As more of us move details of our lives online and into the cloud, the options for digital journaling have become much better than they were even a few years ago. Digital journaling software is more flexible, more private, and easier to use than ever. So where does this leave the paper versus digital journaling debate? Having gone back and forth between both types of journaling over the last few years, I’ve found value in each kind and want to share a few ideas about the different ways you can use them below.
This turned into longer-than-usual post (and, obviously, much of this is my opinion based on what works for me), but the TLDR version is: both types of journaling come with pros and cons. Which you choose depends on what you want to use your journal for, how you prefer to journal, and what fits with your lifestyle. Personally, I’ve landed on keeping both digital and paper journals. I use them for different things, as I’ll share below, and I’m open to switching up my systems in the future too.
As you’ll see, I mention different apps, hardware, and so on in this post, so I want to clarify now: all you need to journal is a pen and paper. Extras can be fun to play with, but definitely not necessary to have an enriching and fulfilling journaling practice 🙂
What I’m currently journaling with
Digital: My main digital journal is in Day One. I’ve tried different journaling software over the years and this is by far the easiest to use and offers the kind of features I want (ability to create and encrypt different journals, tags, easy to set up and maintain, and looks nice). I’ve also used the undated digital bullet journal from Boho Berry, which works on tablets. For the reasons I mention below, I’ve switched back to using a paper journal for my main bullet journal, however Kara also makes great digital project journals, which I do still use and find to be very helpful.
Paper: In the past, I’ve kept paper journals for reflective journaling, however I’ve now switched this over to Day One to make it easier to organise entries and reduce clutter. The main paper journal I keep right now is a bullet journal (I use this notebook). I’ve been using the bullet journal system for the last 2+ years and I love it. I seriously don’t know what I would do without it at this point (for more on this kind of journaling, check out this introductory series, plus 49 ideas for bullet journaling spreads).
This is what works for me right now and, as I’ve written about here plenty of times before, journaling can be whatever you want it to be. My journaling practice has evolved and change as my journaling has (and as new technology and digital options have become available), and I’m always interested to see how this will continue in the future 🙂 Here are a few reflections on the key differences between paper journaling versus digital journaling so far:
Paper Journaling
Pros:
Hand-writing is powerful.
Studies have shown we remember more when we write by hand and, because it takes longer, it makes us slow down and process what we’re writing. Personally, I love writing things down by hand—an opportunity that is becoming more and more scarce these days! I’m not a huge fan of my handwriting, but it’s legible, I love the feeling of pen and paper and there is nothing more satisfying than crossing something off a hand-written list (a tap on a screen just doesn’t compare) 🙂
Screen break! A major advantage of paper journaling versus digital journaling for me is that it’s more portable and easy to pick up/put down during the day. Yes, I can access my Day One journal on my phone, but I spend more time on that gateway to distraction than I feel good about anyway (I’m especially conscious of this now I have a kid observing me and my habits…) Journaling by hand is a nice break from typing and looking at screens, and it’s much easier to pop a notebook into my bag than carry a laptop or tablet around with me all the time.
With that being said…
Cons:
If I lose my bullet journal? Sad times.
I could probably recreate the most important parts, but there is a lot in there that I might not get back. There are ways around this (for example, taking photos of the most important Collections and storing backups in Day One), but it would still be a huge pain in the backside to lose my notebook. Not to mention that there is a lot of personal information inside. It wouldn’t be life-shattering if someone else found and read it, but it would definitely feel invasive.
Privacy
This is an issue with paper journaling overall (and one of the reasons I now keep my super personal journaling in Day One): unless you make a point of hiding your notebooks, keeping them in a safe, or something equally as drastic, anyone can find and read them. This has happened to me in the past and it’s a horrible experience. Obviously, digital solutions are not infallible, but having password protection, etc. makes me feel more comfortable, which makes the process of journaling more useful overall.
It can be more time-consuming
The other main drawback with paper journaling is if you use certain templates or pages often, it takes longer to replicate them than it does with a digital journal. Doing this digitally takes time to set up (it took me a few weeks of tedious clipping, copying and pasting to fully set up my digital journal when I first started), but once it’s done, it’s done and all you need to do is copy and paste what you need between pages.
Creating a journal index (or using a notebook like the Leuchtturm 1917 that has one built in) has made it much easier to organise my paper journaling, but there’s no denying the “copy and paste” and “find” functions are much quicker for finding and replicating oft-used pages in a digital journal.
Digital
Pros:
Less clutter
As I already mentioned, one of the biggest advantages of digital journaling is less clutter. While I love the act of writing by hand, the notebooks quickly stack up and, in a small apartment, take up valuable shelf/cupboard space. I have experimented in the past with going through and scanning each page of a notebook before shredding and trashing it, but this is time-consuming and it’s still hard to archive the page images in a way that is easy to refer back to later. As I use Day One, my journals are synced with iCloud, so I can add as many entries, images, etc. as I want, and I won’t run out of space. On the subject of images…
Easy to include images
Using Day One (or Goodnotes for digital bullet journaling, which I’ll discuss more below), I can drag and drop pictures into journaling entries. It’s quick, simple, and is a really nice way of reflecting back on special times, places, and memories that might otherwise disappear in time. You can add pictures to a paper journal, however you will need a photo printer that will produce a notebook-sized picture at an OK quality (although I don’t own either, I have heard journalers say good things about the HP Sprocket and the Canon Selphy).
Automatic backups
As I mentioned above, I would be somewhat adrift if I lost my paper journal. This isn’t a problem with digital journals as everything is backed up. Even if I lost all my devices at once (horror), I would still be able to log into the relevant account and retrieve my journals later.
Automation
Automation is something I’m fairly new to, but I can already see how much potential it has. Day One integrates with If This Then That, an app that connects different software and applications. This allows you to record all kinds of data automatically, from simple things like social media updates you post or are tagged in, photos, task lists, music you’ve listened to, TV shows you’ve watched, etc., to more complicated automations that record data about your day, actions, and habits. I don’t personally track all these things (I have a “reading/watching/listening to” spread in my bullet journal and track specific habits each month), but if you like collecting this kind of data, digital journaling opens up a world of automation-related possibilities.
Easy to organise
As I’ve already mentioned in this post, it’s easy to set up different journals and change they way you organise them as you go with an app like Day One. The ability to set up different journals, use tags, colour-coding, and more all help keep your entries searchable and neat.
Cons:
Software limitations, bugs, and inflexibility
This is probably the biggest drawback of digital journaling for me. I like Day One because it gives you lots of flexibility to set it up how you want and make it your own. This isn’t the case with all apps though. I’ve found I eventually become frustrated with the rigidity and limitations that come with using software designed for a specific purpose rather than the blank canvas of a notebook and pen.
This is especially the case for digital bullet journaling. While I love the Boho Berry journals I mentioned above, I find the main application they are designed for, Goodnotes, to be somewhat clunky. That’s just my experience, and the app has raving fans out there too, but random crashes and bugs started to irk me after a while. There are alternative options out there, however I’ve also heard mixed reviews for these and don’t fancy taking on the learning curve that comes with adopting a whole new app and system right now when I’m pretty happy with my notebook. Hopefully as digital bullet journaling gains more momentum, better solutions will become available :).
It feels more impersonal
Like I mentioned above, I get a personal satisfaction from writing in my journal, feeling pen on paper, and seeing my words reflected back in my own handwriting. As convenient as digital journaling is, seeing what I’ve written reflected back in neat, uniform letters in a font someone else created just doesn’t have the same personal feel.
I don’t want to be carrying around expensive equipment with me everywhere
While I have a tablet and laptop, I don’t love carrying them around with me. As frustrating as it would be to lose my paper journal, I can always pop out and get a new one without stressing about it too much. New computer? Not so much.
More screens…
I work in front of a screen and do most daily task-related things (looking at maps, checking items off a shopping list, communicating with other people) on a screen too. While I’m not anti-screens at all, sometimes it’s nice to give my eyes and sensory system a break and do something with pen and paper too.
Privacy
This one again! Privacy is always going to be an issue with journaling and, as I mentioned above, paper isn’t exactly the solution to this. As I also mentioned, the reason I chose Day One is that it offers encryption and password protection. This isn’t foolproof and there is always a risk with storing personal data online, but until a better solution comes along it’s what I’m working with right now.
So there are some of the pros and cons of paper versus digital journaling I’ve been thinking about recently. Like I explained at the beginning of the post, I’ve landed on combining both types and using them for different purposes. What about you? Do you have a preference towards either paper or digital or, like me, do you prefer to mix it up?
If you have any other notebook, app or software suggestions I haven’t mentioned here, I’d also love to hear them! Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
