If you said no, I'm not surprised.
It's hard to believe all those flowery, feminine spreads were inspired by one man - Ryder Carrol.
While we're on the subject, you should check out his website here.
The initial system is supposed to be simple and to the point. The world, however, has taken this concept and run away with it.
It has been transformed into a non-restrictive arts and crafts exercise - which we at Journal Junkies highly encourage.
The downside is anyone who looks at our personal Bullet Journals thinks it's purely a feminine past time.
So, imagine our delight when we met Sam, a Kiwi guy living in Hamilton, who loves the Bullet Journal system and uses it every day.
Hi, Sam! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Care to tell us a little bit about yourself?
Well, my name is Sam and I'm a guy who Bullet Journals. I am also a giant pumpkin grower, podcaster and a Dad.
What does the Bullet Journal system mean to you?
A Bullet Journal maybe the answer you didn’t know you needed. It’s old school and involves paper and pens.
Do you just use it like a diary?
The answer to that is yes and no - a Bullet Journal is different. It is an analogue system in a digital world.
There are some basic core principles to the Bullet Journal, but you can really do anything you want.
Working out what works for you is one of the biggest benefits to the Bullet Journal system, no two are ever the same.
You can use your Bullet Journal to plan things in the far future, into next week, and even the next day - and you have project pages to keep track of everything you are working on.
"My Bullet Journal is basic, I stick to mainly just two colours of pen, blue and black."
Do you think Bullet Journalling is mainly for women?
Not at all, this is for anyone that wants to be more organised and more efficient with their time. I wish I knew about the Bullet Journal system when I was younger, it would have helped me out with school, a lot.
While some people put hours of work into each page of their Bullet Journal, making it look amazing with drawings, lots of colour and boxes all over the place (seriously, just search Bullet Journal to see what I mean), this whole thing is yours, you can do whatever you want, and leave out whole pages that other people may use.
It is great to check out pages, or spreads as Bullet Journal people call them, to get inspiration of what might work for you.
My Bullet Journal is basic, a Leuchtturm 1917, and I stick to mainly just two colours of pen, blue and black. I use monthly and daily spreads and decided to leave out weeklies as these don’t work as well for me.
Why don't you just use an app on your phone?
There is nothing stopping you from using an app on your phone to help organise your life. I’ve tried a whole lot of them and, for certain things such as grocery lists, I do use them.
But nothing has come close to how the Bullet Journal works for me day-to-day, especially when working on projects.
The act of writing down what I need to do really does help me cement things in my mind and makes me think about it a lot more than simply typing it into a screen.
"...it helps you really be the best, most efficient version of yourself you can be."
How does the Bullet Journal system help you be more efficient?
I have a lot of projects I am working on all the time. Every time I have an idea I write it down on its project page. It can then get added into this month’s spread, and then into the daily spread if I am going to action something.
A Bullet Journal never goes flat, it can always be with you, it is easily added to and is very fast to look up information. Being able to customise it to work the best way for you is part of the charm.
And the great thing is, you can easily start a Bullet Journal with a simple notebook and pen and see how it works.
How long have you used a Bullet Journal?
Since March, 2016.
Any advice for new Bullet Journalists out there?
My advice is to stick with it for one whole month, use it every day and get into a routine with it. Once you do, you will be amazed at how much more productive you are, better at thinking through problems and it helps you really be the best, most efficient version of yourself you can be.
Check out Sam's blog and all the awesome things he is up to here.
