If you’re in need of some bullet journal page layout ideas and prefer a reference book to scrolling on Instagram, guide books could be a new source inspiration.

One of the first books like this, was the Beyond Bullets book which we’re going to take a closer look at in this post.

Since the book is from 2017 it was hard to find (I had to buy a second hand copy off of Amazon to get my hands on it), so I’ve included a detailed video flip through and plenty of photos of the pages below, so you should still gain some inspiration if you can’t find a copy of the book to buy.

The book is laid out in this order:

Part 1: Organization

• Chapter 1: Introduction to creative journaling
• Chapter 2: Supplies & tools
• Chapter 3: Tips & Tricks
• Chapter 4: Building a foundation
• Chapter 5: Planning Pages & templates

Part 2: Inspiration

• Chapter 6: Special pages & collections
• Chapter 7: Header styles
• Chapter 8: banner, frames & borders
• Chapter 9: Doodle embellishments
• Chapter 10: Inspiration from real journals

To enlarge the screen of the video, click the square icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video (it will say ‘full screen’ when you hover your mouse over the icon).

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Inside pages

I show the pages in the video flip through above, but here are some photos from some of the pages as well.

The supplies and tools section covers generic things like paper options, page sizes and the advantages and disadvantages of different notebook binding styles. It briefly (like really briefly in about 100 words or less per supply) discusses washi tape, pens etc.

The book does not state recommended brands for each of these supplies but some of the supplies featured in the photos are recognisable brands (e.g. My favorite papermate inkjoy gel 0.7 pens). I think the author could’ve shown more examples of how to use these supplies in bullet journaling spreads.

The tips & tricks section is also a bit basic like ‘keep an index’ which I’d say is a common knowledge approach to bullet journaling. But I should keep in mind this book was published back in 2017 before a lot of this information was widely available on the internet.

There’s a section briefly discussing what to look for when choosing a bullet journal notebook.

Related post: Comparison of 30 Dot Grid Notebooks for Bullet Journaling (Buying Guide)

A few of my favorite pages in the book

Some of the page layout ideas are small with the page overtaken by text which is unfortunate. The book is 7.5” / 19cm wide by 9.25” / 23.5cm page size which is a great size to showcase the page layouts and larger than some other bullet journaling guidebooks.

The weekly spread ideas section is quite good not only showing you the layouts, but also some advantages and disadvantages to keep in mind for each layout.

I don’t think there were as many completed page layout ideas as other bullet journaling guide books. However, this book did have more step by step / thought process behind creating page layouts. So it depends what you think you need help with as to how useful you will find it.

There aren’t many header style ideas but those that are included in the book, come with a step by step tutorial for recreating them in your own bullet journal, which not many other bullet journal guidebooks include.

There are quite a few frame layout ideas as well.

As well as a section with some instructions for drawing doodles you could add to your planner.

Do I recommend the Beyond Bullets book?

For the book being published in 2017, it was probably a very helpful resource at the time. With more the rise of blogs, you tube and Instagram accounts dedicated to bullet journaling, a lot of the information is now widely available for free.

My recommendation for these bullet journal guidebooks is always the same, if you’ve never tried bullet journaling or are new to it, then yes these ‘how to bullet journal’ books might be worthwhile.

The page layout ideas are good, there just needs to be more of them. The author also has some good step by step tutorials for drawings frames, borders and doodles but again, I think there needs to be more of them if it’s in a book people are paying for.

If you’re looking for more inspiration, here are some page layout ideas posts from my blog:

• 12 Monthly planning bullet journal spreads (you can do in 5 minutes or less)
• Quick, simple and functional bullet journal decorating tips
• 10 Bullet Journal weekly layouts if you want to keep work and personal in the same spread
• 10 Bullet Journal Landscape Page Orientation Weekly Spreads
• 15 Quick and Simple Vertical Bullet Journal Weekly Spreads
• 10 Quick horizontal bullet journal 2 page weekly spreads
• 25 Ideas for your Bullet Journal To Do List Spreads

Browse all bullet journal spread ideas on the blog here.

Price

Published back in 2017, this book was likely one of the first how to bullet journal guidebooks. It does not appear to be sold anymore, I had to buy a second hand copy off of Amazon to get my hands on it. So I’m unsure what the RRP is.

How does it compare to other bullet journal guidebooks?

I’ve reviewed the below bullet journaling ‘how to’ books.

• Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide
• Dot Journaling book by Hannah Beilenson

The first quarter of the book is generic stuff like recommended tools to use with your spreads. So if we skip those pages about 3/4 of the book should provide you with some inspiration.

I like that Beyond Bullet has a larger page size than the other notebooks. However, I think the Dot Journaling book by Hannah Beilenson has been the most useful bullet journal guidebook that I’ve come across so far.

More bullet journal page layout ideas

• 10 Quick bullet journal dashboard weekly layouts
• Bullet Journal Layouts: 26 Non-typical 2 page weekly spreads to try
• 7 Bullet Journal Weekly Planner Spreads you probably haven’t thought of

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