How to Start a Digital Journal: A Quick Guide for Beginners
How to Choose the Best Digital Journal App
The biggest downside to digital journaling is the overwhelming number of apps you have to choose from. With a physical journal, any notebook will get the job done. But with digital journaling, you need to make a big decision before you can even get started. Compare your favorite apps with the features below to ensure they offer everything you need. If you don’t fancy the research, one of the best digital journaling apps is Day One. You can use it on iOS, macOS, Android, and web browsers.
What to Write in Your Digital Journal
Getting started with a digital journal is easy. All you need to do is type exactly what you would normally write in a physical journal. If you aren’t sure how to start your digital journal, try some free-flow writing without worrying about what you want to say.
Another benefit of digital journaling is that you can always edit your entries at a later date.
If you need more ideas on how to start your electronic journal, take a look online for digital journaling templates. This offer prompts and questions you can answer to fill out your journal entries.
Lots of digital journaling apps even let you save the template so it appears each time you create a new entry.
Use Notifications to Build a Journaling Habit
One of the most important aspects of beginning a journal, physical or digital, is that you build a habit to regularly write in it. The easiest way to form a good habit is to write in your journal at the same time in the same place, each and every day.
Thanks to built-in notifications from most digital journaling apps, it’s easy to set up alerts that remind you when you need to write in your journal. You can even track your word count and set yourself a target to reach with each entry.
Before long, your ingrained habits will make you write in your journal without depending on notifications.
Add Photos and Media to Your Digital Journal
Digital journaling lets you add much more than just the written word to your journal entries. Use photos, audio clips, and videos to fill out your journal. The added color and sound works to bring you memories to life when you read back through it.
One picture is worth a thousand words, after all.
Many digital journaling apps also add other metadata to your journal entries. These show more about your day without you needing to write it. They could include your step count, location, time of entry, and even the music you’re listening to while you write.
Use Social Integration to Capture Your Whole Life
Many of us spend a substantial portion of our time on social media. Thanks to social integration, you can create automated systems to add this side of your life to your digital journal as well.
Every time you post a tweet, get tagged in a photo or update your Instagram story, these systems create a new entry to capture it in your journal.
Keep Your Journal Organized With Tags
Finding a particular entry is far easier with a digital journal than a physical one. Say goodbye to rifling through the pages of countless dusty diaries and start using a search bar to find the memories you’re looking for instead.
You can also add an extra layer of an organization by tagging your journal entries. Create useful categories like “Work,” “Family,” or “News.” Then you can view all your work-related entries, for example, by selecting the “Work” tag.
Some apps even let you create multiple journals to use alongside each other. This is a great idea if you want to create a dream journal or a work journal and keep them separate from your personal day-to-day entries.
