Table of contents

1. Obsidian plug-ins used
2. The Daily Notes Template
   1. Focus for the day
   2. Daily Tasks
   3. Tasks
   4. Events
   5. Notes
   6. Daily Reflection
3. My daily notes on weekends

I’ve been journalling with Daily Notes, but I recently changed my Daily Notes template and I’m enjoying journalling way more!

The key was Ryder Carroll’s rapid logging method. I’ve found that writing in bullet points and focusing on events, tasks, and notes makes journaling more enjoyable for me. It removes the friction I often feel when I think about writing paragraphs or lengthy reflections. Rapid logging allows me to record simple observations of what happened during the day.

In addition to this, I also include interesting facts and reflections from my social media posts. I realized that I had so many thoughts, reflections, and records on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The recent Twitter meltdown made me realise that I really needed to keep a record of my posts on a space that I controlled, that won’t go poof on a billionaire’s whim.

I don’t keep all of them, just the ones that matter to me.

I also jot down notes about various topics. For instance, I wrote about my thoughts on the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. Sadly, despite enjoying a nice meal, I had some digestive issues that night. It might be too much information, but it sure adds colour to “today I had a nice meal with Evelyn”!

As a result, of all this, my daily notes has been more fun to create and is a richer record of my life.

Obsidian plug-ins used

• Tasks
• Calendar
• Periodic Notes
• Template
• Daily Note

The Daily Notes Template

Here are sections in my Daily Notes template:

Focus for the day

One of my favorite sections is the “Focus for the Day” box. It helps me prioritize my tasks and avoid overwhelming myself with an extensive to-do list. By setting my focus at the start of the day, I remind myself to limit my tasks to three and consider anything else as a bonus. On days filled with meetings, like the one I’m sharing, I remind myself not to be too hard on myself if my productivity isn’t as high as usual.

Daily Tasks

I have a daily task section where I check various aspects to ensure I start my working day right. This routine includes reviewing my kanban board, work tickets, work calendar, and email. Additionally, I allocate time to engage with social media comments, as this is an area I tend to neglect. By incorporating it into my daily tasks, I’m breaking the habit of ignoring social media messages for days on end.

Tasks

Next, I use a task plugin to create a section where I list all the tasks for the day. These tasks are arranged by deadline and pulled from project notes in my vaults. Each project has a dedicated document where I list everything related to that project, including meeting notes, observations, learnings, and, of course, tasks. This approach ensures I have a centralized source of information to evaluate projects in the future. The “Overdue Tasks” section reminds me of any unfinished tasks, which often includes personal tasks that I tend to procrastinate on!

Events

This section is pretty self-explanatory. It’s funny how I never bothered to record the daily happenings in my life before!

Notes

The “Notes” section is another favorite. I jot down thoughts, observations, and interesting facts that catch my attention. If they aren’t directly related to a research project, I give them a home here.

Daily Reflection

At the end of the day, I have a section dedicated to reviewing my day. This ritual gives me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. There are journal prompts in this section, and I don’t answer every daily reflection question, but I find it valuable to capture my thoughts on certain topics. Some of the prompts include:

• Today I achieved this victory
• I’m grateful for …
• What well-being activity did you do today? How do you feel?
• What was better than expected?
• Did you have to adjust your expectations for your goals today?
• What do you hope to do tomorrow?

My daily notes on weekends

On weekends, I have started to create a special note that I really enjoy working on. I love this system so much that I’m now even writing daily note entries on weekends, something I never used to do. Unlike my regular daily notes, this weekend note doesn’t have tasks, though I still include “some direction in the “focus of the day” section.

You see, my weekends often lacked direction; I could spend the whole day watching TV if I feel like it! So, in my weekend note, I make sure to set my intentions for the day. For example, one weekend, my goal was to spend quality time with a friend and watch a movie together. I accomplished that goal and it felt great.

If you also keep daily notes, I would love to hear how you do it and if you incorporate journalling. Feel free to leave your comments below. I’m excited to learn from your experiences and insights.

In 2022 I searched high and low for a software that I could use to generate my own “wiki”. I later found out that most call this a “second brain” or “personal knowledge management system”.

Fortunately, I came across Obsidian and fell in love. As I tinker around with Obsidian, I realise that it’s powerful and flexible enough to be my task management system.

In this video, I will demonstrate how I use Obsidian to manage my daily tasks and how my Daily Notes document looks like.

Chapters

0:00 introduction 1:50 Project Notes 2:35 How I structure my Daily Notes 8:20 Summary

Obsidian plug-ins used

• Template
• Calendar
• Tasks
• Daily Notes
• Periodic Notes

I prefer keeping things simple, so I don’t use many community plugins.

The daily note template that I use

I use two methods to create my daily note:

• By clicking the Daily Notes plugin button on the left column.
• The calendar icon via the Calendar app

My daily note template contains these sections:

• Direction today
• Tasks – consists of Daily tasks, Today’s tasks and overdue tasks, Done today
• Project Shortcuts
• Notes
• Daily reflection

Direction today

In this section, I outline how I expect the day to go. At the end of the day, I reflect on how it actually went.

Tasks

Before I dive into the sectionlet me tell you about an essential document in my system called the Project Notes. It contains all the information I need for executing a project, including the task list that is found in my Daily Notes. By using the Task community app, I can instruct Obsidian to fetch tasks from every Project Note and populate them in my Daily Notes based on the day it is due.

Daily tasks – a checklist I go through every day such as checking my team’s kanban board and work calendar.

Today’s tasks – The tasks for the day are generated using a code, and there’s a section for overdue tasks as well. I also include links to the projects I’m working on.

Project shortcuts

I include links to the projects I’m currently working on here.

Notes

Where I jot down anything notable that happened that day. For example, some observation at work or random thoughts about topics of interests that I’ve discovered.

Daily reflections

This section contains journal prompts which helps me write a journal entry quickly.

So, this is how I use obsidian to plan my day. I continue to refine my system, and I may make further adjustments in the future. Currently, I find it easy and effective for keeping track of things.

Do you use obsidian for planning as well? Share your experiences and insights in the comments below.