Beyond traditional journaling, Day One provides a creative way to document and organize the many different aspects of your life. Our community of users and the Day One team members themselves have been the driving force behind discovering and sharing creative ways to use the app.
Whether it’s keeping a log of your favorite collections and hobbies, transforming physical artworks and greeting cards into digital keepsakes, or anything in between, Day One is a versatile tool for capturing the essence of your experiences and interests.
Here are 20 fun and unique ways to use Day One, inspired by the people who use and love our app every day.
1. Children’s Artwork Gallery
Transform Day One into a vibrant digital gallery for your child’s creativity. Capture each piece of art with photos, record the date, and possibly add your child’s thoughts or the inspiration behind their work.
By scanning or photographing their creations, you can cherish these colorful memories without the need to keep every physical piece. This approach allows you to keep a clean and organized space while still holding onto the mementos of your child’s artistic journey.
2. Card Keeper
Utilize Day One as your digital repository for all kinds of cards—birthday wishes, holiday greetings, or thank-you notes. By scanning or taking photos of cards, you can declutter your space without losing the heartfelt messages and memories associated with each.
A digital collection of cards not only saves physical space but also ensures that they are preserved and easily revisitable.
3. Vinyl Record Catalog
Day One can serve as a catalog for your vinyl collection, offering a unique way to document and organize your records. This digital archive not only celebrates your music collection but also simplifies tracking and sharing your musical journey with others.
In your journal, include album covers, tracklists, personal ratings, and anecdotes about each record’s significance to you.
4. Recipe Book
Compile your favorite recipes, along with photos of the finished dishes. Add notes on variations, the occasions for which they were prepared, and family reactions.
At the end of the year, use Day One’s book printing feature to print your recipe book so you have an archive of everything you cooked that year.
5. Book Journal
With Day One, you can keep track of books you’ve read, jot down chapter summaries, personal interpretations, and memorable quotes. A book journal is a great way to reflect on how literature impacts your life and perspectives.
Add images of book covers, your personal ratings, and even snippets from author interviews to deepen your engagement. Use tags to categorize books by genre, author, or themes, making it easy to organize and find entries.
6. Family History Archive
Document your family history, including stories, old photos, and genealogical information. This type of journal is a valuable resource for future generations who are curious about their roots. With Day One, you can seamlessly integrate multimedia elements, such as audio recordings of family stories or video clips of gatherings, adding depth and texture to the written word.
When possible, use Day One’s Calendar View to backdate entries with important dates in your family’s history, such as births, weddings, deaths, and significant milestones.
7. Health Diary
Day One can be a comprehensive health journal, tracking everything from exercise routines to dietary habits, medical appointments, and mental health insights. A health diary can be a holistic approach to staying on top of your well-being. You can also use this type of diary to document your family health history. When healthcare professionals ask about your family history, your family will have a well-documented, easily accessible record.
8. Restaurant Reviews
Convert Day One into a personalized food critic’s notebook by logging restaurant visits, culinary experiences, and reviews. Capture the ambiance, dishes, and your recommendations, creating a go-to guide for your future dining decisions and culinary explorations. Include photos, menu favorites, and tips for future visits.
Plus, with Day One’s Map View, you’ll be to recommend a restaurant anyone someone asks for suggestions in a specific area. Additionally, you can tag entries with specific cuisines or dining experiences, such as “romantic dinners,” “family-friendly spots,” or “best for brunch,” helping you curate lists for every occasion.
9.”Our Story” Journal
Transform Day One into a heartfelt chronicle of your romantic journey with your significant other, starting from your first meeting to the moment you decide to spend your lives together. A couple’s journal can be a personalized Shared Journal that encapsulates the essence of your relationship through detailed entries of your dates, special moments, and milestones you’ve shared.
Prior to a significant moment, such as a proposal or anniversary, curate these entries and turn them into a beautifully printed book. Begin the book with a new entry that captures the essence of your intent—whether it’s a proposal, a reflection of your gratitude, or a celebration of your love.
10. Receipt and Expenses Tracker
Day One can double as an efficient tool for tracking and organizing business receipts and expenses. By photographing receipts and logging financial details, you can manage your expense reports more effortlessly. You can also use Day One’s tagging system and search functionality to categorize expenses and find specific entries quickly.
11. Client Meeting Notes
Keep detailed notes from client meetings, including action items, deadlines, and insights. This type of journal can be helpful systematically organizing these notes in Day One, so you can create a searchable archive of all client interactions.
12. Vision Board
Transform Day One into your personal digital vision board, a visual representation of your goals and dreams. Incorporate images, quotes, and notes that inspire you, creating a dynamic and motivational space to visit and update as you progress towards your aspirations.
By curating this digital space with intention and purpose, your vision board can be a daily source of inspiration and motivation, allowing it to guide you towards your desired future.
13. Inspiration Journal
Utilize Day One to create a journal that’s dedicated to a curated collection of artwork, photography, and anything else that sparks your creativity or captures your sense of beauty. Use an art journal as your personal gallery, where you can document inspiring visuals, from the sublime details of everyday life to the grandeur of nature, or the intriguing compositions found in urban environments. Include your own artwork or snapshots that resonate with you, alongside reflections on what these pieces mean to you and how they influence your own creative expression.
14. Work Journal
Use Day One as a tailored work journal designed to track your daily achievements, ongoing tasks, future to-dos, backlogged items, and any pertinent notes. A work journal is not only a method to stay organized and prevent forgetfulness, but also a way to document your performance over time.
By updating this journal each work day or at the end of each week, you create a detailed record of project progress, achievements, and even the challenges you’ve faced, making it a resource for performance reviews and personal growth in the workplace.
15. “Good Things” Journal
Make a habit of noting down the good things that happen each day, no matter how small. Similar to a gratitude journal, a “good things” journal is a simple practice that can significantly boost your mood and outlook on life.
For example, challenge yourself to find three to five simple delights, things that made you laugh, or moments of kindness you encounter each day. Add photos, quotes, or even videos to help capture those good things that might otherwise slip by on a busy day.
16. Medication Log
Keep a precise record of your medication schedules, dosages, and the effects they have on you. This type of journal can be crucial for managing health conditions and communicating with healthcare providers.
17. Decision-Making Journal
Make informed decisions by using Day One to weigh pros and cons, document research, and reflect on possible outcomes. This journal serves as a valuable tool in your decision-making process, providing clarity and insight.
Plus, Day One has a pre-built decision-making journal template to help guide you through a decision, with prompts to help guide you through the decision at hand.
18. Venting Journal
Use Day One as a safe space for emotional expression and venting. Emotional journaling, or writing down your frustrations and challenges, can be therapeutic, offering a sense of relief and a means to process your emotions constructively. Use the “conceal content” feature in Day One to hide this journal’s entries if you’d rather not read them along with other entries from the “On This Day” view.
19. Pizza Journal
One of our favorite creative uses of Day One is a pizza journal. Day One user Jesse Manscill keeps a pizza journal, chronicling each pizza experience with photos, detailed notes on the dough, crust, sauce, cheese, toppings, and the overall flavor profile.
In addition to Jesse’s pizza journal, Day One users have also shared that they have chocolate milk journals, root beer journals, and wine journals. Each of these themed journals follows a similar pattern of exploration and appreciation, focusing on a specific foodie delight.
You can adapt Day One to document your journey through the tastes of chocolate milk, the varieties of root beer, or the complexities of wine. Capture each tasting experience with photos, jot down your impressions of flavors, textures, and aromas, and note the context of each tasting—where you were, special occasions, and who shared the moment with you.
Day One user Jesse Manscill
20. Personal Transformation Journal
Capture the progress of your physical transformation through regular photos and reflections. From weight loss to orthodontics journeys, document each step with detailed notes and visual evidence. This type of journal is a great way to document the experience in private.
Include specifics about your routines, the challenges you face, and the victories you celebrate. You’ll have a narrative of your journey, serving as a reminder of how far you’ve come.
Download the Day One Journal App Today
The Day One journaling app makes it easy to document and organize your daily life in a private, secure place. With Day One Premium, you can create unlimited journals, including Shared Journals, so you can dedicate a separate journal to each aspect of your life.
