Journaling is a meaningful practice for self-reflection and personal growth. Although many prefer pen and paper, that approach is surely outdated, cumbersome, and restrictive. While there are dozens of journaling apps out there, most of them are paid and restricted to specific platforms only. That's when I discovered Notion, a flexible productivity tool that transformed how I record my daily thoughts and reflections.

Notion’s all-in-one approach isn’t limited to project management or note-taking. It has turned out to be a surprisingly powerful journal tool in my workflow. In this guide, I will explain how I went from using paper journals to adopting Notion, and provide tips for making the transition.

Create a master daily journal page

First, let’s create a master daily journal page with an inspirational icon, banner, quote (optional), and other elements.

1. Open your Notion workspace and click + to add a new page.
2. Give your digital journal a unique name, assign an icon, and insert a banner at the top.
3. Type /quote and insert any comment or your favorite quote.

Implement Notion widgets

Now that you have added relevant details, it’s time to add widgets. After all, your digital diary doesn’t need to look and feel boring. Since Notion doesn’t offer widgets, you need to use third-party sources to implement them. In the example below, I will add a life progress tracker and time widgets to my Notion page.

1. Navigate to WidgetBox on the web and select Life Planner.
2. Tweak it as per your preferences. The third-party service offers multiple options to customize the appearance of the widget with different backgrounds, plus many text, life bar, and year bar color options.
3. Glance over the live preview, and once you are satisfied with the changes, click Copy.
4. Open your Notion page, type /embed, and paste the link.
5. That’s it. Your life planner widget should appear on the page. It automatically updates the information.

Similarly, you can insert the time widgets and place them side-by-side on your Notion page. Check the screenshot below for reference.

Insert a daily journal database

We have completed the backdrop for our digital journal. Now you'll need to create a database so that you can organize and view your daily entries with other relevant information like date, tags, routines (more on that later), and otherwise. This database acts as a central hub, offering a bird's eye view so that you can glance over all your entries and access a relevant one with just a single click from this ultimate home page.

Add properties

Notion offers multiple database options to choose from. You can pick table view, board view, gallery view, list view, calendar view, timeline view, and more. For my digital journal, I use both the standard database and a calendar view.

1. Type /database and insert an Inline database into your current page.
2. Give it a unique name.
3. We will next add relevant sections to the database, and your column content may vary.
4. Select the first section and type All Entries, since we want everything to populate.
5. Select Tags and click Edit property.
6. Click Add an option and enter relevant tags that you may wish to use to categorize your entries, like Personal, Work, Life Lesson, Travel, and more.
7. Select the third column and change its type to Date so that we can assign dates to our daily entries.

That’s it. These three properties should be good enough to help you keep track of your digital journaling.

Create a template for your daily reflections

You have successfully created an ideal digital journal database with the relevant fields to keep track of your entries. Now it’s time to create templates to speed up the process of writing your daily entries and also remind you to consider all the topics that are meaningful to you. Let’s create one.

1. Head to your Notion page and click Open under All Entries.
2. It opens a new page on the sidebar. Click Create a template.
3. Give it a unique and identifiable name. Now, add relevant headings that you usually use in your journal entries.
4. In the example below, I have added headings like Today’s Highlights, Grateful For, Lessons Learned, Moment of Joy, and Tomorrow’s Goals. I have also inserted a bullet point placeholder under each header.
5. Close the page to save your Notion template.

Make a template for your travel diaries

Now, let’s create another template for your travel diaries, to help expedite the journaling process and to remind you to touch on all the key points you'd like to remember to document.

1. Create a new entry in your journal database and select Create a template.
2. Give it a required name and enter headings. I have added Highlights of the Day, Local Cuisine, Unexpected Adventures, and Cultural Encounters.

Close the page to save the template.

Create new daily entries

You can now start adding your daily entries in your Notion page.

1. Create a new entry in your journal database.
2. Select a template. Let’s select Travel Diaries.
3. Change the header if you want. Select the relevant tag and date, write what you wish, and save changes.
4. Close the side view, and your entry should appear in the database.

When you create a new entry, you can also choose to make one from scratch rather than utilize a template. In most cases, I would advise creating multiple templates for your common entries to speed up the process though.

Add multiple views to your Notion database

As mentioned, Notion is quite flexible to let you insert multiple views into your existing database. Aside from table view, you could also use a calendar view for your digital journal. You'll be able to easily visualize how frequently you are making entries and click on them for easy access.

1. Navigate to your Notion page and click +.
2. Select Calendar.
3. You can now check your entries in a monthly calendar view, too.

Pro tip: Track your habits in a digital journal

Do you want to track your habits in your digital journal? Here’s how you can utilize the checkbox property in your existing database.

1. Select + in your database.
2. Select Checkbox and rename it.
3. In the screenshot below, I have added three common routines, such as 10k steps, Medicine, and Yoga, in the database.
4. You can click the checkmark and track your habits along with the daily entries.

If you would like a shortcut to duplicate my digital journal Notion template with database, use the link below.

From scattered thoughts to structured stories

While using Notion as a digital journal may seem daunting at first, the benefits are surely undeniable due to its flexibility and creative possibilities. What are you waiting for? Follow the steps above, ditch the clutter, and embrace a more streamlined, organized, and unique approach to journaling. That said, I wish Notion would provide an option to password-protect our journal pages to keep them private.

Notion also comes with several built-in tools to automate your workspace. Check out our separate post to put your Notion setup on autopilot.