Eliminating Obsidian Daily Notes
It started innocently with a question I had a few days ago regarding Journal Entries versus Timeline Bullet Points.
A Bullet Journal seems full of nonsensical time-coded entries that, if anything, track only the span between moments. But on the other hand, traditional journal admissions are intended to record the deep thinking that supposedly occurs when pondering a topic.
Unfortunately, in my exploration, I have destroyed the very thing I sought to improve; I’ll explain.
I used Daily Notes to keep a journal. Its layout has changed over the years; however, the paramount consistency has been the Bullet Points, i.e., a running accounting of the hours in the day, it is far from perfect, but it is a general accounting of my day.
My Journal also contains a category called Threads,¹ i.e., conversational threads with myself, which are closer to traditional journal entries expounding my hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations.
Over the past two weeks, through the use of an Obsidian plug-in called Dataview, I discovered I no longer need Daily Notes. In fact, keeping data in Daily Notes may be hindering my productivity.
Bullet journal entries don’t require separate individual files attached to a particular day. These Timeline entries can exist as one long stream of consciousness and may perform better in a single file. ²
A single electronic Bullet Journal format is also dull. Keeping the Timeline and Journal entries separate allows future readers a choice.
Using the Quickadd plug-in, I now create separate timestamp entries by year for Bullet Journal entries, and a single file holds the entirety of my Journal’s “Threads” section.
The Dataview plug-in allows me to sort my various Thread entries into work, sleep, exercise, hikes, and any tagging combination I desire.
Keeping the Bullet Journal and Thread information in separate files but combining them into a single folder will allow technology to manipulate the data.³ I have discovered that entering a Journal Thread only when inspiration strikes is more efficient than accumulating days of blank material via the Daily Notes method.
Summary of Blog originally published at Linda’s Brick Barn.
While coffee may not be my cup of tea, I do have a passion for beautiful jewelry. If you enjoyed reading my article, I invite you to visit Jewelry Art by Linda, where every piece is lovingly crafted by hand with meticulous attention to detail.
Footnotes:
¹ Short for Discussion Threads
² https://jamierubin.net/2022/01/25/practically-paperless-with-obsidian-episode-15-daily-notes-as-an-index-to-my-life/
³ Metadata is required for technology to sort at the file level.
