The Journal App Making Journal: Day 49
Pen & paper journaling vs. digital journaling
Continue to journal on two questions everyday in this Journal App Making Journal.
1. What have I learned about app design and development today?
Taking a break from coding today.
2. What have I learned about journaling products / technologies / other journal users today?
Continue to look into other journal users out there under the Medium hashtag #journaling.
Featured journal user today: Jackie Schwabe
> About Jackie and her 30-day journaling challenge
In September 2019, Jackie wrote a blog about a 30-day journaling challenge, to look at ideas on how to journal and their benefits. I have grouped her ideas into the following 6 areas, and take on looking into something from each area everyday in the coming weeks.
- General benefits of journaling.
- Specific ways of journaling for productivity, planning, and learning.
- Specific ways of journaling for imagination and creativity.
- Specific ways of journaling for regulating moods and emotions.
- How to establish a journaling habit.
- Journaling systems, tools, and technologies.
> Key ideas I learned from Jackie today
Today, we look at theme #6: journaling systems and technologies. And this is a topic close to my heart, given the fascination of this blog is around journaling mediums and its goal to create a journal app in the end!
On this topic, I would summarise Jackie’s observations and suggestions into two parts.
- Regarding the choice between pen & paper vs. digital mediums;
- Regarding using the format of a diary vs a journal, and a hybrid of the two — The Bullet Journal.
Today, we look at Part 1, tomorrow, we review Part 2.
Regarding journaling mediums, Jackie explored the advantages and disadvantages of,
- using pen & paper vs. digital mediums,
- among digital options especially mobile devices,
- among paper options especially cheap and small portable ones.
For example, pen & paper give
- a handwriting, drawing, physical, tangible, and kinaesthetic experience.
- Paper also has a size that tends to be bigger than phones or tablets, gives a sense of spaciousness.
- These are found to activate multiple regions of the brain, and is great for imagination, creativity, mindfulness, and focus, without distractions from the phone.
- Small paper journals can also carry the benefits of being portable.
Digital journaling on the other hand, via apps on mobile devices and personal computers, are
- convenient, versatile, more portable, and shareable, great for spontaneous and multi-media content capture, motivation, habit formation, and accountability.
- Other useful features mobile technology offers include reminders, goal tracking, multi-media inputs, possibility of handwriting and drawing, security, privacy, and backups.
- Apps can go from simple note / word apps, to full blown feature rich journal apps purpose built for food, fitness, habits, publishing, or travel.
While acknowledging the choice of the medium on which we externalise thoughts and the mind is ultimately a personal one, I love Jackie’s conclusion about the principle in this choice, that,
“Maintaining consistency provides the most impact when it comes to journaling. That’s what’s really most important.”
In second part of this theme around journaling systems and technologies, Jackie looked at the difference between a diary and a journal, and a popular hybrid of the two — The Bullet Journal. Never used this before, will take a detailed look at this tomorrow.
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