Holiday Gift Guide 2019! Ideas for Bullet Journal Gifts, Everyday Carry Bags, Books & More!

Happy holidays everyone! My name is Matt, and welcome to another Bullet Journal productivity video. In this episode I'm not getting into as much productivity because it's the holiday season, and this is the 2019 Bullet Journal Guy gift guide for you. All the Bullet Journal lovers out there, and those of us that enjoy analog physical tools, and books, and bags, and other things that start with B, this video is for you. You've probably already noticed that this is a long video, so I created timestamps in the description below for the different sections and types of products that we talk about. This is coming out about 10 days before Christmas, so it's a little later than I had hoped to produce it, but there's still time to make orders for any of these things, especially the ones that are available on Amazon. I've linked to everything in the description below. Bullet journal guide gift guide for 2019. We're going to be going through this in a few different stages. This one being all of the journals and books that we'll get into, and then other analog tools, a bunch of things that I love. And then I'll talk a little bit about like other kind of non-analog goods I've been loving. These headphones, this is one of my favorite shirts of the year, and then I'm also going to be showing you my two bags of the year, that one being the Brown Buffalo that I love, and then also this duffel bag from Pakt. That's P-A-K-T. But since this is a bullet journal channel, let's talk first about my recommended and favorite bullet journal products from this past year. Now, when you're getting your first set of bullet journal or journals that you want to be using, I love going with beauty and the reliability, the quality of Baron Fig Confidant. I love these and I've been using them for a number of years, and not just this Confidant kind of hardcover style. I've done a bunch of different videos on these, but the paper quality is my favorite. It is a tad smaller than the Leuchtturm official branded bullet journal, and it doesn't have like a sticker-friendly cover. It's more of like a very classy fabric, but this one is, this one is my favorite. Have used the Leuchtturm Bullet Journal branded edition. So both of these are great. If you want something for like a companion journal or something that's very topical for a collection, then these Baron Fig Vanguard softcover notebooks are great. I will be starting 2019 with the clear Habit Journal from Baron Fig. It combines a lot of things that I love about the Bullet Journal with some good structure, whether that is habit trackers, cool little things like each page has these little signifiers that will let you know like where the page halves and when it thirds. Sorry, that's my Tennessee coming out right there. There's also a one-line-a-day journal. There are some mental models. I have a whole video about this as well. As well. But this is what I'll be starting 2020 with. I think I might have said 2019 earlier. And then for the daily journal, what I use— this is going to be my new one for 2020— just this pocket-sized Baron Fig Confidant. Same, same quality, same dot grid. It's fantastic. Fits right in the back pocket if you have— I guess except for women's clothes, as several commenters, let me know. I also really love the winter release from Field Notes. This is called the Group 11, and it's a— it has a foil, like just a foil. You can see, yeah, look at that catch the light. It's just, it's lovely. There are a few different like foil colors. There's a copper, a silver, and gold right there. You can see them. And another thing that's nice about them is that Field Notes doesn't always do a dot grid, and these are all dot grid, which I really I really like, and I think any of, all of us who enjoy the Bullet Journal method like these. I use these Field Notes for like everyday, like, collection. I carry one with me the majority of the time for just quick capture and collection of thoughts, ideas, little tasks that I'll then a lot of times migrate into the larger Bullet Journal. I also use these almost exclusively for time tracking. Okay, let's get into a couple of my favorite books of the year. This one, Stillness is the Key from Ryan Holiday, one of my favorite writers, is fantastic. And then James Clear's debut book, Atomic Habits. I know a bunch of you have read it, so very highly recommended if you want one book to kind of help you kick off a new year, a new decade. Then I would go, I would go with these two. Another one that I really like from just being like really like strategically mindful of the time. I have it on Kindle, but it's Laura VanderKam's 168 Hours is great. So now that we've done all of the notebooks and journals, let's look at a few other like analog thinking and organizing and project planning tools from my friends at, uh, BestSelf. Catherine is the founder and she's amazing, great person, incredible thinker. And so I love everything that she puts together. A couple of things that they've put out recently that you you may not have noticed are like these decision decks and this wordsmith journaling prompts. So this one is called the decision deck. So there are 25 cards here like this one. What are you currently trying to decide on? What's the deadline? What does your gut say? And then it— there are these review cards right here. Add your own decision prompt. So there's a few. I really like this. I've used a similar framework when I've made big decisions in my life, but this really gives you a great system for it. Recommend. These are 150 journal prompts that you can use. Just pull one out. They're color-coded by like self, relationships, career, life, the world. But let's just grab one of these yellow cards. What would you do if you won the lottery? So a lot of different great prompts in here. Highly recommend. Again, I wish— it's one of those things that I, I I wish that I had thought of it first. These two are a little bit more tactical. Like, this is just a project action pad, if— and that's all it is, but there is— there are a ton of pages. So definitely check this out. They— there are similar versions in the Self Planner and the Self Journal, but if you want something that's just project action, I think even in the Self Planner, I think somewhere in here I even wrote like, hey, this would make this little project thing This would make a really great product all by itself. Yeah, something like this could be a planner by itself. Boom. One other thing to show you. Hope it doesn't— but this is a print just from my friend Jeff Sheldon who runs Ugmonk. He does a— these prints are just beautiful. I need to get this framed and it's going to go back there on the shelf. And this is also from BestSelf, but they have this thing called Smart Marks. And basically it's a bookmark with a little like notepad attached to it. So I can just slide it in right here, operates as the bookmark, but then instead of writing a bunch of notes in the margins, which I do and am a big fan of marginalia. Here's an example right here, right there. So what I could do instead, if I want to, it'd say this book title Atomic Habits, and then just add in those notes as I go through. This acts as the bookmark for your book, but then it also has this like notepad that is included in it as well. So you can make notes about like dopamine spike, page 106, 107, and just write that down here. Another thing that I've really liked this year are the Baron Fig Scribe pens. They have a really nice weight And while I will always be a fan, I do think this is the best bang for your buck pen, this Pentel EnerGel 0.7 metal point ballpoint pen. I do really like this one. This, if you want a fancier pen, it's really hard to go wrong with this Baron Fig Squire. This is the click version right here. It's a very smooth action and the writing is even smoother. I really, really recommend the Baron Fig Squire. You can see there's not a lot of bleed, or I don't, I don't know, one of you will be able to tell me the term. It also doesn't bleed or push through the page too much, and I, I am an aggressive heavy writer. Another one is, and I love just the packaging for these, but this is the Squire Editor. And again, just the packaging for these, so it kind of gives you like all the editing signifiers and legend right here. But this is the turn-to-click for this one, and it is a little bit different of a feel. The, the end, the point is much sharper, but still the same smooth action in writing. This is the editor. Love them both. See the, the etchings on this as well. Just, you know, an attention to detail, a quality that you, if you've used Baron Fig, then you definitely appreciate. So that's everything from an analog perspective. There are the books, the notebooks, the decision deck, the wordsmith, the smart marks, Couple of pen recommendations: the Baron Fig Squire, the Intel— not Intel, the EnerGel, the Pentel EnerGel, and the Baron Fig Squire, both like regular version click and the editor. And these prints from my friend Jeff Sheldon at Ugmonk, the Best Self Project Planner, Action Pad is great. And let's talk a little bit right now about my favorite bags from the year. This bag right here is my travel bag of the year. It's been out for a couple of years, but I was asked to kind of check it out and share it with you. And I'm doing it because I have loved it so much. One of the things, and I'll try and get a close-up here, but one of the things is just the feel of it. It feels incredible. It is one of the best bags that I've ever been in contact with. That has like really nailed the aesthetic of looking super classy and also feeling super rugged. In terms of real quick, like with the, the GORUCK bags, they are incredibly nearly bombproof, but not— they really have that rugged look. They aren't as classy as this one, as the PACT 1 duffel is. The other thing that I love about it is how like how much stuff it holds. I took this down to a trip to Florida for like 3 or 4 days, and it more than enough handled everything that I needed it to in terms of clothes and work. And let me show you the inside of this, because again, I'm just kind of over the moon with it. But there is a large, you know, main compartment right here. It is made to kind of fit without packing cubes, but I'm still using packing cubes with them just because I like to keep my stuff, like, kind of organized a little bit more separate. Another pocket right here that you could put some accessories. So that is the one large main pocket, two kind of outside organizer pockets. These are great for keeping things that you want really quick access to. There's also organization for a couple of pens. Like, I put my AirPods in here, pens, your business cards. Your business papers, little ones can go in there. Shout out to Chase Reeves. So when I open this all the way, it folds out really well. Comes with a laundry bag. I think that's just a nice touch. Thank you, Pact. Make quick access to like clothing here. And this is why it says that you don't necessarily need a packing cube, because this is kind of acting as its own packing cube. The zipper especially this one. I don't get into zippers too much, except that this— I mean, like with everything else, really, really well made, really thick, beefy zipper here. Another thing that I like about this bag a lot is that it has an actual laptop compartment that sits in the middle of the bag, and so it doesn't lay like on the ground or like even up against a side. It will fit a 15-inch laptop slip, lay it in right there, and it's also kind of buffered by your clothes on each side. This was something that I always like struggled with when it came to using a duffel bag as a one-bag carry and needing to bring a laptop with me. So this solves it, and I love it. Kind of the same thing on this side as this side, another compartment. It has, you know, just this is where your laptop would go. More room for business papers, clothes right here. They do have a couple of like little small pockets right in here that you could put, you know, like maybe a really thin water bottle if you're brave enough to do that. I have a tie stuffed in here because I took it to a wedding. Reinforced seams down here on the bottoms, and then out here on the side it has a magnetic pocket Listen, real nice. The other thing that I find really nice about it is this, uh, you can put— you can just bring this out. It's great for TSA because you can toss in whatever you need. Like, I could put a phone in here really easy just so that it's visible, no problem. These loops are super, super duper, super duper beefy. So That is the PACT ONE travel bag. I might do another separate video just on that if you are interested in it. And again, but I'm just, I'm a big fan. Couldn't be happier. Thank you, Malcolm and friends, for sending it to me to check out. The other bag, this is my backpack of the year. I shared both of these in my email newsletter recently, and they were two of the most clicked items. But I really, really, really like this bag. One, I love the lack of overall branding on it. And they— you have the brown buffalo thing right here, but because it's black on black, you can't even really see it or notice what it is. It's just a really thoughtful, well-done backpack. And I won't spend too much time on it, but the material is incredibly well made. The padding is nice in all the right places. These access pockets on the outside are great. So they actually go, as you can see, pretty deep, you know, probably like 8 or 9 inches across. And I could almost get the whole, the whole forearm in there. One of those on each side, they're the same. On the back side, real quick, a little, a little secret, secret stash pocket right here. It's also cushioned. It has like some felt, maybe not felt, it's soft in there. The straps are very nice and padded as well. This handle, this is my favorite backpack handle in the entire world. It is so beefy. I've said beefy a lot more than I expected to today, but you can really, really grab onto this thing. All right, let's take a look on the inside. These zippers are like, I don't know if this is the actual term, but they're kind of like AquaGuard. Sealed. I don't know, I don't think you could like throw it in the river, but you're going to be just fine like going through— test for yourself of course, but I've been just fine taking this through some rain on my bike. Good, good size. I think again this is a 19-liter pack, but this is enough room for my 15-inch MacBook Pro, a little bit of padding, not a ton, and it does— it stops right here, doesn't go all the way down. There's a little bit of a buffer, which I like. A couple other little pockets here, here, here. You can put in just a little pen loop here. I also have a Blackwing Palomino. For these, I'm normally putting in a Field Notes right in here, and then back in here is where I'm putting the Bullet Journal most of the time. Oh, another thing that I'll do is I'll normally put in like my battery charger here, like that portable battery charger. One unique thing about the Brown Buffalo pack here is that it has these internal water bottles, which I think are really cool as long as you trust your water bottle to not, like, blow up. Bond tool roll that I use for a lot of my cords and dongles and stuff. One other little thing that I do like— there you go, you get a little bit better sense of it now— this little bag within a bag. It came with a strap of its own, but this is what you would normally think of for like a nice little additional, like tiny, tiny thing storage. So I have a USB-C cable, a pencil sharpener, vitamins, little tiny, little tiny baby pencil that's worn down to the nub. But the thing that's nice about this, just as like a small little thing, it came with a strap because you can just rip it right off and use it as a, use it as a fanny pack. If you wanted to, or like a little shoulder sling. But you can see it's got a loop right here, so easy peasy. And then just slap it back on. So that is my backpack of the year, the Brown Buffalo. All right, last couple of things on this because I am running short on my recording time on the Canon, but I have loved these Sennheiser— I think that's PXC 550. I actually got them refurbished on Amazon. So they— Chase Reeves recommended them. They have great noise canceling, and I got them for like $130, definitely under $150. To get any kind of noise-canceling headphones under $200 these days, it seems like a big win. And then this is one of my favorite shirts. I just want to pump up my friend Levi. Sorry, your shirt is so wrinkled, but I have been wearing this. I've worn it in a lot of videos, but this is Levi Allen. Excellence is not an act, but a habit. We are what we repeatedly do. So I love this shirt. I love that saying. It's something that I hold near and dear. I think Aristotle said that, not Levi, but thank you Levi for putting this on such a comfy, awesome shirt. Boom. Two more quick things that I forgot to tell you about when I was doing the main overhead shots for this, but the first one is just right over here. I have it right on my door. This is the Life Calendar from Wait But Why. And all of these boxes represent a week of your life. And so if you zoom all the way out on this, each one of those dots or blocks is a week of your life all the way down until you're 90. And so I have different like big life events, and it really puts literally life in perspective and lets me see like when a bunch of cool things have been happening in my life. And so it starts up here with being born in October '83, and then we are right around here. The other thing to tell you about is that I do have some more stickers available now. So there's the Progress Over Perfection sticker, the Get Your Head Out of Your Apps that many of you have already ordered, and the logo and name for my new company, which is Freed and Bound. I'm going to post a link to the email newsletter that I sent recently that explains the meaning behind that name. So go to freedandbound.com to get any of these stickers, and I know you'll love them. Alright, thank you so much for watching to the end, or like skipping to the end of the gift guide video. Going to be starting the Bullet Journal Basics series next, so make sure that you check that out. Hit hit subscribe, thumbs up, ring the bell if you want to. That will make sure that you get notified when the new Bullet Journal Basics video series starts coming out. And it's gonna be really soon and take us through into the new year and through January, most likely. So, thank you so much for watching. It really means a lot to me. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, anything that you celebrate. I hope that you have a great end of the year going into new year. And, but I'm gonna see you well before then. Thanks everyone, bye! 1, 2— I don't need to clap, it's right there. Hey Kanan. Daddy? Yeah? Help. This is my gift to you, son. Ooh, that is hard to rip. Ooh! There you go! And refocus. Hey everyone, my name is Matt and welcome to another Bullet Journal productivity video. In this episode—