Hey y’all! Just a quick post to let you know that the good folks at Monk Manual are offering a 15% discount on all Monk Manual purchases (excluding bulk/subscription purchases) today and tomorrow using my special affiliate code “DAVEM.” So go to Monk Manual and type in my code — or to make it much easier, CLICK THIS LINK RIGHT HERE — and get 15% off of your purchases to get your 2022 started right with a new journal.
Buying a new Monk Manual journal with THIS LINK RIGHT HERE will not only get you a really great tool for a more intentional and thoughtful new year, but it will help me out with a little affiliate cash from the MM gang, and I really appreciate that as well.
2021 End-of-Year Discount Available through 12/29/2021!!!
Hey friends, before you get into the full review, just a quick note that you can save 15% off of all Monk Manual purchases (except bulk/subscriptions) today and tomorrow (12/28-12/29). Just use THIS LINK RIGHT HERE and you’ll be not only helping your future self get 2022 started right, but you’ll be helping me out as well, and I appreciate that very much.
Again, USE THIS LINK RIGHT HERE before midnight tomorrow, and get a 15% discount on Monk Manual products. Check it out, thanks for your continued support, and happy new year!
This review is long overdue, but I hope it will be helpful to you if you’re considering purchasing the Monk Manual journal (plus, I have a small discount code available, if that helps you decide!). So let’s get into it!
The Initial Experience
First things first: the journal itself. The packaging is pristine, and just the experience of unboxing the journal is a delight. You can always tell when a company loves what they do, when they take care to make all the little details special. The MM folks have done that for sure.
The journal is well-constructed with a leather-like feel to the hardbound cover–smooth and cool to the touch with a green elastic band to hold it closed, similar to a Moleskine journal. The paper is a thick, acid-free stock, and the printing is clear, clean, and light but fully legible. (“Light” may not seem like a good thing, but the aesthetic of the journal lends itself toward subtlety, so from a design standpoint, it makes total sense.)
From a purely tactile standpoint, this journal is delightful to use. The Monk Manual crew have taken the time to make sure they are shipping a quality product. But as with many things, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
A Counter-Intuitive Solution to a Common Problem
The Monk Manual journal includes some introductory material explaining how you can use the different sections of the pages, and provides some prompts for how to make the journal work for you. But one of the things that sets the Monk Manual apart from other journals/planners is how the pages are arranged.
Typical planners are organized like a calendar: a monthly 1-2 page calender view, then the Week 1 view, followed by Days 1-7, with the pages laid out chronologically. At the end of the first 7 daily pages, you might have another weekly page, followed by the next set of days, and so on. But if you’re like me, this type of journal may only get half-filled, if you miss days, forget to fill things in, or get off track and come back later. The Monk Manual recognizes this problem and provides a unique solution.
As you can see, the journal has 3 ribbon bookmarks attached to the binding. That’s because the pages are arranged into 3 sections: a section of Monthly Pages, a section of Weekly Pages, and a section of Daily Pages. At first, I was a little annoyed that I’d have to check 3 different sections from time to time, rather than just flip a few pages. However, time would provide the answer for why this type of design is brilliant.
The Monk Manual is advertised as a 3-month journal, but I’ve had mine for about 6 months and I still have lots of pages left to use. Rather than leaving dozens of blank pages for missed days, as I would in a typical journal, I was able to just pick up and start using the daily pages right where I left off. Plus, since the Monthly pages have about 6 weeks of “blanks,” I turned the last empty monthly page I had into a “June/July” section, so I could wring out every bit of usefulness from this journal.
The bottom-line is, the makers of Monk Manual understand that sometimes you miss some days, maybe some weeks, and rather than “penalize” you by forcing you to skip empty pages, you can just pick up where you left off with minimal effort. While there are some unfinished days scattered throughout my journal, I’ve been able to get back on track with using it in a fairly painless manner.
In a sense, I think that’s part of the philosophy behind the Monk Manual system: you aren’t aiming for perfection, but progress. This journal is designed to allow for those rough patches but still give you the opportunity to pick it up again and keep going.
My One Unresolved “Complaint”
That brings me to the one unresolved complaint I have–the Monk Manual, for all of its pleasing design and well-thought-out organization, still doesn’t seem capable of doing the work for me. Those folks over at MM refused to include the self-discipline I needed when they sent me the box with my journal. That’s so frustrating!
Okay, joking aside, that’s really the only downside I can think of with this journal–I still have to do the work myself. As I noted previously, you get out of it what you put into it, and when I’ve been able to devote a few minutes at the beginning and end of each day to plan and review my day, I’ve found it to be a helpful way to think through my schedule and priorities. And then, during those weeks and months when I didn’t make that time, the journal just sat there on the shelf, waiting for me to come back and pick up again.
When I was doing some cleaning in my home office last month, I found a box that contained at least 5 old journals/notebooks, each of which having no more than 20 pages of writing in them. The bulk of those journals were blank pages, because too often over the years, I’d start something, get distracted, and then never pick it up again.
I was worried that it would be the same with the Monk Manual–once it had been months since I filled out a page, I didn’t think I’d really be able to start again. But honestly, it was pretty simple to just turn the page and start fresh. And so I’ve been back to using it for about 2 weeks, and once I run through the last of my daily pages (because I have the highest percentage of those left), I’m going to pick up another Monk Manual and keep it going.
Is it Worth It? Can You Work It?
Admittedly, the Monk Manual isn’t cheap. You could pick up a blank journal at the store or online for a fraction of the cost. Is it really worth more than $35 to get this particular journal?
In a word: yes. I think the Monk Manual is worth every penny.
The materials are quality, the book is well-constructed, and the finished product is pleasing to the touch. The organization of the pages and the question prompts that are provided are unlike anything I’ve seen in a typical dayplanner/organizer. I’ve benefitted from using this journal, and from being able to come back to it after a 4-month gap.
My only recommendation is that you try to break out of the “90-day planner” headspace when you use it. Yes, that’s how it’s marketed, but honestly, I think it may be helpful to fill out all 6-weeks of each monthly page, because if you’re anything like me, you’ll need a little bit of forgetfulness-margin so that you don’t run out of monthly pages with a ton of dailies left.
Interested in the Monk Manual? Here’s A Special Offer for my Readers…
The folks at Monk Manual have agreed to re-up my affiliate link for another month, so if you use the code DAVEM at checkout, you get 10% off your total purchase from Monk Manual, and I get a small percentage back to me.
If you’re on the fence about this, I would encourage you to give it a shot (and not just because I have the affiliate link there). It’s a really neat journal, and I’m enjoying using it myself.
If you want to grab some Monk Manual gear and get 15% off (excluding bulk/subscription sales), then CLICK THIS LINK RIGHT HERE before midnight tomorrow (12/29/2021) to grab this discount. You’ll be doing your future self a favor and helping me out in the process!
Okay, now on to the actual review.
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[June 2020 Update: Full review of the entire journal available here!]
If you do much reading about productivity or personal/spiritual growth, keeping a journal or day-planner is often recommended for daily practice. Whether it’s bounded by 5-minute timeframes, uses bullets, helps you Get Things Done, or just records your prayers or Bible-reading insights, the practice of reflection and record-keeping can be very rewarding. So I was intrigued when I heard about the Monk Manual.
Let’s go ahead and address the name: Monk Manual?
Immediately, my suspicious mind asked, “What kind of monk?” Was this journal coming from a specific religious background? Would it lead the user into certain religious practices? The answer, as far as I have seen, is no–or at least, not necessarily. I get the sense that the creator of the journal, Steven Lawson (not that Steve Lawson), has in mind some sort of mystical monk tradition (and some of the language under the “Grow in” tab of the website sounds a bit New-Agey), but the journal itself reads much more generally than that. The daily and weekly pages I’ve used do not point to any specific religious practice, either, beyond giving a space to record “what God is teaching me” or “what I’m thankful for.” Folks like me who try to be discerning about spiritual subtext and teaching can rest easy, as far as I’m aware.
The designer’s idea here is to follow some of the reflective practices used by monks and apply them to a productivity and planning context. But (at least in terms of the daily and weekly pages) they aren’t presented in a way that encourages specific religious ideas or habits. The user would have to bring that to the table, in this context.
So what’s a Monk Manual? Will it train me to be a monk?
The Monk Manual is a journal/planner system based on the idea of the PAR Method (Prepare, Act, Reflect). However, instead of focusing solely on accomplishment of tasks, the Monk Manual points the user to some bigger-picture questions, like recognizing blessings, thinking about relationships, and considering how they are really doing internally.
I admit, writing it out that way sounds a bit hokey, but it’s actually pretty refreshing. There’s still an element of GTD in the Monk Manual, and it can be useful in that regard. But the journal is designed to help you step back a bit and think about who you are as much as what you do, which may be beneficial for those who are results-driven or who feel guilty for not doing enough in general.
The Monk Manual is divided into 3 sections: daily pages, weekly pages, and monthly pages. I have not seen the monthly pages yet, but I used the daily and weekly pages for two weeks, with only a day and a half missed–that itself being a minor miracle. Consistency in anything new is a struggle for me.
Taking Time to Reflect.
I found the daily and weekly pages to be a helpful and encouraging exercise because it encouraged me to consider not only what I was doing, but why. Merely the act of assigning a goal-habit and a theme for each week helped to reframe my actions and some of my decisions, so that I was able to look back on them in a slightly-different way.
The act of reflecting at the end of the day is a helpful practice that I don’t do often enough. Some of the end-of-day questions include writing down highlights of the day, times you were “at your best,” and times when you felt uneasy. Taking a few moments to consider my emotions/reactions helped me put some things in context and recognize how certain choices led to consequences I didn’t like. As someone who doesn’t really journal at all, doing that was a benefit that I want to keep going.
When it comes to spiritual matters, you get out of this journal what you put into it. As stated above, there are some vaguely spiritual prompts that a Christian can easily apply in their own worldview without concerns of syncretism. I was able to consider and track some of my personal spiritual disciplines in this journal in an effective way.
Final Thoughts: Like Any Tool, It’s Up to You to Use It.
That’s really what it comes down to: if you decide to use this tool to help improve your day-to-day life and keep you focused, it could be helpful–but it won’t “fix” you and it won’t do the work for you. There are no magical powers in the Monk Manual, and other than providing prompts for consideration, it’s paper and ink just like any other notebook. (Point of fact, I didn’t even use the actual journal that’s for sale–I printed out the free pages and popped those into a folder!)
Would I recommend using the Monk Manual? Sure, if you are interested in trying out a new type of journal and don’t already practice that daily reflection piece. If nothing else, it could encourage you develop a habit of taking a few moments to think about the day, plan for tomorrow, and pray for God’s grace in accomplishing what He’s set before you. That could be a help to you.
Here’s My Pitch
You can try the daily pages of the Monk Journal for free (as a downloadable PDF) from their website by signing up for their email list on the website.
If you use my unique URL to do so, it could help me out by unlocking more freebies for me.
Thanks to a couple of folks who used my link via Twitter, I was able to “unlock” the weekly pages. If a few more folks use my link to sign up, I can “unlock” the monthly pages (and possibly even get a free journal myself!).
So, I’ll make a deal with you: If this sounds interesting, and you don’t mind signing up for MM’s mailing list and getting the free daily pages, once I hit the benchmark needed to get access to the monthly pages, I’ll check those out and then write a follow-up post to let you know what I think of them. Fair enough? You get to check out the daily pages, and you help me get to try out the monthly pages.
I hope it is a benefit to you. Please come back and let me know if you try it out.
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12/28/2021 Update #3: End-of-Year Sale through tomorrow (12/29)!
Hey y’all!
If you use my code “DAVEM” today and tomorrow (12/28 and 12/29), you will get 15% off ALL Monk Manual products (excluding bulk sales or subscriptions). That’s CRAZY GOOD.
Go to Monk Manual using THIS LINK RIGHT HERE, buy some great materials to get your 2022 kicked off right, and help me out in the process. Thanks in advance!
–Dave
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Older Updates below…
11/30/2019 Update #1:
You beautiful lunatics. Somehow, out of nowhere, this post has become my most popular post of the year (upwards of 250-300 views in 2 months!). I hit the “free monthly” pages pretty quickly and then enough of you signed up to push me right through to the “free journal” tier.
Thank you. Sincerely. Thank you for reading and signing up. If you have been using the pages, I would love to hear what you think in the comments.
Thank you, Steve Lawson and Monk Manual. This is a cool program, and I appreciate the beautiful journal and top-notch packaging. (Like a dope, I didn’t take pics of the cool packaging. It was nice–no skimping here. That says a lot.)
I’m going to start using this beauty tomorrow. And I will most definitely report back.
Again, thank you all. Have a happy (belated) Thanksgiving, and I’ll see you soon.
01/28/2020 Update #2:
Hey friends! I have great news!
Your response to this post has been so amazing that I reached out to the Monk Manual team about it.
Thanks to their generosity, I have been given an affiliate link from Monk Manual, so that if you use my special code DAVEM when you check out, you’ll get 10% off your entire Monk Manual order, and I’ll get a small percentage of the sale as well! That’s definitely a win-win!
So if you’re ready to check out the full Monk Manual for yourself, just click on this link and use my special offer code DAVEM on the checkout page for 10% off (and help me out as well)!
I’ll have my review of the physical Monk Manual coming up next week. In the meantime, thank you so, so much for reading, and have a great day!
06/14/2020 Update!
Okay, it only took me 6 months (hey, you’ve been on this roller coaster of a year with me, right?), but my full review of the Monk Manual journal is here. If you’ve made it this far, I’m sure you’re interested.
The4thDave Blog 