If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably bought upwards of 100 different journals, notebooks and planners over the years only to use then for a week…then never touch them again.
Everything changed whenI got my iPad and started diving into digital journaking. At its core, digital journaling is exactly what it sounds like: journaling on a tablet (like an iPad) instead of using traditional paper notebooks. You can bring the charm of handwritten notes, stickers, washi tape, and vision boards to life without all the extra stationary “stuff” cluttering your space. I still like to keep notebooks around for grocery, to do list and other brain dump life3 things, but as far as journaling and book tracking, Goodnotes has changed my life!
Whether you’re book tracking, memory-keeping, planning your week, or just need a spot to brain dump your thoughts, the possibilities are endless when it comes to digital journaling!
Why Digital Journaling Might Be Worth a Try
Let’s get one thing out of the way: digital journaling isn’t necessarily cheaper than traditional journaling—especially if you’re starting from scratch. But once you’re set up, there are a lot of perks that I think make it worth it.
- Ultimate flexibility: Your journal starts as a totally blank slate. You can build pages exactly how you want, move things around, add stickers and images, and easily undo mistakes.
- One tablet = endless journals: No need to buy multiple notebooks. You can keep a daily planner, a personal journal, a creative ideas notebook, and a book journal all in one place.
- Creative freedom: Use different fonts, draw with a rainbow of pens and highlighters, import your own images, or keep things minimal—it’s totally up to you.
- Low-effort options available: You can create everything from scratch, or just purchase a premade planner and fill it in like a cozy coloring book.
What You’ll Need to Get Started
Honestly, it doesn’t take much. You just need:
- A tablet (I use an iPad)
- A stylus (like the Apple Pencil)
- A journaling app (more on that below)
Optional, but popular with many digital journalers: a matte screen protector that mimics the feel of paper. Personally, I don’t use one—the texture and sound aren’t for me—but plenty of people love them!
Journaling and note-taking Apps
If you’re on an iPad, you technically don’t need to buy anything extra to start. Apple gives you a couple of great free tools right out of the box:
- Freeform – great for more visual, free-form journaling and idea mapping
- Keynote – surprisingly useful for creating digital journals and layout-style spreads
That said, I prefer using a dedicated journaling app. I currently use Goodnotes and while it does have pretty consistent glitches, it’s working for me so far and seems to have a lot of the features I would want. I’m considering trying out another one soon from the list below:
Digital Planning and Note-taking Apps
- Notability
- Zinnia
- Noteful
- OneNote
Each has different features and pricing models, so it’s worth doing a little research to find the right one for your needs. If you’d be interested in a comparison video, let me know—I’m considering testing some alternatives to see how they stack up!
Choosing Your Journal Style
Once you’ve picked your app, you’ll need to decide how you want your journal to look. You’ve got three main options:
- Start from scratch: Open a blank notebook in your app and build everything yourself. This is what I do most often, and I even have a tutorial on how to create your own book journal in Goodnotes using their built-in tools.
- Buy a pre-designed digital journal or planner: Etsy is full of amazing digital journal creators like Flourish Planner, Happy Downloads, and Paper and Roses. These are often affordable, beautifully designed, and come with helpful layouts like TBR pages, book reviews, and habit trackers. Many shops even offer freebies so you can test their style before you commit.
- Design your own pages in Canva or InDesign: If you’re design-savvy, you can create journal pages in another app, then import them into your journaling app. This gives you full creative control and is especially helpful if you want a polished, consistent layout.
Once You’re Set Up, Just Start
The best part? Once your journal is in your app, you can get started right away and journal to your heart’s content. You’ll never run out of glue, stickers, or open up your favorite pen to find it’s dried out.
Some ideas for what to include in your digital journal:
- Book tracking and reviews
- Vision boards and goal planning
- Memory or travel journaling
- Scrapbook-style spreads for your hobbies & interests
You can add combinations of stock photos, stickers, clip art, washi tape, photo frames, ripped paper (all in the form of digital pictures) to create something totally unique to you.
And if you’re into the aesthetic side of journaling, I’m thinking of doing a video on how to build your own digital sticker book. Like and comment if that’s something you’d love to see—and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss future digital journaling tips!