"Calm the F*ck Down Journal: Practical Ways to Stop Worrying and Take Control of "

by Sarah Knight

Tame anxiety, manage stress, and stop freaking out with this straight-talking interactive journal designed to help you identify what's stressing you out and handle it once and for all.

Do you overthink everything? Do your stresses and anxieties keep you up at night? Do you wish someone would help you just snap out of it--and focus on what really matters?
Sounds like you need to calm the f*ck down and journal your way to peace of mind.
In this no-f*cks-given, no-holds-barred journal, New York Times bestselling "anti-guru" Sarah Knight helps you kick your anxiety and overthinking to the curb. By coaching through your sh*tstorms, freakouts, stress dreams, and more, she helps you figure out what's stressing you out, and make a plan to deal with it.
With plenty of space to write in and guided exercises to help you pull yourself together when you need it most, along with hilarious graphs, charts, and straight-talking advice, the Calm the F*ck Down Journal is a must-have for anyone looking to give anxiety the finger.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Personal Development, Psychology

191 pages, Unknown Binding

First published October 29, 2019

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never read anything by Sarah Knight before reading this journal. Did I like it? Oh, yes I did, and so much that I will buy my own finish copy of this and fill it with all I have! If you can let go of a situation, if you are anxious about everything or anything (and who isn’t?!), than this journal is for you.

Many thanks to Little, Brown and Company for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointed in this one. I read the book in its entirety on my fifteen minute break at work. I have read other books to help manage stress and anxiety. Did I fill out any of the responses? No. Maybe if I went back and completed the journal it would help me reflect on some of my worry but I don't see any helpful or new tips for people dealing with anxiety or prone to panic attacks.

I received this ARC from NetGalley.

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small self-help book/journal where you go through quiz and personal thinking to pinpoint your stress factors and how to ease it or lower it down. The «popular» language is obviously a marketing tool to make it look cooler or more easy to get into, but beyond that the book might actually help some people. Personally I'm already past that point and are higher on my personal path to living with anxiety, but to someone who start to realize his problem and want to work on it, this can be a good tool to know yourself better and developing some strategy. Easy, simple, but can definitely be useful!

[Anne Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for giving me this advanced readers copy.

I love how Sarah talks about anxiety in a very down to earth way. I love her straight forward approach to the ever so stressful topic. I also enjoy the questions and workbook type exercises! This book is great for anyone who wants the down and dirty truthfulness about anxiety.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great way to put yourself into the book. With most self-help books it's just something you read and hope what you read sticks long enough to help you, but with a journal you have to actually stop and try to make it work.
As someone who reads so many self-help books I often get to a point where I don't even remember what the previous one told me; a journal is a much better alternative.

[Ann]

Calm the F*ck Down Journal: Practical Ways to Stop Worrying and Take Control of Your Life is a journal to help you figure out your main anxiety triggers/problems and how to tackle them. If you're not familiar with Knight's book about anxiety and/or anxiety in general, the journal won't be much help to you. It does offer a few nuggetsJournal of information about the general concept but that's about it.

If you decide to buy Calm the F*ck Down : Practical Ways to Stop Worrying and Take Control of Your Life be sure to get it as a print edition and not digital. Considering its purpose a digital edition doesn't make sense because if you're like me, you can't be bothered to drag close pen and paper to copy Knight's questionnaires and fill them out.

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed Sarah Knight and this book was no exception.

Part book, part journal, Calm the F*ck Down Journal is exactly what it sounds like: a collection of stories and prompts to help you...well, calm the f*ck down. As someone with loads of anxiety, stuff like this is right up my alley and I found the prompts to be fun, fresh, amusing, and thought-provoking.

This journal would be a great workbook for someone struggling in their life right now and who also needs a few laughs, or a -great- gift for an anxious family member when you're not sure how else to help. Laughter and curse words are always a good remedy to our worries, Knight proves that here.

Thank you to Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book!

[Kelly Faysash · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoyed Sarah's book Calm the F*ck Down, you will love the journal. Though I only had access to the digital copy, it is a really great way go through some mental exercises and writing prompts to help navigate your thoughts and chill out. I really like the tone of this journal and how it is a bit more "real" than others in this category. Like anything, you have to do the work to make it work. So grab a pen and get going!

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This isn't the best anxiety reducing book I've read but I did enjoy the author's sense of humor. This book is good for people who have more situational anxiety rather than generalized anxiety.

[Nicole Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like the NotSorry Method in The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck, this journal has a similar kind of method that underpins the whole: The NoWorries Method.

The main difference between this book and the previous mentioned one is where Not Giving a Fuck centred around physical environment, Calm the Fuck Down speaks to mental environment.

Just like last time, this book splits things into two steps: 1) Calming the fuck down, and 2) Dealing with it -- whatever 'it' happens to be.

The one thing I particular loved about this book was the question asked about a third of the way through, after the premise of the whole book had been established. Can I control it?. That's it. Very simple.

The journal is filled with places in between Sarah's advice where a person can fill in their own situations and work their very own way to calming the fuck down.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice for those who like her previous books. A place to get some information and write down your thoughts and go through some prompts of what is being presented to you.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Knight, author of The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck and You Do You (among others), has taken her best-selling Calm the F*ck Down and made it into a journal. A great gift for anyone who deals with anxiety (even if it’s you), to help declutter the thoughts that make you crazy with her step-by-step NoWorries method.

Knight starts by going through the evolution of a freakout. It starts with a what-if, moves on to worry, is buffeted by inaction, thus resulting in a freakout. But as she explains, we have only so many freakout funds (resources like money, time, energy, and good will) to use for our freakouts.

In order to help decide how to spend those funds, there is One Question to Rule Them All: Can I control it? With each freakout, you can learn to ask yourself that and then make a plan based on the sh*tstorm scale. Once you’ve figured out how likely your worry is to come true, you can decide how much energy to spend on worrying about it (or taking action on it, if you’re going for teacher’s pet).

Treating our anxious thoughts like puppies, she gives advice on how to deal with them. Are you feeling anxious? Focus, by talking to other people about their problems. Feeling sad? Repair yourself with some self-care (laughter is best). Feeling angry? Find some perspective by plotting revenge (it’s fine as long it’s just plotting). Avoiding action? Use your phone alarm to drive you crazy until it’s easier just to do the thing you’ve been avoiding.

Clearly, this is a self-help journal for those who hate the entire self-help genre. Sarah Knight has created a whole shelf of anti-self-help books that genuinely do help people live better lives. Calling herself an anti-guru, she offers up useful tips with lots of snark and a few well-timed curse words to get help to those who would generally not admitting needing help.

The Calm the F*ck Down Journal is an ideal place to think and write about your anxiety, using the steps to figure out what is the best next step, so that you can get to the point of calming yourself down and leaving your freakouts behind.

Galleys for the Calm the F*ck Down Journal were provided by Little, Brown and Company through NetGalley, with many thanks.

[Kate]

The art of not giving a f*ck has been a topic of conversation for several years now. I am not a person who deals with general anxiety and have not read any of the other books in this group. So, why did I choose to read this one? Well, the title made me laugh and I was interested in how a journal would work on my Kindle.

Early in this journal, there is a quiz. The quiz is designed to help you identify what kind of anxiety responses you are experiencing. I ended up with a score of no anxiety, maybe I should gift this book. That was good news, and I read the remaining pages anyhow.

There was a lot of blank space in this journal, not a lot to read. But what was there was humorous and insightful. I can understand why so many people enjoy Knight's philosophy and writing.

The journal has several prompts to encourage you to think about past stressful experiences and allow you to work through them to help build new responses. I have not bought a focused, guided journal in the past, but I do think they are interesting and helpful. Taking things out of the big picture to explore them individually can certainly be helpful. For the Kindle version, one would certainly need an additional notebook. And maybe it would be nice to use that notebook solely for responding to this journal.

This journal is scheduled to be available at the end of October, just in time to record all our holiday anxieties.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have voluntarily left this review.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really great workbook that helps identify, label and name some of the things that people are feeling. Not only does it help someone identify, it also helps them to get through and possibly coping mechanisms on how to handle what they are experiencing. Sometimes label and naming what you are feeling is the hardest first step. The other hard step can also be to get out of the rut of handling the same thing the same way over and over again. This guide helps to see different avenues but also reminds you that you aren't alone, there are others that feel this way, have dealt with this, and found their way through it.

Also a great reminder was the Goodwill portion. Good to remember there are those outside of your emotions that are shouldering them too. I especially loved and identified with Emotional Puppies and also the mild swearing throughout. Great guide, I loved it!

[Karma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book/journal. Although I am in the minority here.

The suggestions will be useful for people who have mild anxiety or get a little stressed in the course of life but it is not the right one for people with GAD. The author mentions that she was diagnosed with GAPD as well, which made me wonder if she had even thought this through. I have GAD and under no circumstances am I going to engage with all the thoughts that come into my head. Nope, not at all. I would go crazy if I followed what the author prescribed.

The writing style didn't do anything for me either. It was grating and seemed as if the author was trying too hard to be cool.

This was a miss for me.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.

[Ioanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know the book. Time to meet the journal!

Calm the F*ck Down Journal is the perfect companion to the original book. Ideal for all people who have or are still experiencing strong episodes of anxiety, the journal is created in a way that it can help you learn more about yourself, your behavior, and how to put an end to some of your bad habits.

The writing style is undoubtedly humorous, which can help the reader at times. But it also feels like touching the issue of anxiety too lightly at times - as if suffering from anxiety is easy to cure like 1,2,3! All in all, sometimes it was good and interesting, and sometimes it was mildly boring or simply unhelpful.

[Pet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've heard lots of the author's bestseller The Art of ..., and even though I haven't read it I asked for the journal because I've heard lots of praise for it, too.
And it didn't disappoint. Like every journal of this kind its success depends on the energy the user puts into it - the author gives great, meaningful advices and ideas and then it's task of the reader/user how much they get out of it. I like especially the tone the author uses - very down-to-earth, very realistic, a bit of an easy under-tone. It's a journal the user fills with life over the time.

Thanks so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the copy!

[Shelby Bollen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whilst this may be a useful tool for some people, this just wasn't for me.
It does go over the more common issues that someone with anxiety may face, but I find that anxiety is such a personal and variable thing in people. So it's hard for something like this to appeal to every anxiety sufferer.
The idea of your anxiety just being dealt with, or well managed, by writing out anxious thoughts on a bit of paper just seems a little ridiculous to me, and perhaps even condescending.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend this, but I do seem to be in the minority here.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a fine package of exercises to deal with everyday anxieties, but nothing more than that really. Maybe it would've been more impactful if I had paired it with the actual book it goes with. Knight's books always seem to be a hit or miss for me, and this one is another miss. While it may be helpful for most of the small things and it's nice to have it all in one nice looking package, I don't believe it's helpful for bigger anxiety issues or for people who either dislike though love or need someone else to keep them accountable.

[K Saju · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interactive journal to help you list down things which worry you, guides you to understand What has happened and how it had affected you, and finally how to accept or work on it. I get that the exercises were really a good way for mental decluttering and gaining a better perspective on our real as well as our imaginary problems.
I received this book as part of net gallery review and would definitely recommend this book to people who can accept that writing down your worries does wonder to your mental fatigue and helps you keep calm.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first in this series and author that I have read, but have heard from others that they love the books.
I'm not too sure it is totally suited to my and my life.
Others who made need the assistance to learn how to deal with stressors and such in their life, may find this book a perfect addition to their bookshelf. I do like the concept and it is full of information.

Give it some time to read and learn all that is offered - and calm down.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a simple, straightforward and quick journal to help dealing with anxiety. I appreciated that the author keeps the overall tone light and humorous. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reading something outside of the typical anxiety self-help books, which tend to be very serious and lack any humor.
***This review is based on an electronic advance reader copy provided to me by the publisher/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.***

[Nicolet Groen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title made me laugh out loud, I relate to the topic and I am a journaler. Those are the reason I requested an ARC to read it and give my honest review. I cannot say anything else that I am disappointed. It's a quick read and I didn't feel like doing the exercises because it's all too obvious and the offered solutions are too simplistic. Perhaps I should have read Sarah Knight's book first but, the journal on its own is too shallow,

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this as much as I loved The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck.
Journaling did indeed calm me the f*ck down.
Since it was an ebook I did have to write things down on notebook paper, which I didn't mind. But, if that's something that seems like it would bug you, then I highly suggest the physical copy.

I, without a doubt, recommend this journal! I may have to invest in a physical copy that way I can experience that way as well.

[Shay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has helped me in so many ways. This journal and the book came in to my life at the perfect time. It really helps to clear all of these what if's that take up space in your mind. I recommend this book to anyone who has anxiety.

Arc provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

The standard advice/techniques, presented with swear words, to interject humor. Despite its obvious attempt at being fresh, there was nothing new here. With that said, it does offer common sense methods for organizing oneself when faced with a mental overload of worry.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on dealing with anxiety in an interactive journal format. I am not much of a writer, so this wasn’t really my cup of tea. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read her previous book on dealing with anxiety rather than jumping right in with the journal.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snarky, funny, and with actual good advice, this journal/workbook is a good tool when you're having a good old freak-out - both for steps on how to (you guessed it) calm the f down, and also for some chuckles to help along the way.

[Michelle Ogden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be handed out to every single person in 2020. We all need this to help us through these crazy times so we can all gain perspective. Reading Sarah Knight helps you bring focus to you life and set boundaries and priorities.

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ridiculously quick read. I spent $20 on it and read it in half an hour. Admittedly, I didn't do the exercises so...... It mainly offers common sense but don't discard on that basis. Even the most level-headed among us occasionally need a visit from Captain Obvious. You may want to read this book.