Anyone have a great daily journal template? (General)

[Wayne Hazle 0]

Yet again I am going to try to go paperless.  I will likely go to Premium so I can have the app on multiple devices.  I am starting to use templates.

Does anyone have a cool daily journal template they would like to share that really works for them?  Once upon a long long time ago I was a Daytimer user and I used the two page per day with Notes.  Would love something like that but with a "pretty" flair to it 

 

[DTLow 4,787]

Here's my daily journal template  Template.enex

• The journal note is generated each morning via a script running on my Mac
  The script sets the title to the current date, creates a link in my calendar, ...
• An ifttt script sends me a weather report; I copy details into the journal note
• The date section is supposed to be a reference for alternate year systems,
  for example Chinese year of the dog.  I substituted with year of me.
• A search generates my Current Task and Project lists
  I copy the links into the journal note
• The Activities section is a log of planned and actual
  I copy hard date entries from the calendar into this section
  I move hard date entries from the current task list into this section
  I add entries throughout the day.  One or two lines, or a link to a separate note
• I append quick one-of pictures, but usually these will be in a separate note with a link in the Activities section

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

[SVHOODS 31]

@DTLow I am impressed with your daily journaling system.  That you for sharing the template.  It gives me hope that I can do the same for myself. ?

[Dave-in-Decatur 1,379]

Wow, @DTLow, that is a fantastic template! In some ways a kind of secular Ignatian Examen. I do find myself intrigued by the category "Not Important and Urgent." I'm retired now, but I remember some committee meetings and Memos from on High....

[DTLow 4,787]

On 9/23/2018 at 10:47 AM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

intrigued by the category "Not Important and Urgent." 

That's the Eisenhower matrix for task prioritization.  I'm retired too; my tasks tend to be Not Important and Not Urgent

>>In some ways a kind of secular Ignatian Examen.

I read somewhere that reflection on the day is important.  I can't say I always give it the proper attention.  I make a point of doing the checkboxes and note any exceptions.  Thanks for the reference, I'll check it out.

[SVHOODS 31]

4 hours ago, DTLow said:

I read somewhere that reflection on the day is important.  I can't say I always give it the proper attention.  I make a point of doing the checkboxes and note any exceptions.  Thanks for the reference, I'll check it out.

 

@DTLow I would say that if you were a pilot, the debrief (end of flight checklist) would be what you are doing on a daily basis.  Again, it has inspired me to rethink my process.  And, @Dave-in-Decatur thanks for your comment on the Ignatian Examen.  So much to learn in the EN Forum!

[Dave-in-Decatur 1,379]

21 hours ago, DTLow said:

That's the Eisenhower method for task prioritization.

Interesting. I'll probably never be disciplined enough to do either this method or the Ignatian Examen. (I only linked to it; I didn't say I do it!) But I love the Eisenhower quote itself: “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.” For me this points to the philosophical question of what really matters in life. What's the long-term, long-view reality and necessity? In the modern world, the really important things in life tend to lie under the surface of "Do it now!" spurious urgencies. It can be a real challenge to get to them, or even to recognize that they are there. This system might be one way of beginning to notice them; "Important and Not Urgent" might turn out to be the most significant category of all.

@Wayne Hazle, I apologize for drifting your thread! This was an interesting question, and I thank you for raising it.

[DTLow 4,787]

1 minute ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

For me this points to the philosophical question of what really matters in life. What's the long-term, long-view reality and necessity?

I wasn't getting into such deep thought.
I created processes to produce my Current Task list, but this leaves me with a list of 20+ items.
I need prioritization to identify what to do first.

[Wayne Hazle 0]

This has turned into a really good thread!  I am going to share with you my first draft of a daily journal.  I want some of the prettiness and and yet functionality I have had in my previous Daytimers and Franklin Planners and diaries.  Ya'll don't know me so I don't mind sharing ;) 

I need to learn some of the scripting so I can do some automated stuff.  

But I like having a picture and title up top.  I'm a Jehovah's Witness and I have pasted my morning text into my daily evernote for years.  There is probably way to script pulling it from a daily feed.

By putting in a simple "week of appointments at a glance" table I will get rid of the appointment book I was keeping ... using that combined with my monthly template.,  I know I am still doubling work if I also put appointments in my iCloud calendar.

Still figuring out the To-do list.  I was going to have one list with different categories for the task.  But now I feel like there should be a seperate list for each Category ... also not sure how I will move things forwards through the week.

After the list(s) is just the general note taking area.

I am open to all suggestions though I will admit upfront I am unlikely to do the reflective "What did I accomplish today?" stuff

 

[DTLow 4,787]

I do a bit of cut and paste into my Journal.  Things I want in front of me during the day, or a permanent record

The calendar summary is a nice touch.  It also gives you a look ahead.  
I use Apple Calendar and Reminders, and Evernote; no appointment book
Appointments have to go into my Calendar otherwise I'll probably miss them.  I use a script (Mac) to generate a Calendar entry from a note.

My daily journal note is displayed on the second monitor of my Mac.  It's in front of me all the time.
When away from my desk, i access the note and calendar on my iPad

I have a few links in my journal.  Things I want quick access to.
This can be other notes, web sites, ...

The To-Do list is a big topic.  You might want to do it in a separate discussion.

[Shane D. 1,068]

@Wayne Hazle We just recently released 'Templates' for Evernote, and we have a journal template that may be what you're looking for!

https://www.evernote.com/client/snv?noteGuid=df3ec8f8-f750-4ae0-a91b-8c2fa99edb20&noteKey=8915c2c4b7d1f5c753eda985daaae2f5&sn=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.evernote.com%2Fshard%2Fs308%2Fsh%2Fdf3ec8f8-f750-4ae0-a91b-8c2fa99edb20%2F8915c2c4b7d1f5c753eda985daaae2f5&displayMode=template

 

 

[CalS 4,509]

3 hours ago, Shane D. said:

@Wayne Hazle We just recently released 'Templates' for Evernote, and we have a journal template that may be what you're looking for!

https://www.evernote.com/client/snv?noteGuid=df3ec8f8-f750-4ae0-a91b-8c2fa99edb20&noteKey=8915c2c4b7d1f5c753eda985daaae2f5&sn=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.evernote.com%2Fshard%2Fs308%2Fsh%2Fdf3ec8f8-f750-4ae0-a91b-8c2fa99edb20%2F8915c2c4b7d1f5c753eda985daaae2f5&displayMode=template

 

 

My energy might be at zero at the end of the day just from completing the form.  

[s2sailor 946]

On 9/23/2018 at 3:01 PM, DTLow said:

I read somewhere that reflection on the day is important.

I agree!  I tend to reflect on which beer or single malt I'll have next ?.

[SVHOODS 31]

4 hours ago, CalS said:

My energy might be at zero at the end of the day just from completing the form.  

@CalS, I can relate!  

Here is one for gratitude that is nice - Gratitude Template

[Chickaloon 1]

@Shane D. Is there a way to specify a template when creating a new note from email or IFTTT? You can specify notebook, tags, etc., but I don't see a code for template.

[Shane D. 1,068]

@Chickaloon Thanks for reaching out!

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a way to specify a template when creating a new note from email or IFTTT.

However, could you elaborate a little bit on your workflow and what you're trying to accomplish?

If there isn't a direct solution, there may be a workaround solution that fits within that workflow!

 

[Chickaloon 1]

Thanks @Shane D.. I want a new journal note created each morning with a template that I fill in to complete my daily journal. I can use IFTTT to create the note each day, or I can have IFTTT send an email to do the same thing. In either case I would like the note created with the correct template. I can put a pseudo template in the body of the email or the IFTTT app, but you need to use HTML to format it, which will run over the 4K byte limit. Using a template would be the better way to go. 

[DTLow 4,787]

36 minutes ago, Chickaloon said:

I want a new journal note created each morning with a template that I fill in to complete my daily journal. I can use IFTTT to create the note each day

Just tested this; If IFTTT creates an empty note you have the "Template" prompt

[Chickaloon 1]

@DTLow that's a workaround. Thanks. 

[Guy-Christopher 0]

Hello to all,

To DTLow, it seems that I cannot get your template to open in Evernote...is it because I am a Windows user and you are a Mac one ?

Anyway, thank you for this great example of a journal, something very close to what I am looking for.

Guy-Christopher

[mkhezr 0]

@DTLow Thanks for sharing this. I wonder if you have shared the script anywhere? I just thought I'll ask. Otherwise the template and your text is so insightful and useful. Thank you!

[DTLow 4,787]

On 9/5/2020 at 12:11 PM, mkhezr said:

I wonder if you have shared the script anywhere?

Here's the first part of my script; AppleScript running on a Mac

tell application "Evernote"
     -- Retrieve the template, export and import as a new note
     set templateTitle to "\"Template-Journal\""
     set theTemplate to find notes "inTitle:" & templateTitle
     set tempFile to "/Users/DTLow/Desktop/Temp-Template.enex"
     export theTemplate to tempFile format ENEX with tags
     set newNotes to import tempFile to "@Inbox" with tags
     set tempFile to tempFile as POSIX file
     tell application "Finder" to delete file tempFile
end tell