Don’t remember how I came across this idea but audio journalling had my attention from the first time I heard of it. Let’s explore the idea in detail.
What is it?
Audio Journalling as the word suggests, you are logging in to your journal in audio format. Basic requirements
- A medium to record and store audio clips
- Microphone (built-in or external)
- Able to retrieve the audio files (this was important for me because I had further plans for it)
Why would you Audio Journal?
I have been journalling for long now, but couldn’t make it a habit. I cannot write as fast as I think, thanks to my overthinking brain. I needed an alternative. Audio journalling gave me two benefits.
- I can speak as fast I want (or even slower)
- I record emotions in real-time
How can you Audio Journal?
When looking for ideas of apps that provide audio record-keeping, Google gave a lot of options.
Google Keep was an option, another one was Evernote. I had even tried WhatsApp (create/use non-functional groups, kicking everybody out).But all these need constantly holding of the mic button while speaking. If you went in with a mood to pour your heart out, you would return with an aching hand.Also, the audio files are either not downloadable or the quality is bad. I was losing out on the chance of revisiting them as memories.
I needed one which gave me hands-free recording, files were of good (read great) quality and could be downloaded.
Then I came across a website that suggested using our very own Voice Recorder mobile app. Mind blown!There’s an idiom in Hindi - Looked through the whole city to later find in own neigbourhood. Sometimes we just complicate things.
And When?
If it is something you are doing daily or already have a habit of journalling, nighttime is the best. You come home, summarise the day in your voice (literally) and think what all was good or bad.
I started when I had one of the bad days, cried for two hours. It made sense to fill in the emotions, feelings and capture the moment. Days like such remind you how far you have come, despite these roadblocks.
