Ideas for Daybook and Authors

 

Daily self-care

To quote The Little Mermaid, “The human world is a mess.” I don’t know how you are faring in this new normal with lockdowns, quarantine, and a second wave of the virus looming, but we all need some self-care. Daybook is first and foremost a journal. Daily journaling is a fantastic method for dealing with stress, depression, and anxiety. Most of us have these in spades. Taking the time to write every day can be refreshing. And there are a ton of things to write. You don’t just have to chronicle the day. Here are some ideas for topics for your Daybook entries:

• Rants—Get those negative emotions out and free your head and heart. It could be a single curse word in caps. Not that I’ve ever done that.
• Reminders—Just a self-check to keep you on task. Remind yourself to breathe or eat ice cream or even do a task.
• A list of the day’s accomplishments—I do this almost every day. I’m task-oriented, so looking back on the day to see I actually did something makes me feel good.
• Happy Thoughts—jot down something good from the day, anything that made you smile. Post a meme or a pic, or a feeling.

All these are great to review to help you deal with the stress of life. Take time for yourself to record the good and the bad and maybe a few cat pics.

 Goals

Daybook is a great way to keep track of goals. By making entries on each day, you can see the progress you make toward any goal on your list. Just seeing the calendar with circles on the day makes me happy! Since you can plan ahead with Daybook, add an end goal in the future and work each day toward it. Add checklists, midpoint progress, etc. until you reach the end. This also works with deadlines for editors, publishers, or your own pub goals. Track your words per day and have a NaNoWriMo every month. (Or not because that sounds terrifying…)

 Tracking and Planning Marketing

As an author, we wear many hats. I’ve recently become a hybrid author and released two Indie books this fall. I also help admin a romance Facebook page which is very active. And then there are my own social media accounts and being on the board of a romance writer group. It can be exhausting remembering to do all the things.

With Daybook’s ability to schedule ahead and add photos, tracking ad posts can be easy. Either put the pic of the ad in ahead of time or the day you post it. (I tend to forget what pic I put up when and on what account.) Since you can have as many posts on a day as needed, you can add an entry for each social media account with the picture used. For example, when not pushing my new book, which you can get here (sorry, had to), I like to post a meme about writing on my author page, and a fandom meme on my personal one. I also have to post on my FB group (yes, another gratuitous link) each day with a separate them. No one wants a repeat!

 Writing

Daybook will hold 6k per entry with as many entries as you need. It can do speech to text. So write that book! Use the app as your notebook or while driving (hands-free) and get the book on the computer.

These are just a few suggestions beyond the usual planner book. Daybook can be so much more if you are creative about how to use it.

Happy Journaling!

 

 

How to Use Daybook

 

The phone app is only available for Android. But with the web version, both Apple and PC users can access the program using Chrome or Firefox.

Create an account

It’s probably easiest to use your Gmail to create a new account with Daybook. Just sign in. (Facebook and a personal password are also options.)

The start screen has three main options:

• Home—displays the most recent entries with the date and time the data was entered. It also has a big pink circle with a plus sign.
• Calendar—displays the current month with days of the week Sunday to Saturday. Today’s date will be in a gray circle. Any entries during the month have a circle around the number.
• More—options for Premium features, Settings, Connection to Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Daybook Web, Feedback, and Ratings

 New Entries

1. Click on the pink circle to add a new entry. The program automatically stamps the time and date. 
2. Type. 
3. Or click the microphone to dictate your entry. Entries can be up to 6000 characters (so approximately 1100-1300 words). You might not write a novel on it, but a quick scene might fit.

Add pictures

1. Click on the camera icon at the top of the Entry screen. 
2. Choose either Gallery or Camera. Add photos or snap some to record the event, memory, mood. Gallery mode works similar to other apps by opening your photo storage (phone version) with the most recent pic first. With the camera, snap a shot as you normally would. 
3. Press the checkmark in the center of the bottom of the screen when you have the pic you want. Once you select an image using either method, the app returns you to the camera icon screen. The picture will be listed under the gallery and camera buttons. 
4. Press the red X on any you do not want on your entry. 
5. Press OK when finished. The pictures will appear at the top of the page. You can add up to five with a regular account, ten with premium.
6. Once you are finished with your entry, click the green checkmark at the top left. The app will return to the calendar.

Hmm, so only 5 pictures and 1200 words? Sounds a little limited. NO! You can make multiple entries for any day with no limit. Maybe that novel will fit on Daybook!

Search

At the top of the Home page, a small magnifying glass opens the search menu. Type in the text you are looking for, and the app will scan all entries to find the text. (Wonderful for those of us with short memories—What day did I write that thing about the elephant?)

More Menu Settings

• Daybook allows users to add a security code to the app. In case you are entering personal or private data, it can be secured. You can have the program remind you to add to Daybook with notifications.
• Without premium, color schemes are green, pink, black, and night mode, but there are six fonts and five text sizes to choose from.
• You can also change the time format to a twenty-four-hour clock.

Download data 

All data on the app can be downloaded. I’m using Gmail so the app sends the data to my Gmail account in a CSV format. I haven’t gotten it to work just yet, and the web-based does not have it available at this time.

Other Options with a Premium Account

• More color themes
• Templates
• Word Analysis
• Connection to Google Assistant and Alexa

Special thanks to the Help Desk at Daybook. They answered my email questions in about five minutes. Go team!

 

 

 

 

 

Daybook Journal

Let’s talk about productivity and accountability.

We’ve discussed many apps that will help you write, organize, and market. But what about an overall picture of how you are progressing with your writing? I realize not all writers are in this to make money, have huge word counts, or to publish. But it’s always good to check in with yourself about your career, dream, hobby—whatever writing is to you.

I introduced Google Keep with my first blog post—still my favorite app and later wrote about Focus To-Do. These are great for making those To-Do lists and remembering your finished items. (A huge bonus for me. Did I do that? Do what? Checks Keep.) It’s very useful and handy, but they don’t chronicle your activities. (Focus is better for that actually, but…)

I came across Daybook a few months ago when I was feeling unproductive and discouraged about writing. To be honest, I’m a list checker and an organizer. I like to get things done and fast. Unfortunately, the publishing industry doesn’t work that way. I had four books I want out in the world, but they need polish, rewrites, critique, and much TLC (not to mention covers, blurbs, and ads). And COVID quarantine was getting to me. I was not leaving the house, not hitting the gym, not enjoying any kid-free time. So I asked Google Play, “Do you have anything that will let me log my accomplishment?” Google said try this.

Daybook is a diary, a journal, and a datebook with a simple interface. It tracks entries on a small calendar. You can store both information and pictures. With the premium features, you can add and use templates and even track moods. You can enter multiple entries each day. Daybook also has a print option that connects to your printer or saves the file as a PDF.

This app is only available for Android phones at the moment. It has a web interface to link with Google, or Facebook, or use a personal log on. The data is backed up by cloud and protected if you put personal information on there. Daybook is similar to other journaling apps out there. Unfortunately, I still do not own an i-device to sample Apple programs. Hopefully, the idea of using Daybook to record thoughts will help Apple users find a compatible program.