The Bullet Journal Method

Gostei muito de conhecer a metodologia do Bullet Journal e vou incorporar seu uso em 2024, até já comprei um caderno para isso. Único problema é que em determinado momento a leitura do livro se mostrou arrastada pra mim, pois ele possui muito conteúdo de auto-ajuda que não interessava para mim. Segue minha resenha por capítulo, para você ver se interessa ler o livro inteiro ou não. Eu acho que o próprio autor podia seguir seu conceito de menos é mais e lançar uma versão "pocket" do livro. Seria interessantíssimo ter uma versão mais reduzida do livro, de bolso, apenas ensinando a técnica, sem o conteúdo de auto-ajuda. Vamos à resenha por capítulos:

1. Preparação: me incomodou um pouco o convencimento do autor sobre a eficácia do método. Se estou lendo o livro, já estou curioso a respeito do método, então não considero esse convencimento importante. Considero que o próprio método em si já é convincente por si só, pra quem tem interesse;
2. O sistema: leia essa parte, esse é o coração do livro, é aqui que você realmente aprende o Bullet Journal, esse poderia ser o livro de bolso;
3. A prática: auto-ajuda, auto-ajuda, auto-ajuda e auto-ajuda, pule se não tiver interessado;
4. A arte: complementar ao cap. 2, mas não é essencial pra quem tá começando, leia se tiver interessado apenas;
5. Conclusão: leia, bem curtinha, dinâmica, lembra o próprio formato do Bullet Journal.

Espero que tenha sido útil

I encountered the BulletJournal method in 2016, and originally, I resisted it a bit, despite my curiosity... I have tried so many methods to stay on top of my tasks and feel like my life isn't spinning out of control on a regular basis. Some worked ok, some frustrated me thoroughly, some were just too high-maintenance (looking at GTD here), and having my productivity system fall apart was a pretty regular experience.

I'm glad I yielded to that curiosity. Like Carroll, I have ADHD, and somehow my brain responds better to a handwriting-(on-paper-)based approach than to digital tools. I also need an approach that provides structure and clarity, while being flexible enough to adapt to my needs and easy enough to keep it up as a daily habit.

The Bullet Journal method is a cross-over between a to-do list, a journal, project planning and, if you want to, even a calendar, kept with a system of symbols and shorthands that Ryder Carroll calls "rapid logging". The only things you need are a notebook (any notebook you want; I started with a very cheap notebook) and a pen.

My daily planning session now takes no more than 5-10 minutes (as a rule) and has become a cherished start into my working day. While I slack off on some days - mostly weekends or vacation -, the system as a whole has not "fallen apart" for me once since I adopted it as my one self-management method. I use my Bullet Journal for ToDos, project planning, logging exercise, tracking habits and sometimes for journaling (something I rarely did before last year).

So, I was a pretty regular user of the BuJo before "The Book" was published; I hesitated to read it and wasn't sure if I would learn anything new or useful from it. And you don't need to read the book if you just want to use the method; there are good explanations of the core method on Ryder Carroll's homepage as well as on Youtube. However, I found a treasure trove of information, hacks, ideas, and how-tos in this book that helped me deepen my practice and get even more use out of the method. I keep going back to the book to review Ryder's suggestions as they become relevant to my needs in terms of planning and organization.

One caveat: Because the book encouraged me to do so much more with my journal, my BuJo has become a bit messier than it used to be before, and I now go through 2 or 3 notebooks per year instead of one.