When researching or reading daily notes approaches, I noticed that I write daily notes too, but differently. Instead of creating new notes, I reference the date/day.
For example, I have notes on people with meetups relating to dates. I have a DevLog with h2’s for each day, AND most importantly, I use “Thoughts On” notes. I wrote the approach with my templates for people and Thoughts On at How I write Daily Notes differently.
I’m unsure if this is the right place here, but I was wondering if others of you do similar things or if you found your workflow by creating a dedicated note daily? Any comments or suggestions for working are very welcome.
Hi, I’ve considered this approach (If I remember correctly, it can named thematic journaling).
The most relevant writing I’ve found about is from Eleanor Konik:
Now I feel comfortable, anyway, with the usual daily journaling by default.
I see the “disorder” of the daily note fertile for ideas and thoughts that span in a broad manner rather that in depth manner; this is the value two months ago made me click to start using journaling.
But I use forms similar of yours and Eleanor’s sometimes, when I need the opposite effect. I create specific notes where I journal about a specific, vertical subject for a long period. I use them, when I want a “subject focused” journal session and I need order. It’s really effective in my project notes and meeting notes, for example, or when I process a specific article developing thoughts.
The benefits of one are the drawbacks of the other. Thematic journaling create stable,long term sessions and ordered, focused content, but also rigidity and silos effect for thoughts. Conventional Daily Journaling create disorder, is problematic manage sessions than span more days, but also it provides a tool for capturing lateral contexts thinking on different planes at the same time when you write.
My strategy. By default I use conventional daily journaling, and when I feel the need of a focused journaling session, I create or continue on an existent thematic journal note.
Very often the session starts in the first and when grows a lot I detach it from the first and move to the second
I think your approach is fine. I wanted to integrate the idea with my considerations.
I’ve learned a lot of very interesting ideas about the different methods of journaling (daily, interstitial, thematic), the process I’ve developed is using the most suitable type just in time.
Wow, thanks so much for that insightful answer. This is so true, and I love the subject, vertically deep dive with “Thematic journaling” as you call it, vs. broad, horizontally where you are fertile for ideas and thoughts. Perfect comparison of why one might use both. Also, the link to Eleanor is spot on; exactly the same way of working as I did, just explained in much more detail.
I’d still argue that when I would have fertile ideas through daily notes, I wouldn’t find them later as I do now. If I have an idea during the day or while writing my thoughts on notes that is not related, I create a new note and directly add the idea as a name, this way I can quickly use a template with Origin and date created (more on here) and be sure I’ll find it later when I must. Likewise, if I have ideas in my daily notes, I’m sure they will be lost forever, except when I do a full-text search, which I rarely do. My system builds up on the paradigm that a new note consistently links at least to one item I have a rigid connection in my brain so that later, when searching for it, that will come to mind, too.
Of course, what I could do instead, when journaling in daily notes, is to create a new blank note for every idea that comes to mind. But yeah, again, it didn’t feel natural to me whenever I tried.
It was so interesting hearing different ways, and thanks again, Andy.
Yes, the retrieving of the content into daily notes is the most critical issue using the method. I call this effect “starvation”. Next week I will forget my daily note for today.
Unfortunately I don’t have the original source for the remedy with the complete details.
The principle I adopt, anyway, is that the daily note doesn’t remain the exclusive point for retrieving the information I’ve taken, and often neither the most important. It’s only the first place of writing.
When I write a piece of information or content into a daily note, before “forgetting” the daily note I have to do at least one of these things:
I need to link that piece of content in another place of my vault, where I’m sure I will resurface that content when I need
I need to process that content creating another kind of stable content, decontextualized from the daily note, that I can find the day I need to use. The most common use case, I create and organize “thoughts note” (I use Zettelkasten) using a daly note as a “source note”.
I need to log/collect that content in other notes, annotating the piece with a tag or a property and using a dataview query into the destination note. For example, I use this technique for traking my fuel expenses for my car. I write and annotate a bullet in the daily note, and I collect all “fluel bullets” in a car expense note
I need to copy that content in a stable and retrievable place (a dedicated note, or an existent note).
The essence of the method is that for content that I will need to find and reuse I must always create an “handle” for reach it again, otherwise it will lost when I will forget the existence of the daily note.
It’s an effort that I need to add to the use of daily note. Simply writing daily notes and leave them in a folder carries the risk of losing and forgetting the contents
The advantage of thematic journaling is that this risk is much less relevant. And this is another reason that bring me to use both methods, not only daily notes.
I still have a bit of friction in my process, but I started using journaling only two months ago, with the pratice I hope to find and try even better solutions
Thank you for sharing. I’ve been concerned about my use of Daily Notes and effectively losing ideas and content in amongst them. I do use links and tags, but it seems wrong that the primary organisation is date. I’m going to try Thematic Journaling - I like your approach which still keeps the date context should it be necessary to track back by date, but the primary context are the themes themselves.
