Giving Up On Fancy Journaling Apps

I’m giving up on specialized journaling apps. They entice with nice layouts and fancy features, but they’re proprietary systems. While most have an export function, journal entries are still somewhat locked-in. I switch my set-up too often to be stuck in a special app, so now I’m just using Google Docs. Simplicity and flexibility rule.

I’ve enjoyed Journey, Day One, Apple Journal, and others. In fact, I give full credit to Day One for getting me into the good habit of journaling regularly, thanks to its daily Streak feature. And even now thinking about it, I feel drawn to rely on the award-winning diary program once again. But I resist.

Apple Journal was the latest fancy app I used. It’s restricted to only working on the iPhone, not even on a Mac or iPad. And since I’ve switched from iPhone to Android, well, Apple lock-in doesn’t work for me.

Google Docs, on the other hand, is ubiquitous and cross-platform. Journal entries are discreet files that can be exported to other common text formats. That’s really what most journals are, just text. Thoughts and feelings represented by words on a page. Why complicate it? That said, I can also directly add pictures to my journal entries inside of Docs from Google Photos. It’s easy enough.

My current journaling method is simple. Instead of creating a new G-Doc for each daily entry, I create one for each month. Then each day entry gets Heading 1, and any sub-entries on a given day get Heading 2. A full month of entries is easy to navigate with the sidebar outline, which is automatically generated based on each heading.

I also have a shortcut to the current month’s journal on the home screen of my Android phone, so it’s forefront and easy to jump in and record some thoughts.

Like with most things, reducing something to its simplest form, removing any barriers or friction, ensures success. Google Docs may seem rudimentary compared to robust dedicated journaling apps, but it’s more accessible. When it comes to journaling, the greater the access, the greater the success.

Will I be able to stick to my guns? Or will I eventually be swayed by cool journaling app features? There’s a chance I’ve given them up for good.

Note to self: keep it simple.