Discovering The Joy Of Digital Journaling With Apple Notes
I’ve made several attempts to journal in the past, but I struggled to maintain the habit. Using physical notebooks didn’t work for me since I couldn’t carry them everywhere. I experimented with apps like Evernote and Day One, but eventually, I lost consistency and stopped journaling, despite Day One being an amazing app for which I even purchased a subscription.
About 12 days ago, I decided to give journaling another try, but this time, I set clear expectations for myself. My goal was to simply jot down my thoughts without worrying about perfection. I wanted to empty my mind and gain clarity. Writing down my thoughts feels fantastic — it’s like expressing myself to myself — and it’s the quickest way to discover more about who I am.
Initially, I sought out the perfect app for journaling, but I soon realized that I would fall into the trap of pursuing perfection again. What I really needed was a space where I could freely dump all my thoughts. Considering I also wanted the ability to easily search through my entries, a digital platform seemed like the ideal solution.
I also wanted to avoid paying for any journaling service because I knew it would be a waste of money if I didn’t stick to the habit. I desired to develop this practice naturally, genuinely enjoying the process of freely expressing my thoughts without any filters.
Considering I use an iPhone, I decided to go with Apple Notes. It offers text formatting, supports images, videos, and tags. Although it doesn’t meet all my requirements, such as a date filter in search or note revisions, it provides the easiest and most accessible experience. Since I carry my phone everywhere, it’s convenient and offers the best typing experience, especially on an iPhone.
One aspect I wanted was the ability to auto export or backup my notes to services like Google Drive or Dropbox. I prefer not to keep all my notes in a single location, as I fear losing them all at once.
As for what I write about, I log my day and thoughts, but I do it intermittently rather than all at once. This approach helps me write something every day instead of nothing. I also take moments during the day, especially when my mind feels full, to jot down my thoughts. It lightens my mental load.
So far, I’ve successfully maintained this habit for over 12 days, and it feels amazing. I didn’t have any expectations this time, but it seems to be working. Each of my notes is now longer and more detailed than I’ve been able to achieve in the past.
My process is straightforward. In the morning, I create a new note with today’s date as the title, and I start writing whatever comes to mind. Whenever I want to log an event during the day, I try to include a timestamp. When something doesn’t relate to what I’ve written so far, I use two dashes as a separator and begin a new block of text.
I’ve even started adding images and videos to my notes, and the end result looks great!
Although I am concerned about potentially being confined within Apple’s ecosystem, I made the decision to focus on what currently works and address any other issues at a later time.
