My journaling workflow

I wish I could say that I’ve been journaling since I was a teenager or when I started college. I wish I could but I can’t. I always thought of journaling as “Dear diary”. I didn’t know better. That’s the way my brain worked. I bought my first journal in 2017. I was about to travel to Columbia on a missions trip with the church. I wanted to document the experience. After I got home, I put the journal away and didn’t pick it up again for a long time.

I started messing around Day One at some point in time. I heard David Sparks talking about it on a podcast and thought I’d give it a shot. It wasn’t until four or five years ago that I started taking journaling serious. It was around the same time that I started paying attention to mental health.

** Side Note Here** I grew up in a church that brushed mental health off as a side effect of sin in someone’s life. That they caused this to themselves. Or at least thats the perception I got from the way people talked about it. ** Side Note End**

I stared realizing that mental health is something real and that people are battling things that I know nothing about. When I started realizing this, I started to ask myself questions. Things like “Is there a way for me to get in front of this so I don’t go through what they’re going through?”. Or “What can I do to help relieve some stress in my life?” These were real concerns for me and one thing I kept reading about or hearing people talk about was journaling. Specifically how it helped people who were struggling with mental health problems.

So I decided to start journaling. It was hard at first. I had my notebook and I would write things down. I struggled with this though. The reason was because I didn’t feel like I was being 100% honest. In the back of my mind, I had this idea that people might find my notebook. What if I had an entry that talked about them in someway. Maybe I was venting or griping. Maybe I was having an issue with a family member. What if they found this journal and read it (apparently I have watched way too many movies where this happens). But in my subconscious mind this was a real issue apparently. I never felt like I was being open and free.

Enter Day One. I had somewhat forgotten about this app. I was listening to a podcast one day and David Sparks brought up Day One again. So I decided to check it out. I started using it but not a consistent basis. Now, I had another issue. I started wondering if this was really journaling. I mean everyone talked about the power of analogue journaling. The act of pen-to-paper journaling. So I had to fight this battle in my mind. I would read articles where people used Day One. Others it was all about the notebooks and the pen you were using. The battle kept on. I went back and forth. Digital. Analogue. Digital. Analogue.

Then something happened. Apple introduced the journaling app for the iPhone. When it came out, immediately downloaded it and started using it. Every day I used this app. It was perfect. It integrated with the phone. It gave you suggestions based off conversations you had with people, places you went or pictures you took. The app stuck and I started to build a consistent habit of journaling. After a year or so of using the app, though, something happened. I realized I was creating a workaround so I could use my iPad. I would open Drafts and journal in there. Then I would go to my iPhone, copy and paste the selection into the Journal app. I waited until WWDC last year (2024) to see if they would come out with a native app for the iPad and they did not.

That’s when I started to look at Day One again. It’s cross platform and they even have a Windows version now (which is perfect for me since I just bought a windows laptop). So I made the switch to Day One. I haven’t looked back. I’ve used it every day for almost a year now.

But the title of this post is about my workflow. All of that was necessary though. I have talked about my pocket notebook and how I carry it around. There are times I will capture ideas in there. I’ll journal a little bit. It’s more bullet journal style. But it’s still a form of journaling. The journal app on the iPhone taught me something though. My best journal entries are from dictation. When I can just talk to the journal. They are raw and messy and I’m not worried about grammar or punctuation. I can just dictate to my journal.  What I used to do was dictate into Drafts. It has the ability to dictate for a long time without cutting you off like other iPhone apps. So I would dictate to the application and then paste it into Day One. However, doing that, you have to give punctuation with your voice. So you’re journaling sounds like this: I am on my way to work (period) Hoping today is better than yesterday (comma) because if its not I’m going to go ballistic (exclamation point). This is fine if you know how to do it. I did it so much it became like second nature to me.

Then I heard about another application. It’s called Whisper Memos. It changed journaling for me. This application allows you to dictate to the application like normal talking. It will then transcribe it for you and email you the copy. Once I heard about this app, I immediately downloaded it. I use this app every day now. I open it up, hit record and start talking. I can talk normal. I don’t have to give punctuation and it transcribes it for me. I get an email and I copy that and paste it into Day One. This causes the journaling to be more authentic. I’m not worried about who may read it. I’m not worried if someone find a notebook open somewhere. I can be myself. Sometimes I’m venting about someone or something at work. Sometimes I’m praising people for something they did. It doesn’t matter. It’s all for me and me alone.

One other part of journaling I should add in is that I try to do morning pages as well. First thing in the morning I try to write three pages. This is stream of conscious writing. A brain dump of sorts. I don’t do it every day but I like to try. It’s a great way for me to empty my head.

There you have it. I would love to hear your journaling practices. Hit me up on Mastadon (greghiggins457@appdot.net) or X (@greghiggins457)