet Journal and how to make that work for you. It also talks about Goals and how to break your goals into small steps and achieving your goals.
Ryder Carroll also talks about imperfection, in real life, and in your bullet journal. I can’t tell you how many times I would see a gorgeous spread on Pinterest and try to recreate it. Usually, I would mess up and be so annoyed that I ruined a page in my precious Bullet Journal. Well, I messed up already and I’m ok with it!
Follow Along
If you love planning or you have your own Bullet Journal follow along with me on Instagram to see how my new Bullet Journal unfolds and changes to meet my needs!
Check out www.bulletjournal.com for my information on starting your own Bullet Journal!
Do you have a Bullet Journal?
What are your must-have spreads in your Bullet Journal?
Love, Meg
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