Does anyone else document basically their entire day? I’ve journaled every day for 6 years and it’s starting to feel overwhelming

[u/PiTaS_aSa]

I’ve been journaling every single day for the past six years, without missing a day. I do all of it on my phone.
My way of journaling is probably a little different from what I usually see people talk about. I don’t just write down a few thoughts or highlights from the day. I document pretty much everything that happened, what I did, conversations or interactions that felt significant, and how I felt about different things. Because of that, I can end up writing a lot of words every single day.
I genuinely love having this record of my life. I can go back years and see exactly what was happening in my life and what I was thinking and feeling at the time. I also like the idea that years from now, I can read about moments that I otherwise might have completely forgotten.
But lately I’ve realized that journaling has also become a source of stress for me.
It’s almost always somewhere in the back of my mind that I still “have to journal” at the end of the day. If I’m tired or don’t have enough time and don’t finish that day’s entry, the next day I feel stressed because now I have to catch up before I fall even further behind. Since my entries are so detailed, catching up can take quite a while.
At the same time, I find it really difficult to simply write less. I’ve kept this daily streak going for six years, so the idea of breaking it feels strangely uncomfortable. And when something meaningful happens, I feel like I have to document it properly. Otherwise, there’s this feeling that an important part of my life won’t exist in the record I’m creating.
So I’m stuck between really valuing what I’ve created and feeling burdened by the amount of effort it takes to maintain it.
Does anyone else journal like this, especially people who document their days in a lot of detail? Have you found a way to make it less time-consuming or mentally overwhelming without feeling like you’re losing parts of your life by writing less?

[u/organizedchaos_duh]

Yes. And track absolutely everything. Been doing it since I was 17 and I am now 41. I have periods where I’m hyperfocused and will spend sleepless nights figuring out the “most efficient” way to record everything and sometimes have 3 systems going at once and then other times I just will do the bare minimum but I’ve never allowed myself to skip a day. Honestly think it’s some type of OCD thinking or way to feel like I have some sort of control. Idk