Meet Bryce Evans, who’s been journaling with Day One for over 2,300 days in a row. Bryce is a father and husband working as a benefits consultant in the state of Utah.

From recording his young children’s goals and milestones, to tagging photos of important moments in his family’s fast-paced lives, to keeping track of favorite recipes he and his wife plan to recreate, Bryce shares how and why he journals, and all that he’s learned from over six years of consistent memory recording.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

“Over 6 years (2,300 days)! I’ve always known I should journal, but had difficulty doing it consistently until a good friend introduced me to Day One. I thought to myself, ‘If he could do it, so could I.’ Fortunately, I have been able to follow his example.”

What makes journaling important to you? 

“I simply want to have a record of my life. Time flies by so quickly and I wanted to remember and cherish the time with my kids while they are young. Day One has helped me to do that! I record about all kinds of things and try to use tags to keep my entries organized. It’s been a great tool to answer questions about when something happened in our life or in one of our children’s lives.”

What do you usually journal about?

“I usually journal about my day, life, and family. I include things about what we do or accomplish or children’s milestones or memories. One year, I wanted more pictures, so I set a new year’s resolution to record a picture from each day of the year. That got me in the habit of putting photos in my journal. This year I created a template of what I wanted to record each day and one of the items in my template is a quote from each day, so when one of my children says something cute or funny or profound, my wife and I text it to each other and I can then record it in my journal for that day as a quote block! These ‘kid quotes’ have quickly become one of my favorite items to record from day to day.

“I’ve also implemented several journal—one for food should we make something that our kids enjoyed, or that we would like to improve on or replicate. Another journal about goals I’m striving to finish, a new year’s resolution tracking journal, a gratitude journal, etc. Some journals are more heavily used than others—but my main journal is where my streak comes from, and I love having a record on the daily.”

What is your journaling habit or routine like?

“I try to journal each evening at the end of my day and while the day is still fresh in my mind. If I don’t manage to complete it in the evening, I try to do so the following morning. Every once in a while I need to block off a few minutes to catch up, but I keep each journal entry unique by reviewing photos, text messages, and my calendar to get a proper accounting of each day.”

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?

“Start simple and go for quantity over quality to build the habit. Simply record one sentence or one photo from the day. As you develop the habit of journaling consistently, you’ll discover what types of things you want to journal and what you want to record and remember. Your entries will get better in time if you start by simply building the simple habit—your journal and its entries will develop and take on a life of their own.”

What have you learned from keeping a journal?

“Keeping a journal has helped greatly with mental clutter. Given that everything I do is written down, I don’t need to worry about remembering all of it since I can remind myself at any time. There is a peace of mind that comes with knowing the information is captured and can’t be forgotten.

“Through keeping a journal consistently with Day One, I’ve learned to slow down, breathe, and cherish the crazy moments in life. My wife and I have young children, so life gets busy. I’m grateful to have a place to record photos, family outings, and quotes of my children somewhere that I can look back on. It’s helped me enjoy some of the crazier times raising young kids.”

What is your favorite thing about the Day One app?

“I love the ability to have multiple journals and the ability to tag entries. I have a tag for each of my children and can find significant milestones or events simply by searching their tag. I can also track goals by searching a tag that I’ve created for a specific goal as well.

“One thing I’d like to do better is to use the On This Day feature more consistently to reach out to friends to stay in contact and relive memories. The friend who introduced me to Day One is really good at this; my wife and I love when we receive a text message from him with a screenshot from his journal reliving a memory we had together—like the time our families camped in a thunderstorm! Like my friend, I’d like to better use that feature to stay in touch and express gratitude and appreciation to people in my life.

“I’m also currently working on a separate journal which includes a photo from the same location that is important to me that I take each time I’m there. In a few more months I’ll use the Book Printing feature to print a book of the pictures I’ve taken at this location.”

How has Day One helped you journal consistently? 

“Day One has simply made it easy to build the habit. Whether it’s a picture, sentence, or template, I’ve found the ability to keep a journal made easy through having the ability to create a quick entry on my phone. I’ve literally gone from someone who knew I should keep a journal but didn’t, to someone who has a 2000+ day streak. Effective journaling doesn’t need to take a lot of time. If you start small and record a quick event, thought, or picture from your day you can quickly amass memories that you’ll later cherish.”

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

The post 2,300 Days with Bryce Evans appeared first on Day One | Your Journal for Life.

Embarking on a journey of self-reflection and meticulous record-keeping, Chris Roberts, an embedded systems software engineer from Washington State, has diligently journaled for 1,075 days—and counting. In a world where digital footprints often fade with the next software update, Chris has cultivated a unique and persistent narrative of life. The practice of journaling, often associated with the exploration of one’s emotional inner landscape, has taken a pragmatic turn in Chris’s hands. Chris’s journal serves as a vault for daily occurrences, a repository for fleeting thoughts, and an archive of personal milestones.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

“I started journaling with Day One in September of 2020 during college and have kept going for 1,075 days as of this writing.”

What makes journaling important to you? 

“Journaling is a way for me to take stock of the day and what happened in it. It’s also important for capturing information I may want to look back on years down the line.”

What do you usually journal about?

“I keep two main journals within day one, one for work and one for personal life. At the end of each work day I write down what I did that day and any reminders or notes I might need in the future. My personal journal is very similar in that it contains a run down of any events that happened in the day. These range from simple tasks completed to major events. My personal journal also contains space for any extra topics I want to write down, sometimes that’s noting a thought I want to pursue or feelings I have.”

When do you journal each day?

“Journaling is the last thing I do in the day before I go to bed. It helps me focus on what happened in the day and how I want to use that going forward.”

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?

“Journaling doesn’t need to be anything massive, some of my entries are only a few sentences. It can also be used as a tool. I often find myself searching for keywords in my journals to determine when a certain event took place.”

What have you learned from keeping a journal?

Wrapping Up: Journaling as a Tool for Capturing Pertinent Information

“Journaling is often viewed from a purely emotional perspective. But for those like me, using it as a tool to help capture pertinent information can be incredibly valuable and even open the door to start to understand some of those emotions that might be harder for engineers or similar people to figure out.”

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

The post 1,075 Days with Chris Roberts appeared first on Day One | Your Journal for Life.

Meet John Auger, a resident of Birmingham, United Kingdom, whose journaling journey has spanned an astounding 2,100 days and counting. As Head of Mobile Development for a UK-based childcare platform, John leads app development for both iOS and Android, and has a keep interest and appreciation for well-made apps like Day One.

In this interview, John shares his profound insights and experiences with journaling—a practice deeply rooted in his Christian faith, personal growth, and the appreciation of life’s fleeting moments. In this article, we’ll uncover John’s threefold journaling routine, from morning prayers and reflections to quick, on-the-fly notations throughout the day, culminating in a nightly reflection, accompanied by a carefully chosen photograph.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

“My first real journalling habit began back in the early 2000s while I was a student. Prior to this, I had written various thoughts and ideas in notebooks off and on, but it wasn’t until I purchased my first laptop —an old Apple iBook G4—that my habit of writing and reflecting on my days really began to stick. There was something about that shiny white iBook that made writing each day really enjoyable, and since then the habit of noting down thoughts and processing the day through the written word has become a key part of who I am.”

What makes journaling important to you? 

“My faith is central to who I am, and journalling forms a key part of this journey as I pray and reflect on the world and the events of my life. For me, journalling is all about bringing clarity to my thoughts and prayers. I find that it’s when I write things down, whether that’s in a long-form paragraph or simply as a series of simple notes, it enables me to observe my own thoughts and reflect on them. It’s as I write that the underlying motivations and reasons for how I’m thinking and feeling become more clear—which then enables me to understand myself and my faith more clearly.

“Similarly, there’s something valuable about capturing moments for the simple nostalgic pleasure of it. Capturing a moment and reflecting on it through the written word and potentially images and video enables that moment to be re-lived again and again, and also enables the identifying of patterns of thinking and feeling over time.” 

What do you usually journal about?

“My journalling usually falls into one of three categories. Firstly, I start every day in prayer and meditation, taking a passage of the Bible and spending time considering what thoughts and lessons there may be for the day ahead. I also think about and pray for the people I will be meeting that day—family, friends, colleagues—considering how I can be a positive presence in their lives in the day to come. All these thoughts I write down by hand using my iPad and Apple Pencil. I love the natural slowness of writing by hand—it forces me to be more aware of what I’m writing, and to be intentional about the actions that come out of this. The pages of this hand-written journal get exported into Day One at the end of each day as a permanent record of my prayers that day. 

“Secondly, I try to quickly and regularly note down events, ideas, frustrations and other thoughts during the day. These get added to a Day One entry as and when I do—usually via a shortcut I have created on my iPhone. This type of journalling is the quickest, usually forming just one or two sentences. It’s helpful for me to have a running log of my thoughts during the day, which then can form a longer reflection on the day which comes later.

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?

“For me, my journalling habit really took off when I gave myself permission to not have to write down long paragraphs of text, but rather to be happy just to capture whatever thought I had in the moment—even if this was just a single sentence, photo, quote, phrase or idea. It’s not about how much you journal in terms of quantity of content, but rather that you journal at all.

“Once I had it clear in my mind that a single thought captured during the course of the day was just as valid as a long, multi-paragraph entry, this gave me the freedom and the incentive to be far more regular in my journalling. This, and making the act of capturing as frictionless as possible by using tools like Shortcuts and the built-in widgets in Day One meant that I could journal freely each day without any sense of having to produce the “right” content. This then naturally turns into a streak without any of the pressure to not “break the chain.””

What have you learned from keeping a journal?

What is your favorite thing about the Day One app?

“The “On This Day” feature has to be up there with my most used in the app. Having journalled for so long using Day One, I now regularly have at least 10 or more entries waiting for me in this part of the app every day and I love looking back at photos and writings from this time in years gone by. I particularly enjoy recognising that there are repeating cycles and milestones through the years—whether that’s the feeling of a new beginning in January or at the start of my kids’ school term, holidays in the summer, birthdays and so on. These milestones all allow my to look back at entries in the past and reflect on all that’s changed since then.

“Very practically, I rely on Day One’s ability to import content from other apps via the iOS Share Sheet a lot. Whether it’s running a Shortcut to grab an image and put some text with it, or sending a hand-written PDF into Day One from Goodnotes, I find much of the content that ends up in Day One isn’t actually written into the app directly. The ease of getting content into the app is definitely a huge part of how much I Iove using the Day One.”

How has Day One helped you journal consistently? 

“By making it super-easy to get content into my journal, Day One has enabled me to develop a consistent journalling habit. Habits grow when they are easy to perform, and so by making journalling as frictionless as possible, Day One has enabled the habit of journalling to take root in my life. It’s also worth mentioning that looking back on entries in Day One is a great experience in itself, largely down to the great UI and design of the app. For me, good layout and design is vital when it comes to wanting to use an app, so these things being present in Day One keeps me coming back to it.”

Wrapping Up: Finding Meaning in the Noise of Life

“My journal in Day One is both a breadcrumb trail, showing me where I’ve been, but in many ways has also become a map to inform me of where I’m headed. It allows me to capture moments that would otherwise pass by unnoticed, reflect on lessons learnt, find meaning in the noise of life. My journal is a testament to who I have tried to be, and who I continue to strive to be for as long as I have left.”

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

The post 2,100 Days with John Auger appeared first on Day One | Your Journal for Life.

In a world of fleeting social media updates and digital interactions, Doug Fleener advocates for the deep reflection and intentionality that comes with daily journaling. As an author, speaker, coach, and business advisor, Doug has found consistency and personal growth from chronicling life’s seemingly ordinary moments through journaling.

His commitment to daily reflection has not only been a mechanism for personal accountability in various aspects of his life, but has sparked an exploration into the profound impact of living each day with purpose.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

I started almost 37 years ago when I entered recovery. While I have been off and on in the last ten years, I have been journaling every day since I found Day One.

What makes journaling important to you? 

Three reasons:

1. First, it’s important for me to start my day focused on getting down the thoughts in my head, the type of day I want to have, and the person I want to be. I end my day by reflecting on how I did with those intentions.
2. Second, I like to capture small and big moments in my day as a living history. 
3. Third, I use it to create streaks in different areas of my life. It’s an accountability tool.

What do you usually journal about?

When do you journal each day?

Always first thing in the morning. There was a time when I would jump into email or social media. Now, I always start with Day One and a good cup of coffee. I will also journal in the evening, although if I miss that, I go back and write the previous evening entry before starting the new day.

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?

Do it at the same time every day. Start writing even if you’re not sure where it is going. Many of my entries start with how I slept. Then, the ball of thoughts gets rolling.

My other advice is to journal how you’re feeling. I know that’s not easy for everyone. But the more I write about my feelings, the better I feel. Especially when I’m feeling good. It also helps me work things out if I’m frustrated, worried, or resentful. I can’t afford to carry any resentments, so when I write them out, I am well on my way to let them go.

What have you learned from keeping a journal?

I learned so much that it led me to write my book about how the year and my life are created by what I do each day. It started with my journaling about living a day without a drink or a drug. It then evolved about how certain principles in my life were working for me. It significantly helped me learn to live with intentional actions. 

What is your favorite thing about the Day One app?

Having multiple journals that are so easily accessible. The layout where the day and date stand out helps me keep my daily journaling streak going. I do not want to miss a day!

How has Day One helped you journal consistently? 

The simplicity. I’m a firm believer that there is brilliance in simplicity. In software, processes, and our lives. Day One has everything I need for successful daily journaling.

Doug’s Daily Journaling to Success

Doug speaks to the invaluable role the Day One app has played in his personal and professional development, underscoring its pivotal role in his 300-day streak of daily reflections. “As a daily performance expert, journaling and Day One is critical to my success. So much that I encourage the readers of my book to download it. “

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

The post 270 Days with Doug Fleener appeared first on Day One | Your Journal for Life.

For the past 2,000 days—a staggering span of over five years—Aaron Thomason has not missed a single day of journaling. This journey has not just been about maintaining a streak; it’s an exercise in self-accountability, an archive of personal evolution, and a vault of day-to-day trivia and philosophical musings.

Whether he’s dictating into his phone during a morning jog or hastily typing out thoughts on his iPad before bed, Aaron has built a habit that is as flexible as it is steadfast.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

I started journaling in the early 90’s and have been consistent with it for the past fifteen years or so.

What makes journaling important to you? 

Journaling is a great way for me to keep from being bottled up, and it’s an even better way to try to be honest with myself and to hold myself to account.

What do you usually journal about?

I write about whatever’s on my mind—whether it’s reflecting on the mundane or the grappling with philosophical questions. Some days I ruminate, some days I vent, some days I rant. Some days it’s asking as many questions as I can. I shoot for anywhere from 800-1,500 words, and I take a picture almost every day.

When do you journal each day?

I really don’t have a set time. Sometimes I will write first thing in the morning and sometimes I write after lunch. I might do a voice memo on my phone while walking, running or bike riding, or I might do dictation in the parking lot before work. A lot of times it’s writing on the iPad right before bed.

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?

Just put *something* down—it doesn’t matter what it is. Don’t judge it and don’t try to edit it, just type or talk and watch the streaks grow. And create different journals! I keep a journal for my running, one for my music practice, one for novel writing ideas, one that I keep great quotes in, and I also keep a Sun Journal that keeps track of whether the sun comes out or not!

What have you learned from keeping a journal?

I’ve learned that I love writing, but more than that just putting my thoughts down. Some days I’m extremely lucid and some days I make no sense at all and it’s all good. I’ve also learned that my memory can play tricks on me and having a record of what happened and what was on my mind at the time can be really mind-blowing!

What is your favorite thing about the Day One app?

I love everything about Day One, but I think the convenience and ease-of-use are my favorites. It’s extremely easy to get an entry going and the interface is simple and beautiful.

How has Day One helped you journal consistently? 

Just knowing that my streak will end if I don’t create an entry, lol!

Living the Examined Life Through Journaling

Aaron’s unwavering dedication to journaling serves as both a therapeutic outlet and an analytical tool, and why he believes, in the words of Socrates, that “An unexamined life is not worth living.” From the convenience of the Day One app to the lessons learned about the fallibility of memory, Aaron’s narrative unfolds as an inspiring testament to the impact of one small, daily act of introspection.

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

The post 2,000 Days with Aaron Thomason appeared first on Day One | Your Journal for Life.

In the heart of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, a consistent journal entry marks the end of yet another day for Martin Eisenloeffel. With nearly 4,000 days under his belt, journaling transcends mere note-taking. It’s a rendezvous with memories, a photographic recollection, and most importantly, a conversation with oneself.

A technical writer by profession, he’s no stranger to the written word. Yet, in his journal, he ventures beyond technicalities to introspect, reflect, and document life’s ebb and flow.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

The entry that started my time as a diarist was part of a project for my grade 8 class. At the risk of dating myself, that journal entry was April 9, 1985. I certainly did not write daily at that time, but I’ve been writing in a journal in some form or another since. I suppose you could say I got bit by the bug pretty bad. 🙂

What makes journaling important to you? 

I think it’s important to keep a record of my thoughts and happenings. In the here and now, it acts as a reference work that reminds me of what I’ve done or felt throughout my life, which helps me to grow and keep perspective as I go through life. Later, I hope it will be an interesting historical document for my family, or anyone else who wants to know what life was like in the time I lived it.

What do you usually journal about?

Typically, my daily events comprise the majority of my entries. Occasionally, I will write longer entries if I feel I need to ‘write something out of my head’ so I can sleep, or want to keep more detailed notes about an event.

When do you journal each day?

Another of my hobbies is photography, so I’m never far from my camera. As iPhone cameras get increasingly better, it’s normal for me to have taken at least one photo each day using my phone, and this is also where a Day One entry begins for me. I usually write my daily entry to end out my day, and I have a shortcut set up on my phone to populate Day One with a template which adds the entry to the appropriate journal, tags it with the right tags, and allows me to add my photo. I’ll pick one from that day, and Day One will automatically add all kinds of metadata from what the iPhone camera captures, which is a real time saver. Then, I typically move to either my iPad or Mac to type the entry out, as I find it’s far easier for me to write using a full keyboard.

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?

Manage your expectations. I know I’ve heard many times that people don’t feel like they could ever write a daily journal because they’re afraid they wouldn’t get the content. I’d say that a title and a photo is, as the saying goes, already worth 1000 words, and takes virtually no time. Also, I’ve found that using a photo, or a sound byte is an excellent springboard for starting to write. Set the bar low, and you will almost certainly surprise yourself.

If you want to know more, I was a guest on the Day One Podcast Episode 9, which according to my journal, was recorded back on Friday, July 13, 2018 for publication July 16, 2018.

What have you learned from keeping a journal?

Has to be “On This Day”. I get so much out of that, and it’s so handy to have it simply display every day in a widget. Effortless! If there’s any devs reading, maybe give us an option for “On This Day – Six Months Ago”. It’d be lovely to see some sunflowers in February. 🙂

A close second is search. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve amazed my friends by looking up the details about a time we had together over the years, or a big snowstorm or other event within seconds of someone musing about it. They think I’m a bit of a magician in this regard.

How has Day One helped you journal consistently? 

It comes down to the ease of use, and the many ways the software removes friction. As I’ve noted, a single picture can populate time, day, location, weather, or even the phase of the moon if you like, so the software does a lot of work for you. But more than that, it offers to jog your memory by telling you where you’ve been on a given day, or calendar events you had.

For example, here is a screen recording of what I see when I pull up an entry from May 2021 when we had a new shed installed in our back garden. I set up my iPhone to do a time lapse and then included the result in Day One. It’s a great way to track it… I took a few of these over the construction, and you really can get a sense of what was involved in that process.

Finally, you can journal from any device, and pick up from where you left off on any other device. Journaling consistently is a trivial task when it’s this simple.

Journaling as the Best Way to Know Yourself and Your Life Better

For those yearning to start their own journaling streak, Martin offers a gold nugget of wisdom: “You’re the greatest person you’ll ever meet, and the one you’ll spend the most time with. Journaling is the best way I’ve found to know yourself and your life better. That knowledge enriches life in positive ways, so go forth and write!”

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

The post 4,000 Days with Martin Eisenloeffel appeared first on Day One | Your Journal for Life.

From the picturesque shores of Cape Schanck on the Mornington Peninsula, to the bustling environments of his on-set job, Ian Colquhoun has been weaving his narrative tapestry, one entry at a time. Venturing back to 2008, Ian’s journey with journaling speaks of consistency, adaptability, and the pivotal role that modern technology has played in documenting life’s minutiae.

With over 5,000 journal entries spanning various aspects of his life—from work to personal travels—Ian’s story is a testament to the power of persistence. But what drives a person to maintain such a commitment? For Ian, it’s about memory preservation, documentation, and a love for an app that has made all the difference.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

My journaling now goes back to mid 2008. I started using Day One in 2018 and gradually worked backwards from there, using work records, photos and diary entries to get me back to where I started my current job.

What makes journaling important to you? 

I like having a record of daily events, even trivial ones just for my own satisfaction.

What do you usually journal about?

I have kept journals on and off for many years but could never sustain the effort until Day One and a mobile phone made it so easy.

Previous attempts were usually very personal but tended to the long-winded and I had to have a functioning pen, the actual journal and the time to make notes. I found it was hard to keep that up for any length of time.

When I discovered Day One I wanted the ability to keep a work journal as a sort of protection – a record of what I had done and the equipment used and so on in case there were questions at a later date, but it very quickly expanded and I now maintain some 20 journals for various reasons. The main work journal streak stretches from 1 August 2008 to the present (5,292 days as I write).

As I just noted, I now maintain multiple journals—a daily diary, a journal noting activities relating to my family history clients, a couple that relate to some overseas trips taken for medical treatments and many more

When do you journal each day?

At work, my journaling is an absolute. Once I have set up my camera and any alarms that I need for critical events on the shoot and I’ve checked in with the crew I’m responsible for, the next thing I do – without exception – is to journal the day so far. I have multiple templates set up for common circumstances and I use an appropriate one to give me consistency. Then, as the day progresses I can update the entry until the end of the day, when parts of it can function as a report, if needed.

When not at work, I usually trigger an entry first thing in the morning using a template and then make notes as needed.

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?

That’s simple. Consistency. As I noted above, I have made journaling each day a strict part of my routine. It’s the only way that works for me. It takes me just a few seconds to make the initial entry, using a template, then I can add details as needed. Tags are a great help too.

What have you learned from keeping a journal?

I use journaling primarily as an aide mémoire. As such, I need it to be searchable. I have devoted a deal of time to setting up consistencies in format and wording to aid in those searches. For example, all of my work entries are titled by location so if I refer to a different location in any given area the spelling is altered so it doesn’t affect any searches for that location

I have 13 custom-made journal templates that cover most situations and provide me with an initial framework for each entry. After that, it’s just a matter of adding details as required.

How has Day One helped you journal consistently? 

Ease of use. Day One simply makes it easy to journal. I can add information so easily, be it text or photos or audio that it promotes, at least for me, that consistency that means I canjournal consistently, at long last.

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

The post 5,000 Days with Ian Colquhoun appeared first on Day One | Your Journal for Life.

For Tracy Schuster, a retired science and technology teacher, journaling is more than a mere pastime; it is an artful symphony of memories, musings, and creativity.

In this interview, we explore how Tracy’s journal became a cherished time capsule, blending laughter and nostalgia, all carefully curated with the Day One app.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

I started in 2013 after falling on a mountain bike ride in Moab, UT and needing something to fill the creative void left when I couldn’t make a big video production of the trip (as I usually did) due to the 18 stitches in my knee.

What makes journaling important to you? 

What do you usually journal about?

Our journal is a combination of what we did each day as well as every day having a cartoon episode and commentary that I email out to followers. The cartoon is now 9 1/2 years along and it involves a 20” plastic skeleton named Heinrich and our new puppy Bennett along with other “friends” he has.

The cartoon episodes started as funny comics of our former dogs that I would make and send to my husband in the summer while I was off and he was at work and then morphed into “Hanging with Heinrich” after the skeleton joined our household in November of 2013. The episodes are generally related to things we are doing (so they also describe our daily lives and thoughts) or they encompass our take on various National Day Holidays.

When do you journal each day?

When I worked, it was at 4:30 in the morning before having to get ready for work, during my down time at work, or in the afternoon while waiting for my husband to come home. Now I fit it in any time I can, generally in the morning, lunch time, or mid afternoon if we are not busy. Often I will also add information and thoughts anytime throughout the day that they hit me.

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?

For me, it was nice to have an audience (which at first was just my husband and now is many more people). I have a mother who is a career counselor and even wrote a book about journaling and she was always telling me I should start a journal (the rest of my family does journal). I balked at the idea – writing about my innermost thoughts and feelings just wasn’t up my alley.

Once I found a way to make journaling my own, and gave it a purpose I believed in, it’s been easy to carry on every day for over 9 1/2 years. The biggest suggestion is to make it your own and if nothing is coming to you on any given day, just take a picture and describe where it was or why you like it as a commitment to storing your days for possible future perusal.

What have you learned from keeping a journal?

That having the ability to look back and see where you where and what you were thinking is fascinating!! It has really helped me (and my husband) to remember all of the things and details of our life which would otherwise be frosted over by time.

What is your favorite thing about the Day One app?

The fact that we can click the On This Day widget on our home screen and read/view all of the entries for up to the last 10 years (I didn’t keep the journal daily until September of 2013 – there are some gaps). Seeing, reading, and often reliving the past so clearly is something I never thought I’d get into, but we really enjoy reading the last 10 years of entries and talking about the “Oh, remember…” that comes to us. I also appreciate the ability to quickly export my text and photos to other apps so I can send the daily episodes and commentary to my readers.

How has Day One helped you journal consistently? 

The timeline shows you every day at a quick glance, and after a while you really feel like you need to keep the streak going so you can remember EVERY day, not just the big or particularly striking stuff along the way.

Journaling in Day One has been a lifesaver for keeping all of my thoughts and episodes in one, well organized place. Once I realized that journals can be what YOU want them to be, and that keeping a journal that is meaningful to you is beyond enjoyable and rewarding, I can’t imagine missing a day!

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

The post 3,700 Days with Tracy Schuster appeared first on Day One | Your Journal for Life.

For Donovon Spencer, an accountant from Orem, Utah, journaling isn’t just a record-keeping exercise; it’s an extension of his memory, liberating his mind to savor the present fully. With a simple yet profound practice, he has managed to preserve the moments that make up his life in a remarkable way. For the past 1,100 days, Donovon has immersed himself in the art of journaling, crafting a timeless chronicle of his daily endeavors, joys, and challenges.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

I started journaling consistently in May of 2017.

What makes journaling important to you? 

What do you usually journal about?

I always write a brief report of my day including the major activities, fun things that happened, and struggles that I overcame. I also try to write down the thought processes I have as I make bigger decisions or work through things. I also make sure to write down something that made me happy each day.

When do you journal each day?

I try to journal every night before bed. If something gets in the way of that I’ll catch up the following morning. It only takes a few minutes a day but has grown into a massive library cataloguing my life.

What tips or advice would you give others who want to build a journaling habit?

I think the most important thing is to find a routine that works for you. If you can carve out a specific time, even ten minutes, every day to write something down, it’ll start to become a part of who you are. Once you start to build your streak it will get easier and easier to keep it going! On hard days, try to remember why you started journaling in the first place.

What have you learned from keeping a journal?

What is your favorite thing about the Day One app?

 I love that I can journal from anywhere at any time! I also love being able to keep track of where I was, what the weather was like, and what time I wrote each entry. I used to do all of my journaling in paper notebooks and the biggest issue was writing when I was traveling or not having my notebooks when I wanted to read my entries. Day One solves all of these problems and makes journaling a pleasure!

How has Day One helped you journal consistently? 

I think just having access to my journal no matter where I am was the biggest enabling factor Day One brought to the table. That and journal streaks!

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

The post 1,100 Days with Donovon Spencer appeared first on Day One | Your Journal for Life.

In the peaceful suburbs of Philadelphia, retired chemical engineer David Geveke has cultivated a deep-seated bond with the art of journaling. From his initial venture into journaling, inspired by his wife’s experiences with the Day One app, to marking an incredible milestone of over 900 continuous journal entries, David’s journey serves as a testimony to the power of self-reflection and gratitude.

Maintaining a daily journal, David meticulously documents the contours of his life. Journaling is an integral part of his daily routine, providing not just recollection, but introspection.

How long have you been keeping a journal?

Nearly three years.

What makes journaling important to you? 

What do you usually journal about?

I usually start journaling each day by using the Today feature which presents any photos I’ve taken or places I’ve been that day. In general, I try to include something I’m thankful for. Most days this is easy, but some days, my journal entries are short and concentrated on how I am feeling. Also, if I don’t have much to journal about myself, I will note what’s going on with family and friends.

When do you journal each day?

I almost exclusively journal in the evening before bedtime. That way, my day’s events are complete. As I mentioned before, I use the Today feature to jog my memory with photos, places, and events. I also routinely do a few other things. One is look at my GTD (or To Do) list to see what I’ve accomplished. Another memory helper is to review my internet history to see what interested me or what I purchased. Yet another prompt is to review text messages I’ve sent. Sometimes, I can just copy them and paste them directly into my journal.

What is your favorite thing about the Day One app?

My favorite thing about the Day One app is using the On This Day feature. It lists your journal entries on this day one, two, or more years ago. Looking through my past entries is one of my favorite parts of the day. It motivates me to continue adding entries so that, in the years to come, I will have more treasured memories to relive. And, as proof of the saying “what goes around comes around,” my wife, who inspired me to start journaling, loves it when I share my On This Day entries with her.

How has Day One helped you journal more consistently? 

As with any long term habit, you will stick better with it if the task is meaningful and easy. Day One is useful immediately as a gratitude journal for improving your health. And, the longer you use it, the more information is stored that will be helpful for recalling past events and experiences. This usefulness would not be enough to motivate you to journal every day if it was difficult. But, the magic of Day One is that journaling is made easy with features like Today and New Entry.

Did you recently cross a journaling streak milestone? We’d love to hear your story! Tell us your Streak Story here.

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