The bullet journal community in the public eye (i.e. on Pinterest and Instagram) is heavily saturated by women. Because of that, it could easily be daunting for men to want to dip their toes into this method of planning.
However, I am a firm believer that bullet journaling can be beneficial for anyone, regardless of gender.
Here are my 10 reasons why men can bullet journal too!
1. The creator of the Bullet Journal is a man.
If you identify as a man and you’ve been looking into Bullet Journaling thinking “it’s all women”, that simply not the case! In fact, the creator of the Bullet Journal himself is a man. Ryder Carroll wanted a system to help him stay organized and manage his ADD.
His story is inspiring, and really helps discover the roots of bullet journaling.
You can find out more about the system through his book, The Bullet Journal Method, or his website: https://bulletjournal.com.
I strongly recommend that anyone who wants to give bullet journaling a try first reads up on the system from the creator himself.
2. You don’t have to decorate if you don’t want to.
Many bullet journal pages that you may come across on Pinterest or Instagram and bright and colourful, with elegant hand-lettered headers, and intricately drawn designs.
While all that is fine and dandy, it is not a requirement of having a bullet journal. However, at the same time, it can be a fantastic creative outlet to spruce up your pages - men included!
3. At the end of the day, it’s a planning system.
At the end of the day, a Bullet Journal is a planner. While some planners are detailed and in-depth, others will provide more of an overview.
The Bullet Journal serves the same purpose: it’s a planner that you create yourself, to fit with what you need at that specific moment.
Instead of a predesigned planner that may not fit exactly with what you need - or may seem to ‘feminine’ - the Bullet Journal system allows you to create your own, to match perfectly with what you’re looking for.
4. It’s a versatile productivity & time management tool.
The Bullet Journal was created to increase productivity, and improve time management. I believe that everyone deserves to benefit from something like that, whether you are a man or a woman!
While some planners can distract you from your goals with unnecessary pages, your Bullet Journal serves one purpose: to help you live your most organized and productive life.
5. It’s easy to utilize and implement.
The Bullet Journal is the easiest planner out there since you are making it yourself.
Rapid Logging is a feature of the Bullet Journal system which basically means that you log out tasks, events, appointments, and reminders with different symbols to denote what it is/your progress.
While Ryder Carroll goes into Rapid Logging in more detail in his book if you would like the nitty-gritty, it is simply a productive way to tackle your to-do list and commitments every single day.
6. It’s cheap as far as planners go.
A bullet journal can be the cheapest, or most expensive, planner out there. It all depends on how much you want to invest in the tools to use it.
While some Bullet Journalers have a multitude of pens, notebooks, washi tape and stickers, others keep it to the bare minimum with a ruled notebook and a pencil.
However much you choose to invest is completely up to you - at the end of the day, the system will work the same!
7. It’s completely customizable.
An overarching theme in the bullet journal community is that it is completely customizable. By being customizable, it means that anyone can mould the system to work for them: men included.
It is one hundred percent in your hands what pages you include. Want to include a mood tracker? Awesome, go for it. Don’t want to have a gratitude log?
Then don’t make one!
Your Bullet Journal is, at the end of the day, YOUR Bullet Journal. Make it what you want.
8. It isn’t ‘feminine’ to have your life together.
An unfortunate belief or idea that some people hold is that men can’t have planners, because ‘planners are for girls’.
I’m here to say that is bogus.
A Bullet Journal (or any planner) is a tool to organize your life, to set goals, and get things done. That should definitely not be something reserved solely for women.
9. You can start today!
The beauty of the bullet journal system is that you can start today. You don’t have to wait until that “planner for men” comes available on Amazon. Grab a notebook and a pencil and you’re ready to go.
Don’t have a notebook handy? You could even start with lined paper. My advice is to start today. Figure out what works for you, and from there you can dive into ordering nicer notebooks and pens.
10. It’s portable.
One great thing about a Bullet Journal is you don’t have to lug around a planner the size of a textbook. Generally speaking, most men don’t carry purses like women do, which makes it harder to be carrying lots of things around every day.
Your bullet journal can be as small as a B6 notebook that you carry in your pocket, or an A5 notebook that you can slip under your arm, or leave on your desk. Because the Bullet Journal system only requires a notebook and a pencil, there is no excuse for not being able to bring it with you!
Conclusion
I hope these 10 reasons why men can bullet journal too have convinced you to give it a try.
If you want more inspiration to bullet journal from fellow men, I would suggest taking a look at the following Instagram accounts:
At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember is that if a system works for you, who cares what anyone else thinks! If you’re a man looking to start your bullet journal, you can make it as minimalist or creative as you would like. If your Bullet Journal is helping you to improve your productivity and get more done, that’s all you need!