My digital reading journal has very quickly become one of my favorite things.
For much of my life as a reader, I never used any book journal at all. And I really don’t believe that is some sort of reader-crime, because it’s everyone’s personal preference! But I can say that keeping a reading journal at all has made my own love of books increase dramatically. (So much so that I opened my own bookstore!)
There’s lots of reasons as to why you should start using a reading journal, and truth be told - that’s a totally different conversation than the one we’re having. In today’s blog post, I want to talk about the benefit of keeping a digital reading journal, as opposed to a physical one.
You’ll see a lot of book lovers on Instagram and/or YouTube showcase their STUNNING physical reading journals, and I think that is making them become a lot more popular. And hear me when I say: there is absolutely nothing wrong with keeping a physical reading journal.
But what I have found is that there are a lot of awesome advantages to keeping a digital reading journal instead of a physical one. Everyone has their own preferences, so it’s ultimately a personal decision. But if you’re on the fence on which route to go or you’re thinking of changing your physical reading journal to a digital one, this is the blog post for you.
Take It Anywhere With You for Easy Access
Let me first say: I know you can take a physical reading journal with you to most places. But isn’t it easier to carry a digital version?
I mean, you already carry your phone with you everywhere. You may as well keep your reading journal in there, too!
The moment you bring a physical journal with you, you have to also bring along a bag, or lose a whole hand from carrying things, or discover that there’s certain places where you don’t feel comfortable setting down your possessions when you want to. All these circumstances turn into inconveniences that nobody ever wants to deal with.
You can eliminate all those annoyances simply by turning your reading journal into a digital version.
Update It In Real Time
When something exists digitally and is accessible from your phone, you can update it in real time rather than having to wait until later on to do so.
Let’s do an example!
Let’s say you’re wandering around your favorite local bookstore and you’ve limited yourself to buying two books. But wait! This is what comes out of your mouth: “Oh shoot, here’s another one I really want to read…”
In this example, you can take out your digital reading journal rather quickly, add the third book you’re wanting to read to the list of books to eventually get, and feel better knowing that you won’t forget its title the moment you walk out of the door.
If you had to do this in a physical reading journal, you’d have to find somewhere to set your stuff down. You’d have to dig in your bag for your favorite pen, and write in the journal. Then you’d have to pack up all that stuff, only to maybe do it again when you find another book you’re interested in.
Honestly, while it may seem dramatic, that seems exhausting and irritating. It may even make you cut your time in the bookshop short because you’re ready to stop dealing with said annoyances.
If you were me and I only had a physical book journal, I would likely just snap a quick picture of the books I find interesting, forget to reference the pictures later on and then forget about the books entirely.
One of my own aims with my reading journal is to keep track of books I WANT to read, not just the ones I am currently reading. It’s hard to do that if you’re constantly forgetting to update the list.
No Hand Cramping
Alright alright, I admit: I may just hold my pens in a way that forces immediate hand cramping, lol.
But I think a lot of us find our hands cramping up after we’ve been writing for a while! If you’re like me, and you’ve grown to write rather long reviews or lots of notes in your reading journals, then writing them all by hand can become grueling.
And truth be told, when my hand hurts, I don’t really care what else I may have to say. I just stop writing.
I don’t want that to happen when I’m trying to fill out my reading journal as much as I can! Especially if there’s a book that gives me a lot to think about, I want to be able to say all of it!
Whether you’re filling out your digital reading journal on your computer or your phone, it’s way easier on the hands. Not necessarily completely without aches if you’ve been typing for a while, but much much better nonetheless. In my experience!
Digital Reading Journals Are Way Less Time Consuming
Again, just as one example: we can compare writing things out by hand versus typing them. Most of us can type significantly faster than we can write by hand, so that in and of itself saves time.
But when you have your journal set up digitally, there’s way more that you can automate and duplicate rather than having to set up your physical journal for every single book, every single time.
You’re probably like me, and live a rather busy life filled with all sorts of things in your calendar. Any moment you can shave some time off something is a win in my book! And that counts for your reading journal, too.
Even if it only shaves off a few minutes, that’s a few minutes you get back to focus on other areas of your life that also need attention.
You Don’t Need to Be Crafty
I say this with a hint of sadness, because truly I wish I was crafty. I’ve tried many times in my life to be crafty, and it’s just not in my genes.
If you’re similar, then you can understand the advantage that a digital reading journal provides.
Don’t get me wrong, if you keep a journal in something like Notion then you can definitely make it look ~aesthetically pleasing.~ But it doesn’t require crafts.
I’ve seen some people use their Cricuts to make special designs for their physical journals. Others will use washi tape and stickers and all sorts of fancy paper and it all feels overwhelming when you are like….”why did my Elmer glue dry out??”
In my experience, anything that has a learning curve so steep you end up frozen makes you want to drop it entirely. That’s how being crafty with a physical journal feels to me.
But my digital reading journal is WAY less overwhelming, and I still like the way it looks. I have it colored the way I like and organized the way I prefer. I can even add pictures to it if I choose to do so, making it feel more crafty without the effort!
That all feels crafty enough, and I look at my reading journal every single day. So you know that being crafty is not a requirement for journal use. :)
(Sometimes) You Can Keep Your Reading Journal With the Rest Of Your Planner and Organization
Now, this one depends on a lot of different factors, so take it with a grain of salt.
But to give you an example, early last year I was using a physical reading journal that was its own book; there were no other topics in it. And then I had a physical planner I used for my personal life. And then I kept other things on my Google Calendar. It was just…a lot.
Eventually, I moved basically my entire life into Notion. It took me a number of months before I had it set up the way that worked for me, but now that literally everything is in there, I feel SO much better.
No longer am I bouncing between one planner to the next paper journal, and then bouncing between my computer screen to look at my Google Calendar down to my physical planner, etc, etc, etc.
Every single time I need to think about pretty much anything, I open my Notion. That includes my reading journal.
It feels so much easier knowing that I can look at my entire life in one program, making updates to many things very easily without having to switch between items a million times over. I like knowing that I can fill out my digital reading journal and then immediately flip over to my habit tracker to check off that I read for the day, and then immediately flip over to filling out the rest of my habit tracker for other things.
This may not be the case for you - maybe you’ll like having a digital reading journal and a physical planner for your appointments, or vice versa, or something else entirely. But the point I’m trying to make is that I wouldn’t want a physical reading journal to be the only thing standing in the way between one type of organization and the other.
Having the flexibility of a digital journal alleviates that.
Are You Going to Build Your Digital Reading Journal Now?
Alright, you’ve now been fully convinced that a digital reading journal is, in many ways, the best option to track of all your book-ish habits and needs.
But my question is - how are YOU going to set up your digital reading journal? How much time do you think you’re going to save? What other benefits do you see from having yours set up digitally?
Let me know in the comments!
Check out ALBB’s Reading Journal Template for Notion here.