Journaling
Journal vs diary
The difference between a journal and a diary is what you write in it. A diary is a record of your days: you write down what happened, day by day. A journal is a place for your thoughts: ideas, plans, feelings and questions, written whenever you have them. The two words overlap, and many people use them to mean the same thing.
Last updated
Reviewed by Mohammed Raqeeb
Side by side
What is the difference between a journal and a diary?
The difference between a journal and a diary shows in what you write, how often you write, and what you find when you read it back. The table below puts the two side by side. It shows how the two words are usually used today. Nobody has to follow it: a diary can hold a thought, and a journal can say what happened.
| A diary | A journal | |
|---|---|---|
| What you write | Diary: What happened today. | Journal: What you think, feel, plan or want to work out. |
| How often | Diary: Every day, or most days. | Journal: Whenever you have something to write. |
| How an entry starts | Diary: With the date. | Journal: With the date, a subject or a question. |
| What it is about | Diary: Your day, whatever was in it. | Journal: Anything. Your whole life, or one subject, like travel, work, food or gratitude. |
| An example line | Diary: “Rained all day. Lunch with Dana, then the dentist at four.” | Journal: “Why do I keep saying yes to things I have no time for?” |
| When you read it back | Diary: You find out what you did on a day. | Journal: You find out what you were thinking at the time. |
The two words
Is a journal the same as a diary?
A journal and a diary are nearly the same thing, and dictionaries say so. The American Heritage Dictionary explains each word with the other. Under “diary” it says “a journal”, and under “journal” it says “a diary”.
The same dictionary shows one small difference. It says a diary is usually written every day, and holds what you lived through and noticed. It says a journal is kept regularly, and holds what happened and also your thoughts about it. So a diary is more about the day, and a journal is more about what you think.
Both words go back to the Latin word for “day”, as the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary shows in its entries for diary and journal.
Each word also has a second meaning that can confuse people. In British English, a diary is also the book or app where you write down appointments. Americans call that an appointment book or a datebook. And a journal can also be a magazine for people in one field, like a medical journal.
Which one
Journal vs diary: which should I keep?
Keep a diary if you want to remember your days. Keep a journal if you want to think something through. If you are not sure, answer the two questions below. You will get one of the two, or both in one notebook, with the first lines of your first entry.
Keep this
A diary
You want a record of your days. A diary is that: what happened, under the date it happened.
- When to write
- Write at the same time every day, for example right before bed. A few lines are enough.
- The first lines of your first entry
Today’s date
Today I ...
After that I ...
The part I want to remember is ...
This is a suggestion. Pick again if it does not suit you. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
One notebook
Can one notebook be both a journal and a diary?
One notebook can be both a journal and a diary, and for most people that is the simplest way. Write the date. Write what happened, in the order it happened. Then add a line or two about what you think of it.
An entry that is both
Tuesday. Overslept, so no run. The team meeting ran an hour over, and I ate lunch at my desk at three. Called Mom on the walk home.
What I think about it: the days I skip the run are the days I feel behind by noon. Tomorrow I will put my shoes by the door.
We made this entry up for the page. The first part is the diary: it says what happened. The second part is the journal: it says what the writer thinks of it, and what comes next. There is a name for writing that second part: reflective journaling.
If you do not know what to write, see how to write a diary entry and how to start journaling. There are more ways to write about your life than these two. The page on journaling techniques lists them. One of them, time journaling, is a diary with clock times in it, so a day can be added up in hours.
Sources
Where do the definitions on this page come from?
The definitions on this page come from the two dictionaries below. We read each entry for this page. The table and the example entry are our own.
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition (read ). diary.
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition (read ). journal.
- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Oxford University Press (read ). diary.
- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Oxford University Press (read ). journal.
Keep reading.
- LearnAnswers about sleep, habits, study, people and work, in hours.
- Diary entryThe date, what happened and how you felt. How to write one in five steps, four examples, and a starter with today’s date.
- How to start journalingSeven small steps for the first week, and an example first entry.
- Journaling techniquesTwelve ways to keep a journal, how long each one takes, and a picker that names one to start tonight.
- Where did my week go? calculatorEnter a typical day and see your week accounted and unaccounted.
- Time journalingThe method: write or say your day in your own words, then see it as hours.
Questions
Questions people ask.
What is the difference between a journal and a diary?
The difference between a journal and a diary is what you write in it. A diary is a record of your days: what happened, written down day by day. A journal is a place for your thoughts, written whenever you have them.
Is a journal the same as a diary?
A journal and a diary are nearly the same, and dictionaries explain each word with the other. In everyday use, a diary is more about what happened that day, and a journal is more about what you think.
Journal vs diary: which should I keep?
Keep a diary if you want to remember your days. Keep a journal if you want to think something through. If you want both, use one notebook: write the date, then what happened, then a line or two about what you think of it.
Does a diary have to be written every day?
No. A diary is usually written every day, but nothing goes wrong when you miss one. Put the date on each entry, so you can tell later which day it was about.
Is there an app that works as both a journal and a diary?
A paper notebook works as both a journal and a diary. If you want an app, look for one that lets you write the day in your own words and keeps every entry under its date. One app built for this is Think in Numbers, a smart journaling app with time tracking built in. Think in Numbers keeps what you write or say about each day, counts the hours from it, and has daily prompts for the thinking part.
Try it on my day.
A diary tells you what happened on a day, and a journal tells you what you thought about it. Neither one adds up where the hours of the day went.
A good way to track your hours counts them from what you already write or say about your day, with no timer to start or stop. Most journaling apps stop at how the day felt, not where it went.
One app built for this is Think in Numbers, a smart journaling app with time tracking built in.
You write or say your day in your own words, as it happens or all at once. The app reads what you wrote and counts the hours that went to each part of it: work, sleep, meals, time with people, your phone, and the time you never mentioned (shown as unaccounted). Then it shows those hours over days and weeks.
For iPhone and Android. Try it on your own day before you pay.