I’ve been keeping a diary journal for few years now. I’m just a human being, so I don’t write every day. And sometimes it’s just a short sentence, other times it’s a couple of reflections. But I try to stick to this habit because even minimal written reflection is much more effective than simply thinking things through in your head. As for the other benefits of journaling, there’s already so much information out there that you can easily find it.

One way to keep a journal is through interstitial journaling. I don’t use this technique fully, but I try to jot down what I’ve done during breaks between tasks. This kind of active pause helps you authorise your results and can also remind you of something that still needs to be done.

You can read more about interstitial journaling here.

So, whether you use this method or just log your day occasionally, it would be great to make the process faster and more convenient. I mean, without having to open the app, find the right note, etc. Automation can help with this — using tools like Alfred and Shortcuts in the Apple ecosystem.

If you keep your journal in local files (whether it’s Obsidian or any other editor), a simple script is enough. This script can be integrated into both Alfred and Shortcuts. Here’s an example for Alfred:

CURRENT_DAY=`date +'%Y-%m-%d'`

mkdir -p ${dirpath}
touch "${dirpath}/${CURRENT_DAY}.md"

echo "{query}" >> "${dirpath}/${CURRENT_DAY}.md"

For Bear or Apple Notes, you can use Shortcuts. There are different ways to set it up, I use it in two ways: open a note from sidebar or log into it via Alfred. Shortcut for opening note (and create a new one on a new day): Log (Bear). For Apple Notes it almost the same: Log (Apple Notes). To connect it with Alfred, you just need to do a few tweaks (example for Bear) and create simple Alfred Workflow.

Just remember — this automation is just improvement, but it won’t help without your motivation to write. That should come first. Log your day, write work notes, reflect on your feelings — the choice is yours.