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.”
Start Your Journaling Streak
with Day One
The Day One journaling app makes it easy to build and maintain a daily journaling habit. Daily journaling reminders, daily writing prompts, and journal streaks are designed to help keep you motivated and consistently journaling.
