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<blockquote data-quote="Hacker News" data-source="post: 73067" data-attributes="member: 365">A few years ago, I read an excellent article on HN [0], which recommended keeping a daily log in a simple text file. I've been following this advice. Recording many short entries over a day is very useful for me. I can easily find items for my performance review, leave notes for myself, etc.Questions:1. What is your workflow?2. What tools do you use?3. If you log to a text file, how do you format your entries?My frameworkDaily log vs. daily journalFor me, entries in a daily journal require deeper thought and reflection on what you have done, your goals, etc. Usually, journaling is done 1-2 times/day. Conversely, entries in a daily log concern immediate actions and are done many times a day. However, your daily log could inform entries in your daily journal.Daily log vs. a to-do listFor me, entries in a to-do list are only the things you need to do. Also, most to-do lists I've seen don't store the timestamp of when a to-do item was created. Conversely, entries in a daily log are more diverse and are all timestamped. They may include to-do items but don't have to. My entries are updates, notes, questions, and to-dos.My log is a markdown file, which I edit in Sublime Text. I created Espanso [1] shortcuts to add timestamped entries. E.g., &quot;zzq&quot; expands to &quot;[2022-10-26 10:45:24]: Question []:&quot; and &quot;zzn&quot; expands to &quot;[2022-10-26 10:45:56]: Note:&quot;. For proper task/to-do management, I use Amazing Marvin [2], which is decent.[CODE]&nbsp;&nbsp; [2022-10-23 09:18:44]: Update: prepared slides for meeting with @Laura&nbsp;&nbsp; #1on1 #projectLion&nbsp;&nbsp; [2022-10-23 10:54:36]: Note: I created a new keystore key using these instructions https://xxx.xxx, stored in keys dir #projectGamma&nbsp;&nbsp; [2022-10-23 11:16:54]: TODO [x]: deploy a new build, which fixes the bug with incorrectly parsed dates (id:1332); [2022-10-24 10:12:12]: rolled out, v17 (2.0-17) #projectGamma&nbsp;&nbsp; [2022-10-23 12:27:56]: TODO []: ask about daily log software on HN @me&nbsp;&nbsp; [2022-10-23 13:38:00]: Note: password for W in stored in LP #projectGamma&nbsp;&nbsp; [2022-10-23 13:43:25]: Question [x]: should the style guide be in the repo or YouTrack? @Alex #weeklymeet #projectGamma; [2022-10-25 15:17:13]: @alex said in YT because we'll use it in other projects&nbsp;&nbsp; [2022-10-23 14:11:15]: Question []: should we use Red Frames (https://github.com/maxhumber/redframes) in addition to Pandas? Criteria for decision? @me #projectLion[/CODE]What do you want to improve and why?[CODE]&nbsp;&nbsp; - I need an easier way to find, e.g., all questions from this week for @Alex about #projectGamma. I'd like to easily filter entries by date, project (#projectGamma), person (@Alex), and type (Update, Question). &nbsp;&nbsp; - Nice to have but not required:&nbsp; &nbsp; - sort entries by status (not done: [], done: [x])&nbsp; &nbsp; - auto-timestamp when a to-do item was created and completed&nbsp; &nbsp; - surround selected text with [], {}, &quot;&quot; and auto-close them like a programming text editor, e.g., ST, VSCode&nbsp; &nbsp; - duplicate &amp; move entries via shortcuts[/CODE]What have you looked into?[CODE]&nbsp;&nbsp; - People enjoy Obsidian [3] and Logseq [4]. I find them alluring too, but I don't yet know how to make them support my daily log. I'd need to spend at least a full day to figure out each of them, the time I don't have at the moment. (I use Obsidian for code snippets; it is excellent.)&nbsp;&nbsp; - Org-mode is very popular, but emacs and vim are way too much of a time investment (I tried many times before). Do share your evil and holy workflows, though. There are org-mode extensions for other text editors and EasyOrg [5]. I still need to try them.&nbsp;&nbsp; - I like the todo.txt format [6] and I am considering forking pter [7], but making it fit my needs would take quite a bit of work. [/CODE]Dealbreakers:[CODE]&nbsp;&nbsp; - No Windows version&nbsp;&nbsp; - No desktop app&nbsp;&nbsp; - Subscription-based software, including charging for syncing between computers&nbsp;&nbsp; - No export option[/CODE]Links posted in a comment.<hr />Comments URL: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33359329" target="_blank">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33359329</a>Points: 15# Comments: 19<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33359329" target="_blank">Continue reading...</a></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hacker News, post: 73067, member: 365"] A few years ago, I read an excellent article on HN [0], which recommended keeping a daily log in a simple text file. I've been following this advice. Recording many short entries over a day is very useful for me. I can easily find items for my performance review, leave notes for myself, etc. [I]Questions[/I]: 1. What is your workflow? 2. What tools do you use? 3. If you log to a text file, how do you format your entries? [I]My framework[/I] Daily log vs. daily journal For me, entries in a daily journal require deeper thought and reflection on what you have done, your goals, etc. Usually, journaling is done 1-2 times/day. Conversely, entries in a daily log concern immediate actions and are done many times a day. However, your daily log could inform entries in your daily journal. Daily log vs. a to-do list For me, entries in a to-do list are only the things you need to do. Also, most to-do lists I've seen don't store the timestamp of when a to-do item was created. Conversely, entries in a daily log are more diverse and are all timestamped. They may include to-do items but don't have to. My entries are updates, notes, questions, and to-dos. My log is a markdown file, which I edit in Sublime Text. I created Espanso [1] shortcuts to add timestamped entries. E.g., "zzq" expands to "[2022-10-26 10:45:24]: Question []:" and "zzn" expands to "[2022-10-26 10:45:56]: Note:". For proper task/to-do management, I use Amazing Marvin [2], which is decent. [CODE] [2022-10-23 09:18:44]: Update: prepared slides for meeting with @Laura #1on1 #projectLion [2022-10-23 10:54:36]: Note: I created a new keystore key using these instructions https://xxx.xxx, stored in keys dir #projectGamma [2022-10-23 11:16:54]: TODO [x]: deploy a new build, which fixes the bug with incorrectly parsed dates (id:1332); [2022-10-24 10:12:12]: rolled out, v17 (2.0-17) #projectGamma [2022-10-23 12:27:56]: TODO []: ask about daily log software on HN @me [2022-10-23 13:38:00]: Note: password for W in stored in LP #projectGamma [2022-10-23 13:43:25]: Question [x]: should the style guide be in the repo or YouTrack? @Alex #weeklymeet #projectGamma; [2022-10-25 15:17:13]: @alex said in YT because we'll use it in other projects [2022-10-23 14:11:15]: Question []: should we use Red Frames (https://github.com/maxhumber/redframes) in addition to Pandas? Criteria for decision? @me #projectLion [/CODE] [I]What do you want to improve and why?[/I] [CODE] - I need an easier way to find, e.g., all questions from this week for @Alex about #projectGamma. I'd like to easily filter entries by date, project (#projectGamma), person (@Alex), and type (Update, Question). - Nice to have but not required: - sort entries by status (not done: [], done: [x]) - auto-timestamp when a to-do item was created and completed - surround selected text with [], {}, "" and auto-close them like a programming text editor, e.g., ST, VSCode - duplicate & move entries via shortcuts [/CODE] [I]What have you looked into?[/I] [CODE] - People enjoy Obsidian [3] and Logseq [4]. I find them alluring too, but I don't yet know how to make them support my daily log. I'd need to spend at least a full day to figure out each of them, the time I don't have at the moment. (I use Obsidian for code snippets; it is excellent.) - Org-mode is very popular, but emacs and vim are way too much of a time investment (I tried many times before). Do share your evil and holy workflows, though. There are org-mode extensions for other text editors and EasyOrg [5]. I still need to try them. - I like the todo.txt format [6] and I am considering forking pter [7], but making it fit my needs would take quite a bit of work. [/CODE] [I]Dealbreakers:[/I] [CODE] - No Windows version - No desktop app - Subscription-based software, including charging for syncing between computers - No export option [/CODE] Links posted in a comment. [HR][/HR] Comments URL: [URL]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33359329[/URL] Points: 15 # Comments: 19 [url="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33359329"]Continue reading...[/url] [/QUOTE]

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