Audio journaling vs writings: What’s the Real Difference?

Audio Journaling vs Writing: What's the Real Difference?

written by Ana

posted on Nov 07, 2022

If you’re keen to try journaling but struggle with finding a time to sit down for 15 to 20 minutes to write down your thoughts, you might find it easier just to record what you want to say.

But does audio journaling convey the same benefits as writing? To find out if these two techniques are similar, I tried out audio journaling for a month and compared it to writing in a journal – a technique that I’ve been practising for years now.

What is audio journaling?

It’s a way of keeping a journal, but instead of writing down your thoughts, ideas or memories, you record your own speech using a default audio recorder on your phone or an audio journaling app. Some voice recorders can also transcribe your voice recordings into written text.

Is audio journaling as effective?

Similarly to writing in a journal, making an audio recording allows you to express your feelings, thoughts, ideas, memories, stories, explanations and describe what happened that day. You can do it on the go and listen back to your recording to analyze it.

However, when you are writing (by hand) certain parts of the brain get activated which are important for memory and learning. Also, writing in a journal can be more reflective.

So, what’s the difference between an audio journal and a written journal?

Here’s a list of comparison criteria that I used to compare these two journaling ways.

Comparison criteria:

Convenience
Time
Ease of use
Self-expressiveness
Creativity
Mindfullness
Productivity

Convenience

Audio: highly convenient – it’s easy to make daily entries on the go and you can make an entry every time an idea comes up in your head

Writing: Less convenient – you might not have a pen and paper on you all the time. You might not have an opportunity to sit down to write.

That’s what I personally like about having an audio journaling app. Most of the time I want to jot down something quickly when I’m in the gym or walking and I don’t carry a pen and a notebook with me but I always have my phone. Although I could type it in my notes, I just find it easier to hit a record button and speak out loud. I can always transcribe the voice recording to text.

Time

Audio: it’s way faster than writing. You can say in 5 minutes what you would write in 20 minutes. Some audio journaling tools can also transcribe your voice recording into text so you can have 20 minutes worth of writing produced for you in seconds.

Writing: slower than recording your voice. It takes time to come up with what you want to write, how to structure it and organize your thoughts. On average, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to journal and for some people it can be too much to do every single day.

Although it’s great that you can journal on the go and make an entry anywhere with an audio journaling app, if you want to unleash your creativity, improve your memory and relief stress, then you might be better of trying a free-writing technique like Morning Pages.

Adrianna tried it out for a month and shares her experience in these articles:

7 Best Notebooks for Effortless Morning Pages

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When Should I Do my Morning Pages? A Powerful Way to Include Exercise to Boost your Creative Writing

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Morning Pages vs Journaling. The Real Difference, Process and Results

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Ease of use

Audio: it’s very easy to use anywhere. It’s also a good starting point if you want to get in a habit of journaling every day.

Writing: it can be hard at first. Many people get confronted by a blank page at first so it always helps to have some prompts at hand.

Self-expressiveness

Audio: a great way to express yourself. Saying out loud your worrying thoughts and expressing your emotions can give you a true representation of how you feel.

Writing: a good form of self-expression. The process of writing down entails that you process your thoughts first which gives you more clarity.

But it depends from person to person. I personally find it easier to let it all out on a piece of paper rather than talk about it.

Creativity

Audio: you can brainstorm ideas anywhere. You can make a voice diary entry whenever you feel inspired – after you read an inspirational story or had a chat with someone. It’s way easier to reach out for your phone and hit record than write in a notebook or even type.

Writing: noting down your ideas on a piece of paper and doing self-reflection are great skills to practice to boost creativity.

Most of the time I feel creative when I am in the gym or traveling by train, so If you are anything like me, then you will find it easier to do with an audio journaling app.

Mindfulness

Audio: it can help you to capture your thoughts and emotions in the moment. Then, you can go back to your transcripts to analyze and reflect on them.

Writing: draws your attention to the present moment when you are writing about your feelings and thoughts.

In my experience, I find it more beneficial to raise awareness of what I think and feel by writing these thoughts and feelings down rather than talking about them on the go. But it certainly depends from person to person.

That’s why people usually compare journaling and meditation because both techniques help you to get in touch with your inner self.

Productivity

Audio: you can be very productive by using an audio journaling app like Journify where you can add tags to your voice memos, transcribe them and send them across to your friends or team members, create a timeline and easily filter and search for your entries.

Writing: your digital or paperback notebook can be your go-to tool to increase productivity. You can use it for your to-dos, project plans, long-term goals, note-taking etc.

A great example would be using a Bullet Journal that can help you stay organized and not get overwhelmed at the same time.

I also put together an article on how to use journaling for productivity and you can read Adriana’s take on this topic on her Medium blog.

So, what am I doing now - audio or writing?

I am still enjoying writing in my journal first thing in the morning but when I’m on the go and an idea pops in my head, I reach out for my phone and record it using an audio journaling app. Then, If I want to elaborate on it, I will write it down in my journal and describe it in more detail.

If you need a head start with journaling, we put together a list of tools and resources that helped us get started – everything from books, notebooks, pens, journaling apps and websites!

Hopefully this breakdown can help you understand the difference between these two techniques and help you decide which one you want to try out.

Want more journaling tips, tricks, and ideas? Follow us on Pinterest!

With better awareness, better results 🙂

A&A

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