Journalling 101. A guide to journalling digitally(on Goodnotes) and on paper!

JOURNALLING 101

Journalling has recently become something I practice every day. It has improved my productivity and efficiency and has helped me organise my day into a more structured one. 

The first thing to understand about journaling is that you should try and be consistent to actually see the benefits.

Journalling is completely customisable and is made to fit you and your preferences. There are several different ways of journaling. You can journal on paper or digitally, you can journal about your thoughts and your feelings, and you can journal to organise your day and create a schedule. 

DIGITAL JOURNALLING 

For digital journaling, I like to use my Ipad Pro 10.5 inch with a second-generation apple pencil. I like to use the Goodnotes 5 application. You can find several templates and paper patterns that Goodnotes offers, and you can also find a few others on Pinterest. 

Goodnotes

In Goodnotes, you can make several different folders, and under each folder you can create more folders and notebooks. When you open a notebook, you are asked to choose a cover page. The cover pages that Goodnotes offers are very cute and will motivate you to actually study. There are many patterns, designs and colors for you to choose from. After choosing the cover page, you will be asked to choose the kind of paper you would like to write on. Goodnotes offers yellow, black and white coloured papers with endless patterns and formats, you have squared, lined, and dotted paper with several different column options. You even have music paper templates and planner templates. These are pretty much the basics of goodnotes. It also offers several tools within a notebook, like highlighters, three different kinds of pens, a lasso tool, a blending tool that offers many variations, a shape tool, photo tool, the list could go on. I have been using it for almost 6 months now, and I am very happy with it. 

Goodnotes is a chargeable application and runs for $7.99, which in my opinion is completely worth it. 

There are many other applications that support digital journaling. A few of them that I have heard about are notability and liquidtext. 

Besides using goodnotes for journalling, I also like to use it for taking down notes during online classes. 

This is one of the notes that I had made on goodnotes. As you can see, I have used different pen sizes and have imported several pictures to make my notes more detailed. 

JOURNALLING ON PAPER 

I much prefer journalling in a book or on paper. I like to use my Ipad for taking down notes or for making a rough draft of my to-do list which I then fill in my journal. 

The journal that I currently use is one that I picked up from Ikea. It has a pretty solid cardboard front and backpage and is ring-bound. The pages inside are blank and are bleed proof. I have also used notepads from brands like Muji and I enjoy those as well. I don't tend to stay committed to a certain brand, I like trying out different ones, as long as the paper quality is good. 

The first page of my journal is usually filled with a calender of the whole year. Then I like to make a habit and achievements tracker, which basically has two columns, one for the habits I want to adopt and a dream column, under which I write the things I want to achieve. After that I start mapping out the months. I divide each page into two days, ie. 1st and 2nd January and finish it till the month is over. I usually don't make more than one month at a time, in case I decide to change the format for the next month. 

You can use several different ways to decorate the pages of your journal, you can doodle, draw flowers, banners, etc. The stationary I like to use are Copic markers, fine point pens (I use maped), and pastel colored highlighters. You can even use watercolors to add a splash of color to your pages and use washi tape and handmade paper to add some character!

These are all my tips that I thought might help you! 

Happy Journalling!💗📝

Disclaimer: This post is for knowledge and educational purposes only.

The pictures used may or may not be original. If not the source is Pinterest.