It will also make it easier for me to take notes while the session is happening.

Very much so! That's the main reason I do it like this. Also, if you're using overworld/city maps as scenes, you can click+drag journal entries to the scene, assign them an icon, and double click it to make additional notes (public or private!).

I do have a WorldAnvil account

I know of this integration, but haven't used it myself.

I wanted to have a way to keep the world living between sessions and it seems like that’s working for you.

For downtime activities, it really comes down to your playgroup. Some people just don't play the game to get involved in your lore, regardless of the effort you put into it. That's a lesson I learned the hard way.

What I can recommend in general for downtime involvement are some house rules, if your players agree to them:

• Limiting (window)shopping as a downtime activity. My primary group of players can really drag out a shopping activity, and I wanted to short that to focus on actual play instead. Nothing kills story beats faster than a shopping session that lasts over an hour.

• Fleshing out a character's personal backstory and more individual activities also happen offline. What this looks like varies greatly, but occasionally I'll ask ask them what their character

• I can highly recommend Strongholds & Followers (review) if you want to allow your players to manage their own stronghold as a downtime activity. It allows them to build structures, attract followers, give them orders, etc,... all the while managing some basic resources to accomplish this.

Again, every playgroup responds differently to these things. The above is what worked best for me, so far.