Best solutions for keeping a personal log?

I've taken the odd approach of messaging myself in chat software.. in my case, I have "conversations" with myself in Telegram. I feel like I journal more when it's just text and unstructured, rather than, for instance, a detailed form.

It's not exactly what you are looking for, but has some good properties:

- Always easy to jump in to, since I use TG to chat with people all day long; works on all devices (I need to journal from desktop and mobile)

- Easy to forward in/out notes to/from others

- No formatting woes since it's pretty much open ended. Supports hash tags and search. Can easily find all media and links.

- Telegram already supports tons of different kinds of media files and attachments; can easily snap of a pic of what I'm doing

- Can easily export HTML archive of convo at any time for analysis in other software

With my setup you'd have trouble automatically injecting content from programs, but you could make a Telegram bot that does that work, and just have conversations with it instead of yourself. (Telegram's API is incredibly simple to get started with and doesn't even require webhooks)

Very interested in this as well. I use Notion for more in depth notes but I also want a very low friction way to stream thoughts out of my mind and into an organized place.

I built a prototype that does this. It’s got a UI very similar to twitter but organized by day. Special hash tags on a messages at the end of one day appear front and center on the next day so you can get cached in on what you were doing.

I gave up after a few weeks. I don’t use it enough for it to be useful.

So I need to iterate a lot for this to be valuable. I wanted to prototype this before going crazy about building a tool that I wouldn’t even use. Glad I did because now I know the magic needs to happen on the data entry side to make that more frequent.

Ive got a bazillion ideas on how to extract meaning and apply organization to the random little messages ... but without having a personal corpus of entries to mine it’s impossible.

I keep seeing this question pop up though so I know it’s a problem for more than just me, and there is a need in the market. An iOS/Android app was showcased here recently called ZenJournal but it’s not quite what I’m looking for either.

I almost need a lapel mic that can be activated very easily - so I can dictate to this thing as stuff comes to mind. Sometimes the friction comes from trying to organize my thoughts before I write them, which defeats the point.

Somebody else already mentioned it, but emacs org-mode is what I use. I have a document in my dropbox with the cheeky name "life.org", in which I contain everything from my sleep log to my recipes to my work lab notebook.

If you're like me, you have trouble sticking to journals/logs. I like having one collapsible document in outline form. I can remember it, and I come back to it. It works well with the natural chaos of life. And it feels more satisfying to add to one big log.

I'm using org mode (in particular, org capture) on my desktop and Orgzly on Android for active logging.

For passive logging, I've got Orger, set of scripts that are pulling data from different APIs and render it as org-mode [1]. Having it as org-mode allows me for quick search and recall in the logs.

There is also Memacs that uses similar approach [2].

1. https://beepb00p.xyz/orger.html

2. https://github.com/novoid/Memacs

For journals, I use Vim with a ton of snippets, and write in markdown, using a lot of lists. The snippets are the biggest win. I have daily, weekly, monthly, and various ad-hoc templates that I basically just fill in. When I pick up a new journal, I usually begin by writing the templates.

For accounting, I’d recommend taking a look at gnu ledger. I don’t record any financial stuff in my daily journal, it all goes in the ledger repo. The value of snippets applies equally here. I use a crazy set of awk scripts to ingest transaction logs from my bank, etc. but I recorded manually for about 6 months before making them, and I’d recommend anyone else do the same.

I’m not a mobile power user, and have almost no tolerance for typing on my phone (I view it as a read-only device for the most part), so phone-laptop syncing isn’t a requirement for me. I just carve out 15 minutes before bedtime.

Programming your environment is the theme to all of this. IME vim/emacs are the best applications for these kinds of tasks. They’re superior to anything “purpose-built”, because everyone wants to do things slightly differently. They’re more intimate and grind-y to begin when nothing is automated, but it’s trivial to add incremental automation as you get bored of the toil. The early toil is as important as the later automation though, IMO it gives me an appreciation and understanding of the tools I’m later dependent on.

Honestly, I've gone back to paper and pen. It's not searchable, it's not sharable, and it's not elegant.

It is private, it is secure, it is unobtrusive.

My preference is Field Notes https://fieldnotesbrand.com/ and a quick drying gel pen https://www.amazon.com/Zebra-Sarasa-Retractable-Point-12-Cou...

Two more low-key ideas here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm9CQn07OjU

Basically, just get into the habit of logging first, then worry about making it seamless.

https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-man-book-creatin...

Go for just the highlights, ignore the noise.

Personally, I tried logging all my finances, my workouts, my diet, my car's miles, etc. for a few years. I never really could get into a very good habit of it, despite any amount of discipline/self-hatred. In the end, these partial and incomplete lists of things became more of a list of 'failures' than anything, personally. What data I could gleam from it was either obvious ('I feel bad when it's been 12+ hours since when I last ate') or they were just too noisy to really get any actionable response from.

Going for the highlights, and on an irregular schedule, was better for me personally.

This is my solution but it may not be best for everyone.

Notes:

    # .profile
    function note { mg +-1 "/home/.../notes/$(date "+%Y-%m-%d").txt"; }

mg is micro emacs, +-1 opens the file with the cursor at the end.

Transactions:

I record my transactions into ledger[0]. I wrote an auto-complete wrapper in Python to help speed up entry and another to keep the formatting consistent, but otherwise it's a manual job. It helps keep me aware of my transactions, plus I like to add comments and customize the entries instead of just loading them from the institution's CSVs.

[0] https://www.ledger-cli.org

I created ZenJournal for this exact reason. I've used it continuously for the last year and a half, in contrast to all the dozen other apps I've tried. It was actually showcased here a few days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21876939

However, my focus is more manually inputted private thoughts, ideas, and todos, not an information dump with all my activities like what you described.

The app is essentially saving an array of logs with timestamps, so technically it should be easy to merge and blend it with your other automated logs from other devices, but currently, it's kept intentionally offline only with no syncing function.

I found the biggest thing for me is speed to log, ZenJournal accomplishes this with a super quick open and log interface, and also provides a Discreet Mode feature that will help you log in public spaces.

It's also very fast to search because you can simply type ? to start searching.

For those looking for a cross-platform alternative, I'd recommend a private Twitter account too: - It supports most media types. - It exports. - There are many clients and ways to automate it.

It's unnecessarily online to me and the information density is too low with the redundant profile picture and revert-chronological timeline, which is not easiest to read (a private Slack channel or Telegram chat will fix this).

I wrote a little personal messenger bot and it's amazing. I wanted it to be slightly numerical, mostly text, and easy for me to customize and access. So the messenger bot mostly is a wrapper over pushing to different Google sheets or docs (depending on if it's a daily diary, logging exercise/headache/etc)

Having a customized not that's always on my phone has been surprisingly helpful

Self promotion post, however I'm building an app (https://bustl-app.com) for this purpose.

The application allows users to create projects with custom tasks / notes to record data. These tasks can either include modules to store simple data (like text, task lists, etc) or integrate with NodeJs APIs (Google Drive, Calendar, etc).

I've tried to build it like a simple CMS allowing users to completely customise the tasks and notes they need.

In addition to customising the tasks, you can schedule these to be created at a later date either as a once off or recurring job.

This might get buried, but have you considered using your calendar? I create calendar events in the past to keep track of where I've spent my time. If you want to create an event quickly, there are tons of integrations. You can even use Siri or the Google search box.

I don't do thi s, but if you want to attach things to your entries in retrospect, most calendar providers have APIs that let you edit the calendar description. In any case, the ICAL format is easy to parse yourself. And each event has an ID, if you want to keep the augmented data elsewhere.

https://roamresearch.com/ blowing up on twitter - 2/3 notebook, 1/3 database

I find ledger's timeclock format [1] to be helpful for tracking my time. I wrote a simple CLI tool to log into and out of nested accounts, effectively billing my time to different categories. I like this because it's simple, human-readable, but structured to support lots of post-hoc analysis.

[1] https://hledger.org/timeclock.html

The Signal private messaging app has a built-in dedicated "Note to Self" contact which you can text, send photos to, send voice notes to, or share anything with via your mobile OS of choice.

I should have added: The idea is that you use Signal only for quick low friction capturing.

In my case, I later process these messages during my daily input review, at which point they mostly end up somewhere in my Emacs orgmode-based system.

All of my banking transactions get put into a sqlite database, imported from csv monthly, and I have a python command line utility that lets me categorize and add notes to each transaction. I have a new sqlite file for every year. I have a number of SQL scripts that do most of the work. The amounts I need for tax returns are generated by SQL queries.

Most of my general note taking is done in emacs org-mode.

I switched to Joplin, and it does provides cloud syncing, so working on different devices? It is free and open source!

https://joplinapp.org/

I think a to-do list of some kind would be a good place to start.

I personally have been using Dynalist to keep track of of my daily log. With it, I am able to tell you what I roughly did anytime in the last 2+ years(on a working day).

Here's my current list for 2019: https://imgur.com/a/ZDy4Ydv

My personal log is on Google Docs. It's simple and available on all my devices.

As for automation, I wonder if it might be worth looking at some simple Python scripts running somewhere (a cheap DigitalOcean $5/mth droplet?) pulling data as needed and writing to Google Docs via the Google Docs API? It does require some programming know-how however.

May I suggest my webapp https://histre.com/

You can use it to automatically keep track of your online research, notes etc, and have a nice knowledge base as a result. It connects to Telegram too, so you can take notes on the go. You don't need to install a new app for that.

I've been using TiddlyWiki https://tiddlywiki.com/ in the node.js-based server mode. But I use it more as a journal than a logbook, and not really for structured data.

What I like about it is that I can combine the journal/log aspect with a general knowledge database and seamlessly interlink the two.

Theoretically, TiddlyWiki is ridiculously customizable, so any kind of automation would be possible. Unfortunately, it has fallen victim pretty badly to the "inner platform effect" - instead of letting people simply use the Javascript that it's built on, customizing is supposed to happen in a template language that is just plain horrible and makes even the most simple things like concatenating strings comically hard when done in a context where that kind of operation wasn't planned for.

Love this question. I've written up part of my strategy for doing this here:

https://davidbieber.com/post/2019-12-29-track-your-life-in-a...

The short version is: (1) I manually enter the activity(s) I do each day in a spreadsheet, one row per day; (2) the spreadsheet automatically figures out how recently I did each category of activity; (3) [bonus] a chat bot uses this data (and much more!) to help me keep my life on track.

Lots of health tracking and life logging apps depending on what you wan tot do. https://github.com/woop/awesome-quantified-self https://www.reddit.com/r/QuantifiedSelf/comments/eibrof/ask_...

> The goal is to capture information passively enough

This is my top one issue, because most logging apps require constant manual inputs and commitment, but not all.

Recently, I have been using Journey [0], an app that is helping me in the difficult task to write entries nearly every day. Problem: those are free-form, so it's only a good old journal, not a tracking app for custom metrics.

I have tried using another app to track my food habits [1] but that required way too much effort to get it right (finding the right food for every intake is just too much, I'd rather wait for something more automated like computer vision accurately seeing what I am eating, and how much of it).

I passively track my spendings, cross accounts with an bank aggregator called Bankin [2] (EU focused). From it, I can export the normalized data. You should look into similar services.

> a general purpose app for the iPhone to write new records to a database

I don't like it, but Notion [3] does that.

In the end, if you're committed, a spreadsheet is not that bad to start prototyping and checking what your really need.

Don't forget passive tracking with apps such as Google Fit, Swarm (Foursquare), Google Location, etc.

[0] https://2appstudio.com/journey/

[1] https://lifesum.com/

[2] https://bankin.com/en/home.html

[3] https://www.notion.so/

I'm a desktop only kind of guy, and have taken to just logging/journaling in markdown via VS Code - which is what I'm most used to for code documentation and the like, so why not reuse it?

It sounds relatively easy to generate a .md table from a .csv file which could have an annotations column for any additional custom notes to be added to if desired. While I haven't done so for logging/journaling, I'm doing basically this for my rust crate reviews/audits, which have the benefit of being public: https://github.com/MaulingMonkey/rust-reviews . That autogeneration code can be found in 'src', but it's throaway gross badwrong code, so don't expect much ;). It pulls metadata from the yml-ish preambles of reviews/*.md, and from `cargo crev` commands.

The .vscode/tasks.json file in the repository means I can just Ctrl+Shift+B to regenerate the index. In a journaling context I could see adding more tasks - perhaps one to, say, create a new journal/log page - pre-populated with whatever auto-injested information you might want.

Returning to my journaling - I keep it as simple as:

    C:\home\notes\journal\old\...
    C:\home\notes\journal\old\2019-05-26.md
    C:\home\notes\journal\old\2019-06-07.md
    C:\home\notes\journal\old\2019-06-13.md
    C:\home\notes\journal\...
    C:\home\notes\journal\2019-12-02.md
    C:\home\notes\journal\2019-12-03.md
    C:\home\notes\journal\2019-12-21.md
    C:\home\notes\journal\2019-12-24.md

With the old folder serving as a dumping ground to keep the root folder managable at being just the most recent 10-30 entries or so. A page generator could easily create pages in a convention that allows stable linking between them:

    ...
    journal\2019\12\21.md
    journal\2019\12\24.md

CSV with some cloud sync solution. I turned the overhead of manually logging an activity into a feature of committing to a task. I log Date, Start Time, End time, 'Project', and location. When I feel myself losing focus I end the task and take a break. Early inspiration from Cal Newport.

Supplement this approach with a small paper notebook (originally I used 3x5inch pocket then moved to a 5x8 inch) where you no longer need your phone/computer to log entries (enter them later). I'm collecting a nice physical library of notebooks that are chronologically ordered and contain everything from in depth technical tasks to notes on groceries. Also acts as a good spot for stickers collected on your travels.

Regarding transactions, I've started using everydollar.com. I've only started using it in 2019 so I cannot 100% vouch for it yet.

> The goal is to capture information passively enough that I can add context and commentary when I want to without spending more time on it than it's worth

If the goal is to pull data from potentially multiple sources, then I think you should think more about how you are going to analyze the data than just how you will just capture it.

I have been extensively tracking my spinal cord rehab for over two years. I use Google Forms for some of the manual daily tracking, but lots of it comes from other sources (Apple data, a bunch of health apps, some spreadsheets, etc).

I use some python and bash scripts to then import it all into Elasticsearch and build dashboards: https://github.com/gibrown/es-health-tracker

https://github.com/tomlockwood/dn

I made this, which some people seem to like. Notes sorted by day, from the command line. Also, not much code, the source can be read in a minute or two.

My opinion:

- Boostnote attached to cloud storage or a personal NAS. Which I still don't like much (no mobile support). Or use OneNote Cloud (Or Google Cloud), but if privacy is an issue (like legal notes) then hard pass most likely.

Failed attempts:

- I've left Notion because it's not very exportable for DR and movement purposes.

- I've used Standard Notes which I loved, but it's clunky and very expensive.

- I've also tried the basics like Apple Notes, Evernote.

Overall, it's hard to find a portable solution that can also be stored online or offline with slightly better formatting than markdown. So the best option is use an editor that handles Markdown, since it is very transferable and store it somewhere easy for you. For database related functionality stick to CSV.

I just keep a git repo of raw text files with dates. It's dead simple and I usually just do everything via cli with vim.

Maybe some day I'll get around to developing a simple markup scheme so I can parse and search my logs by #ideas #opinions etc.

I'd use a python tool like jrnl, but vim, text files and git are just too simple to complicate with tools that don't really offer that much more functionality.

I had a less technical friend who used to obsess over software to manage bookmarks, notes, etc and it drove me nuts how over-thought / contrived his approaches were.

> I thought about using a google form but I don't want to have to manually record the time.

Google form entries have an automatic timestamp.

No other ideas besides the ones already stated (also a jrnl.sh user).

  - Google Keep ( chronological, good search, hashtags, simple, fast)
  - Evernote ( more features)
  - MS OneNote — Comparable to Evernote but free. 
  - A github repo + `ack|grep|fzf`
  - Apple Notes (only if you exclusively use iPhone
  - Keybase Files + Encrypted Git repo (an encrypted alternative to github)
  - Moleskine pocket notebooks

My breakdown is 80% keep, 15% moleskin (then I transcribe to keep) and 5% Keybase (for off-the-record journaling)

I use a plain text file, and I edit it in Emacs' fundamental mode. I have a key binding that goes to the end of the file and adds a timestamp and some separator characters, but that's the only customization.

This single text file goes back 30+ years now, and it's survived all the fancy-pants TODO and notetaking software I've tried (a lot of which probably doesn't run any more). I think that long-term habits work best when their tooling is simple.

I've been using Evernote. One feature I really like about it is the web clipper. Doesn't do any form of analytics afaik as it's designed for memos.

I've wanted this for a while. For example, every time I have a conversation with a contractor, CS rep, etc. I wish I could add a quick note about what was discussed and attach any supporting documents.

I want to enter these chronologically, as they happen, but then have them viewable like email threads (like the main GMail view) grouped by business or general topic (like "House Maintenance"), with the most active threads shown first!

I played around a bit with putting it in commit messages on an empty git branch, hanging my current working copy on the commit as a parent.

I’ve been using Day One for a while. I started using it in 2012 as a simple journal but it became a essential tool in logging my life.

I use timing app https://timingapp.com for exactly this.

For Automation maybe you could try IFTTT to pull data from one service to a google spreadsheet. Since it has dates associated with the data, you can later match them with your current dataset.

I know a service called exist.io that does a quite similar thing based on API. You can check that out if a central hub for all personal information is what you're after!

Cheers!

Built an app a few months ago to capture my stream of conciousness. The UI is like a messaging app where you can just send yourself messages and quickly organize them under tags.

https://www.streeeeam.com

I wonder if this could turn into something like parabola.io but focused on consumers.

Apple Notes. Always with you, and searchable.

On a side note - why are bank apis so sht?

Would love a clean read only way to http api my 3 banks. I don't even care if the security is rubbish for read only. Csv imports are bullshit. There is no reason why this can't be live and clean

So hard to keep track of things when it's spread over multiple banks & jurisdictions

The problem with your request is timeline. I found more productive is to keep essence of things in a easily searchable format. Timecharting very diversified information is difficult and quite often not needed.

To keep snippets in an instantly searchable format I use Google Keep. This is so simple and perfect.

I don't specifically do time-based logging, but I do have a local Mediawiki instance for knowledge about my life. You could probably easily write a template for doing log entries, so your Mediawiki syntax is short and sweet, but your log entries are nicely formatted and timestamped.

Probably not what you're looking for, but for the extreme data nerds RescueTime provides really interesting insight when viewed across several years. But of course, paying for it has to be driven by a desire to know that kind of information rather than a practical need of any kind.

Sounds like these might be useful to you...

— https://mint.com for your spending habits — https://rescuetime.com for your computer habbits (email, web, apps)

I have to ask: Why do this? What’s the motivation? What are you hoping to get out if this exercise?

Used DavidRM's "The Journal" extensively in the past. Is Windows only, but works well for what it's built for, and is well supported.

http://www.davidrm.com/

I use a paper notebook: write notes, date each page, and add entry to the index at book front or end for ease of finding it. I carry it everywhere & and it requires no batteries:)

When notebook fills up I scan each page into Evernote, which OCRs it.

Low tech but it works.

I have a feeling you're overthinking this; a simple spreadsheet will be easiest. Ignore the integration bit for now and just start by tracking your time/tasks. Do it for a week and see what you think.

Personally, at the end of each work day, I use the spreadsheet method to record my progress for that day. I have one column for the date and one for a 1 or 2-sentence summary or notes about what I did during the day. I've been doing this for years and it's nice to have a historic "captain's log" of my work.

It would be easy to add more columns to this type of spreadsheet to break the day into hourly increments or even 15 minute increments. Any shorter than 15 mins and it's too easy to get frustrated by the interruption of needing to write the log. Hourly would probably be more realistic.

In Google Sheets, use command-shift-colon to do a timestamp.

I use Joplin. Bare bones relatively speaking but I like all the files are markdown

I use Zettlr + git to keep my personal log/lab notes/daily journal. It's just a fancy markdown editor, to it should be trivial to write some shell foo to pull in data from whatever source you like.

I'm using paper notebooks of various kinds and I am happy with that.

Check this :

https://austinkleon.com/tag/logbook/

I started actually something like this for a month now :)

what I use to keep tract of a lot of my data point is exist.io it has a lot of automated import from various sources to collect everything in there and see patterns

I typically just use the default "notes" app on my Neuralink implant. Pretty basic UI but very low-friction for stream-of-consciousness writing.

org-mode, emacs, and a git repo

I use typora(https://www.typora.io/). It works for me well.

I like Workflowy

Pen, a G2 (my favorite) and a 3x5 spiral notebook.

Things are compiled and distilled when not on the go.

Jrnl.sh might be a good fit.

My note and log process is pretty manual, but I've been tinkering with a system in Evernote for the last 5 years and it has started to really pay off over time. My goal is having a clear log of what I did, when I did it, and any useful references all integrated into my general note-taking system, so perhaps some of these observations could be useful:

1. It is a highly personal process. I've tried copying high-level systems (like GTD and its derivatives), specific note-taking / TODO paradigms, productivity/habit tracking apps, and other journaling approaches, and I've always found that if the system is not built around your own habits and preferences, you will eventually lose motivation. Figuring out your own style seems to be important. Another general principle I’ve found is keeping the tools simple. Mostly text-based, always available offline, built to last, etc. Develop the habits, then adopt fancier tools.

2. For quick context-capturing and bookmarking, I rely on email and Pocket. I prefer email because it is reliable, it'll be here in 20 years, and it is fast to flag a message as "needs attention" or e-mail yourself an important thought or reminder. Pocket seems to just work across all my devices, so I haven't had any reason to branch out. Whenever I have time during the day, I organize this “unorganized” view by either taking care of the item (if it’s a quick article in Pocket or errand in email), skipping it (it’s fine to de-prioritize things until later), or by triaging it into Evernote:

3. I use Evernote for a lot of things (including all my technical notes, paper highlights, personal journaling, my "principles" document, philosophy on nutrition, habit aspirations, workout plans, and so on), but of interest for this question is probably a topic-specific log and backlog system. Near the top of my Evernote shortcuts are four log links (Daily Log, Technical Log, Health Log, Workout Log).

4. Daily Log is where I can make a plan for each day, or put nothing here, or just have a place to ramble (writing down thoughts helps internalize them, after all). This is something of an unstructured personal journal.

5. Technical Log is for all technical work that I undertake (coding train-of-thought, reading papers, reading blog-posts, etc.). In reality, under each date, this log contains a bunch of Evernote links to more detailed notes on specific technical topics, but the big benefit here is being able to look back over the course of a week or month about what kind of insights or interesting concepts I’ve come across. It’s particularly useful to read the day after and get most of the context back quickly. I usually always have this log file opened.

6. Health and workout logs track both metrics and how I generally felt that day (health-wise and workout-wise, respectively). It’s ok to have empty days. The important part is filling in on days when things are particularly bad, or particularly good, so you can reflect.

7. After this, I have a bunch of backlog shortcuts — so when I triage items from Pocket or my email, they go into the appropriate backlog list. Examples for me: Backlog of {ML reading, CS reading, Bio reading, Travel destinations, Video/TV/Movies, Restaurants, Games, Running routes, Books, etc.}. Backlogs are great -- they are lightweight, they can grow indefinitely, and you'll naturally prune them of things that you don't care about after some time. Really, lists are a great way of writing things down! When I'm at a coffee shop, I'll pick and item from one of my reading backlogs, if I'm not already working on something. When I have time to plan a weekend, I can scroll through my recreational backlogs and combine some items to fill out my schedule.

8. I like having a high level view of what I did and what I have coming up on long time scales, and for this I use a big spreadsheet, one sheet per year, one row per week, where all past and future social events, travels, and “macro” events. It’s useful to be able to look back at months or years of events and figure out who you spent time with, how often you traveled, or went out, etc. I prefer the spreadsheet to a calendar app because I don’t feel the pressure of adding specific times and I can keep it uncluttered.

Having a centralized place (along with a calendar or some kind of macro-overview) seems to work well for me, because I can easily cross-reference just about any day of the year to figure out what I did that day, my state of mind that day, and so on.

Evernote isn’t perfect, but it works well enough.

A personal slack.