digital journal – Cynthia D. Griffin

Here is a journal that’s been in the works for awhile, at least on a subconscious level. One of the things I have struggled with continually has been to relax, lighten up, and not take life so seriously all the time. So I decide to make it one of my new year’s resolutions, and while at first it seemed like I was making no progress at all on this particular resolution, about April/May time frame I realized I actually had.

That’s the thing about some resolutions or desires for change. They can happen when you don’t even realize it. This was certainly one of them. The realization came as I noticed that I had been making progress with being more playful in small, but consistent ways like getting even more into role playing video games, reading more books (especially series, which I love to do), and just allowing myself to experiment with ideas, thoughts, and even my daily schedule. In doing more of what I loved, and being more open to change and new ideas, I discovered more playful energy in my day to day life.

So with that in mind, I created the seventh book in my Journaling To Feel Good Series called I Feel Playful When as a reminder to me of all the ways I have invited more playfulness in my life. Not only is this a great reminder for me, it’s somewhat of a blueprint for others to find their playfulness as well.

The journaling prompts inside this guided journal, which are… I feel playful when, I feel excitement doing, I love to experimenting with, I enjoy thinking about, I think it’s fun to, I feel the most joy when I, I feel adventurous about. Each help dive and dig out the things that bring out the playfulness in us (at least it did for me!).

Here is the official book blurb…

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I made myself a new year’s resolution to look into digital journaling. Surprisingly, I have yet to do such a thing as I have clung to my old school habit of needing a physical book and pen to journal. But I decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about, because I know some people have really taken to digital journaling. In my research, I found 10 apps that I really enjoyed using for digital journaling.

As I have an iphone, the below information is related to apps that can be downloaded on iphone or ipads.

First, I found that there are two ways to keep a digital journal. You can either go through an app that’s specifically for journaling (and the app supplies the digital pages to journal on), or you can use a note-taking app that let’s you design your own (basic) journals, or import pdf files of digital journals pages purchased from someone else.

Which one is the right way to go? Well, that really depends on how much creative control you want for the way your digital journal looks, and if you want to import pdfs or not. There are some journaling apps that are very basic, while others let you really get creative with how your journal looks. Let’s start with the journal specific apps.

Journaling (Info Tracking) Apps

Journey

This is a journal specific app that allows you to customize your journaling journey, and is good for tracking certain kinds of information (like health, mood, location, ect.). You can either do simple journal entries each day, or get really detailed with photos, GEO tagging, mood recording, and even track your exercising and health habits. This app also offers a step by step journaling coach if you aren’t sure what to write about each day. The basic journaling options are free, but the GEO, health tracking, and coach requires an in app purchase. You can also sync this app with your Google Drive and across other devices.

Mood App

I really love this one! It’s great for doing one or multiple journal entries a day. It has a mood tracker, so you can keep track of how you are feeling. This app offers a few journaling prompts if you would like a little help with what to write. You can also upload photos and keep track of locations. There is also a live journaling group, if you want to be part of a community. My favorite part of this app is the Spaced Out feature that has planets moving around in the background and repeating affirmations to give you a nice positive boost for the day.

Flow Journal

This app is best used at the end of the day. It’s really great for setting goals of how you want to feel and/or accomplishments you’d like to achieve. Some of these goals are fun, productivity, relaxation, relationships, gratitude, family, growth, ect. You let the app know what you accomplished each day, and it tracks your progress. You can add a journal entry, photos, and location as well. After inputting entries for a period of time, you can go back and look at your accomplishment trends.

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