Is Digital Journaling or Paper Journaling Better for You?
Every year smartphones get better, laptops perform faster, and tablets become more versatile. These technical advances have made things way more convenient in our lives. But despite the advances and convenience, some tried and true methods like journaling haven’t changed much. People still prefer paper journaling, though there are many who have made the switch over to digital journaling.
Both have their pros and cons. What matters is deciding which method you prefer. You may have been interested in trying digital journaling for a while now. If so, I encourage you to give it a try. I have and that’s why I feel compelled to write this list so you can consider which one to go with. Whichever option you chose, so long as you journal, you’ll be good to go.
Is digital journaling better for you?
Pro — Eliminates clutter
I loathe clutter. It gets in the way, makes it harder to clean and focus, and it’s generally annoying. As a minimalist, I value my possessions and keep only the things that add value. However, my journals are one thing I cannot declutter. I love going back and reading through them, to gauge my progress and revisit some memories.
Digital journaling eliminates clutter. You’ll no longer have piles of used and unused journals taking up valuable space in your home. Digital journaling allows you to store all your entries in whatever way you choose. If you use Word or Pages, you can store them as files on your computer. If you use Google Docs, you store them on the cloud.
Some digital journaling programs like Bright Pages store them for you. This makes accessing them a breeze. All you have to do is search. You can even add tags. If I want to find an old entry, I have to search through dozens of notebooks until I find the right one.
Pro — More creative
If you’re not the most artistic person, but like to use imagery to convey a story in your journal, digital journaling can help with that. In your digital entries, you can copy and paste images directly into your text. It gives entries an extra flair and at least you know the artwork will be good.
If you are an artistic person and draw mainly on your tablet, you can still copy and paste images into your entries, but they can be your own. You won’t have to redraw the sketch in your paper journal. Besides images, you can also make your text more appealing. You can give a quote a fancy font, change colors, and emphasize certain words or phrases with bold and italics settings.
Pro — Instant backup
If you use a cloud-based digital journaling program all your entries are instantly saved. Google Docs would do the same. You won’t have to worry about remembering to “Save As…” because the programs automatically do it for you.
Knowing you can access your entries from any device is appealing to many people. And if you’re someone like me who sometimes writes things they need to do in the margins of your journal pages, having instant access is amazing. There’s no fear of losing your paper journals in an emergency situation. Your thoughts, memories, and feelings are protected on the cloud.
Con — Less intimate
One major con that people who have tried digital journaling claim is that it’s less intimate than paper journaling. Paper journaling gives you a chance to slow down and think about your thoughts. When you type on the computer, you’re focused more on pressing the right keys. The words come out fast, not giving you a chance to sit with them before moving on to the next one. Digital journaling takes that away from you.
Con — More screen time
Depending on your job, you might be on the computer all day. Do you really want to go home and journal on another one? As a copywriter and proofreader, I am literally staring at a screen all day. Between writing blogs, proofreading manuscripts or essays, and emailing, I can’t wait to shut down at the end of the day.
Digital journaling would be more screen time when I already got my fill during the day. Paper journaling gives you something soothing to look at. And you can sit beside a window and on your couch to write. Not that you can’t do that with a laptop or tablet, but it’s not the same as sitting with a paper journal.
Is paper journaling better for you?
Pro — The power of handwriting
There have been many studies done to showcase the powerful benefits of handwriting. This is why you may hear researchers say it’s better to handwrite your notes rather than use a laptop. Why? Because handwriting forces you to slow down and retain information better.
This is an advantage paper journaling has over digital journaling. When you handwrite your journal entries, you're giving yourself a chance to really recall what happened. Even if you're writing to release frustration. Slowing down helps you determine why you were so mad and what you can do to prevent it next time.
Pro — Take a break from the screen
As I mentioned before, if you’re on the computer all day for your job, your eyes require a break from the screen. Paper journaling offers that. If you’re sitting there, thinking, “But I give myself breaks. I get up and walk around for five minutes. Isn’t that long enough?” No, it’s not.
Staring at a screen for 6+ hours and then coming home to stare at another screen for 3+ hours isn’t doing you any favors. That’s why paper journaling is vital to those who suffer from headaches due to the blue light of screens. It's important to give your eyes a break from screens.
Pro — Flexible
Paper journaling is extremely flexible. You don’t always have to write prose as a journal entry. You can draw a sketch one day, make a bullet-pointed list the next. This type of flexibility is fluid and doesn’t require you to go searching for an image to represent your feelings. You just draw one right there on the page.
Paper journals are also flexible in that you can buy whatever type of journal you want. Journals don’t have to be the standard size you see in stores. You can buy 8.5 x 11 spiral notebooks to be your journal. Or sketchbooks. You can use a pocket-sized notebook — if you want to travel with it — or you can stick to the regular A5 (6 x 8 ¼).
Digital journals don’t give you as many different options. Some may let you choose your background (lines, grid, dot), but in terms of size, theirs is standard all around. You’re at the mercy of following the digital rules and format instead of your own.
Con — Time-consuming
One reason why people love digital journaling is because of how quickly they can get their journaling in for the day. Many people don’t have thirty minutes to sit down and write a journal entry. They prefer the faster-paced method of digital journaling.
Paper journaling does require more time from you. And if you’re someone who can’t read their own handwriting, it’ll be hard to go back and re-read entries. You might also get distracted when paper journaling because it takes longer. Digital journaling means punching out an entry before your family can annoy you with wants and needs.
Con — Easy to lose
I mentioned earlier that digital journaling programs and Google Docs stores everything on the cloud. There’s no need for you to press that save button. Knowing your entries are safely stored is another reason people continue to digital journal. Because paper journals can be lost. You can leave it on the bus, in the park, or in countless other places.
If you lose a paper journal you run the risk of a stranger finding your most intimate thoughts. It also sucks to know you lost a journal full of feelings and memories. Those who travel with their journals run this risk all the time. If you’re someone who easily leaves things behind consider leaving your journal at home or switch to digital journaling.
A con for both forms
One con both digital and paper journaling have is privacy issues. Digital journaling stores all your personal thoughts, feelings, and memories. If you’re hacked the person responsible for this breach now has your private information. Next thing you know, your most intimate thoughts are plastered across the internet.
Paper journaling, though easier to protect from online hackers, can be found by a snooping child or friend. You hope that people would respect your privacy and not open it, but we’re curious creatures by nature and sometimes we can’t resist. Partners, children, and more can read our most intimate thoughts without us even knowing. And if you wrote something not so nice about them, it won't be pretty. Remember that movie, Harriet the Spy?
This con shouldn’t derail you from journaling at all because that won’t be helpful. It should encourage you to encrypt your digital journals or hide your paper journal.
Whatever method you choose to journal — and you can do both — the important thing is that you journal. Don’t waste time wondering if digital or paper journaling is better for you. Start today with paper and try digital tomorrow or vice versa. And don’t forget to follow on Instagram for daily prompts to guide you on either method.
