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27 <div class="date">
28 19/06 — 2023
29 <div class="stats">
30 <span class="stats-number">
31 138.66
32 </span>
33 <span class="stats-unit">cm</span>
34 &nbsp
35 <span class="stats-number">
36 8.9
37 </span>
38 <span class="stats-unit">min</span>
39 </div>
40 </div>
41 <h1>
42 Plain Text Journaling
43 </h1>
44 <div class="post-text">
45 <p>I cobbled together a journaling system with {neo,}vim, coreutils and
46<a href="http://www.fresse.org/dateutils">dateutils</a>. This system is
47loosely based on <a href="https://www.rydercarroll.com/">Ryder
48Caroll’s</a> Bullet Journal method.</p>
49<p><a href="https://u.peppe.rs/SpF.png"><img
50src="https://u.peppe.rs/SpF.png" /></a></p>
51<h3 id="the-format">The format</h3>
52<p>The journal for a given year is a directory:</p>
53<div class="sourceCode" id="cb1"><pre
54class="sourceCode bash"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb1-1"><a href="#cb1-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">λ</span> ls journal/</span>
55<span id="cb1-2"><a href="#cb1-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">2022/</span> 2023/</span></code></pre></div>
56<p>In each directory are 12 files, one for each month of the year,
57numbered like so:</p>
58<div class="sourceCode" id="cb2"><pre
59class="sourceCode bash"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb2-1"><a href="#cb2-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">λ</span> ls journal/2023/</span>
60<span id="cb2-2"><a href="#cb2-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">01</span> 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12</span></code></pre></div>
61<p>We can now begin writing stuff down:</p>
62<div class="sourceCode" id="cb3"><pre
63class="sourceCode bash"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb3-1"><a href="#cb3-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">λ</span> vim journal/2023/1</span></code></pre></div>
64<p>Every month must start with a calendar of course, fill that in
65with:</p>
66<pre class="vim"><code>:read !cal -m</code></pre>
67<p>Your entry for January might look like this:</p>
68<div class="sourceCode" id="cb5"><pre
69class="sourceCode bash"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb5-1"><a href="#cb5-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">λ</span> cat journal/2023/01</span>
70<span id="cb5-2"><a href="#cb5-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="ex">January</span> 2023</span>
71<span id="cb5-3"><a href="#cb5-3" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">Mo</span> Tu We Th Fr Sa Su</span>
72<span id="cb5-4"><a href="#cb5-4" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="ex">1</span></span>
73<span id="cb5-5"><a href="#cb5-5" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="ex">2</span> 3 4 5 6 7 8</span>
74<span id="cb5-6"><a href="#cb5-6" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="ex">9</span> 10 11 12 13 14 15</span>
75<span id="cb5-7"><a href="#cb5-7" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">16</span> 17 18 19 20 21 22</span>
76<span id="cb5-8"><a href="#cb5-8" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">23</span> 24 25 26 27 28 29</span>
77<span id="cb5-9"><a href="#cb5-9" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">30</span> 31</span></code></pre></div>
78<p>I prefer planning week by week, as opposed to creating a task-list
79every day, here’s what I have for the first couple of weeks:</p>
80<pre><code> January 2023
81Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
82 1
83 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
84 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
8516 17 18 19 20 21 22
8623 24 25 26 27 28 29
8730 31
88
89
90week 1
91
92done apply leaves
93done dload boarding pass
94moved reply to dan
95
96
97week 2
98
99todo reply to dan
100todo pack bags
101done travel insurance
102todo weigh luggage</code></pre>
103<p>I start the week by writing a header and each item that week is
104placed on its own line. The items are prefixed with a <code>todo</code>
105or a <code>done</code> signifier.</p>
106<h3 id="form-over-function">Form over function</h3>
107<p>Right off the bat, the signifiers look very noisy, Even more so once
108we start introducing variety (I use “event”, “note” and “moved”):</p>
109<pre><code>week 1
110
111todo apply leaves
112done dload boarding pass
113todo reply to dan
114event fr trip
115note weight 68.6</code></pre>
116<p>We can clean this up with “abbreviations”
117(<code>:h abbreviations</code>):</p>
118<pre class="vim"><code>:iabbrev todo ·
119:iabbrev done ×</code></pre>
120<p>Now, typing this:</p>
121<pre><code>todo apply leaves</code></pre>
122<p>Automatically inserts:</p>
123<pre><code>· apply leaves</code></pre>
124<p>You can use <code>x</code> and <code>o</code> as well, but
125<code>×</code> (U+00D7, MULTIPLICATION SIGN) and <code>·</code> (U+00B7,
126MIDDLE DOT) are more … <em>gourmet</em>.</p>
127<p>The other signifiers I use are:</p>
128<ul>
129<li><code>-</code> for note</li>
130<li><code>o</code> for event</li>
131<li><code>&gt;</code> for moved.</li>
132</ul>
133<p>Nit #2 is the lack of order. We can employ vim to introduce grouping
134and sorting. Select the list of entries for this week:</p>
135<pre class="vim"><code>vip &quot; line-wise select inner paragraph
136:&#39;&lt;,&#39;&gt;sort &quot; the markers &#39;&lt; and &#39;&gt; are automatically inserted,
137 &quot; they mark the start and end of the selection</code></pre>
138<p>We end up with:</p>
139<pre><code>week 1
140
141· apply leaves
142· reply to dan
143× dload boarding pass</code></pre>
144<p>The lines are grouped by their signifiers, segregating todo items
145from completed items. Luckily, MIDDLE DOT is lesser than MULTIPLICATION
146SIGN, so todo items are placed at the top. The same goes for
147<code>o</code> and <code>x</code> symbols, either set of signifiers will
148result in the same sorting order.</p>
149<p>We can shorten this select-paragraph-invoke-sort dance by setting the
150<code>formatprg</code> variable:</p>
151<pre class="vim"><code>:set formatprg=sort\ -V</code></pre>
152<p>Now, hitting <code>gqip</code> should automatically group and sort
153the items for the week under the cursor, moving todo items to the top.
154Finding signifier glyphs that suit your sorting preference is a fun
155exercise.</p>
156<h3 id="syntax-highlighting">Syntax highlighting</h3>
157<p>Adding color to items introduces another layer of visual distinction.
158In truth, I like to deck it out just because.</p>
159<p>First, create a few syntax groups:</p>
160<pre class="vim"><code>:syntax match JournalAll /.*/ &quot; captures the entire buffer
161:syntax match JournalDone /^×.*/ &quot; lines containing &#39;done&#39; items: ×
162:syntax match JournalTodo /^·.*/ &quot; lines containing &#39;todo&#39; items: ·
163:syntax match JournalEvent /^o.*/ &quot; lines containing &#39;event&#39; items: o
164:syntax match JournalNote /^- .*/ &quot; lines containing &#39;note&#39; items: -
165:syntax match JournalMoved /^&gt;.*/ &quot; lines containing &#39;moved&#39; items: &gt;</code></pre>
166<p>Add highlights to each group:</p>
167<pre class="vim"><code>:highlight JournalAll ctermfg=12 &quot; bright black
168:highlight JournalDone ctermfg=12 &quot; bright black
169:highlight JournalEvent ctermfg=6 &quot; cyan
170:highlight JournalMoved ctermfg=5 &quot; magenta
171:highlight JournalNote ctermfg=3 &quot; yellow</code></pre>
172<p>In my terminal, this is rendered like so:</p>
173<p><a href="https://u.peppe.rs/Du6.png"><img
174src="https://u.peppe.rs/Du6.png" /></a></p>
175<h3 id="habit-tracking">Habit tracking</h3>
176<p>While this is not a part of my journaling system anymore, a few
177headers and an awk script is all it takes to track habits. My weekly
178entries would include a couple of habit headers like so:</p>
179<pre><code>week 1 --------------
180
181× wake up on time
182× water the plants
183
184spend 7.5 7 10
185---------------------
186
187
188week 2 --------------
189
190· make the bed
191· go to bed
192
193spend 30 2.75 6
194---------------------</code></pre>
195<p>Here, under the <code>spend</code> header in week 1, are a list of
196expenditures accumulated over the week. The monthly spend is calculated
197with this awk script:</p>
198<div class="sourceCode" id="cb17"><pre
199class="sourceCode awk"><code class="sourceCode awk"><span id="cb17-1"><a href="#cb17-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="cf">BEGIN</span> <span class="op">{</span>spend<span class="op">=</span><span class="dv">0</span><span class="op">;}</span></span>
200<span id="cb17-2"><a href="#cb17-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ot">/</span><span class="ss">spend</span><span class="ot">/</span> <span class="op">{</span><span class="cf">for</span><span class="op">(</span>i<span class="op">=</span><span class="dv">1</span><span class="op">;</span>i<span class="op">&lt;=</span><span class="dt">$NF</span><span class="op">;</span>i<span class="op">++)</span> spend<span class="op">+=</span><span class="dt">$i</span><span class="op">;}</span></span>
201<span id="cb17-3"><a href="#cb17-3" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="cf">END</span> <span class="op">{</span> <span class="kw">printf</span> spend <span class="st">&quot;eur&quot;</span><span class="op">}</span></span></code></pre></div>
202<p>And invoked like so:</p>
203<pre><code>λ awk -f spend.awk journal/2023/01
20463.25eur</code></pre>
205<h3 id="reflection">Reflection</h3>
206<p>Journaling is not just about planning what is to come, but also
207reflecting on what has passed. It would make sense to simultaneously
208look at the past few weeks’ entries while making your current one. To
209open multiple months of entries at the same time:</p>
210<pre><code>λ vim -O journal/2023/0{1,2,3}</code></pre>
211<p>Opens 3 months, side-by-side, in vertical splits:</p>
212<pre><code>JANUARY ------------ │ FEBRUARY ----------- │ MARCH --------------
213 │ │
214Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su │ Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su │ Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
215 1 │ 1 2 3 4 5 │ 1 2 3 4 5
216 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 │ 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 │ 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
217 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 │ 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 │ 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
21816 17 18 19 20 21 22 │ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 │ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
21923 24 25 26 27 28 29 │ 27 28 │ 27 28 29 30 31
22030 31 │ │
221 │ │
222 │ │
223WEEK 1 ------------- │ WEEK 1 ------------- │ WEEK 1 -------------
224 │ │
225&gt; latex setup │ &gt; forex │ - weight: 64
226× make the bed │ × clean shoes │ &gt; close sg-pr
227× 03: dentist │ × buy clothes │ × facewash
228× integrate tsg │ × draw │ × groceries
229 │ │
230 │ │
231WEEK 2 ------------- │ WEEK 2 ------------- │ WEEK 2 -------------
232 │ │
233× latex setup │ - viral fever │ &gt; close sg-pr
234× send invoice │ × forex │ × plan meet
235× stack-graph pr │ × activate sim │ × sg storage
236 │ × bitlbee │</code></pre>
237<h3 id="reducing-friction">Reducing friction</h3>
238<p>Journaling already requires a solid amount of discipline and
239consistency. The added friction of typing
240<code>vim journal/$CURRENT_YEAR/$CURRENT_MONTH</code> each time is doing
241no favors.</p>
242<p>To open the current month based on system time:</p>
243<div class="sourceCode" id="cb21"><pre
244class="sourceCode bash"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb21-1"><a href="#cb21-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">λ</span> vim <span class="va">$(</span><span class="fu">date</span> +<span class="st">&quot;%Y/%m&quot;</span><span class="va">)</span></span></code></pre></div>
245<p>To open all the months within a 2 month window of today, is a little
246trickier. The command we wish to generate is (if today is 2023/12):</p>
247<div class="sourceCode" id="cb22"><pre
248class="sourceCode bash"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb22-1"><a href="#cb22-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">λ</span> vim <span class="at">-O</span> 2023/10 2023/11 2023/12 2024/01 2024/02</span></code></pre></div>
249<p>And that is where <code>dateseq</code> from <a
250href="http://www.fresse.org/dateutils">dateutils</a> comes in handy, for
251example:</p>
252<div class="sourceCode" id="cb23"><pre
253class="sourceCode bash"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb23-1"><a href="#cb23-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">λ</span> dateseq 2012-02-01 2012-03-01</span>
254<span id="cb23-2"><a href="#cb23-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">2012-02-01</span></span>
255<span id="cb23-3"><a href="#cb23-3" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">2012-02-02</span></span>
256<span id="cb23-4"><a href="#cb23-4" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">2012-02-03</span></span>
257<span id="cb23-5"><a href="#cb23-5" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">...</span></span>
258<span id="cb23-6"><a href="#cb23-6" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">2012-02-28</span></span>
259<span id="cb23-7"><a href="#cb23-7" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">2012-02-29</span></span>
260<span id="cb23-8"><a href="#cb23-8" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">2012-03-01</span></span></code></pre></div>
261<p>This script opens all months within a 2 month window of today:</p>
262<div class="sourceCode" id="cb24"><pre
263class="sourceCode bash"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb24-1"><a href="#cb24-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">λ</span> vim <span class="at">-O</span> <span class="va">$(</span></span>
264<span id="cb24-2"><a href="#cb24-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="ex">dateseq</span> <span class="dt">\</span></span>
265<span id="cb24-3"><a href="#cb24-3" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="st">&quot;</span><span class="va">$(</span><span class="fu">date</span> <span class="at">--date</span> <span class="st">&quot;2 months ago&quot;</span> +%Y/%m<span class="va">)</span><span class="st">&quot;</span> <span class="dt">\</span></span>
266<span id="cb24-4"><a href="#cb24-4" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="st">&quot;</span><span class="va">$(</span><span class="fu">date</span> <span class="at">--date</span> <span class="st">&quot;2 months&quot;</span> +%Y/%m<span class="va">)</span><span class="st">&quot;</span> <span class="dt">\</span></span>
267<span id="cb24-5"><a href="#cb24-5" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="at">-i</span> %Y/%m <span class="dt">\</span></span>
268<span id="cb24-6"><a href="#cb24-6" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="at">-f</span> %Y/%m</span>
269<span id="cb24-7"><a href="#cb24-7" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="va">)</span></span></code></pre></div>
270<h3 id="fin">Fin</h3>
271<p>You can find a sample vimrc file here: <a
272href="https://git.peppe.rs/cli/journal/tree">cli/journal</a>, along with
273a nix flake file to kick things off.</p>
274<p>Plain text journaling can be just as much fun as a pen and paper.
275Throw in some ASCII art for each month, use swankier signifiers, or
276louder syntax highlighting. Don’t expect forgiveness from org-mode users
277though.</p>
278<p><a href="https://u.peppe.rs/ZCK.png"><img
279src="https://u.peppe.rs/ZCK.png" /></a></p>
280
281 </div>
282
283 <div class="intro">
284 Hi.
285 <div class="hot-links">
286 <a href="https://peppe.rs/index.xml" class="feed-button">Subscribe</a>
287 </div>
288 <p>I'm Akshay, programmer and pixel-artist.</p>
289 <p>
290 I write <a href="https://git.peppe.rs">open-source stuff</a> to pass time.
291 I also design fonts:
292 <a href="https://git.peppe.rs/fonts/scientifica/about">scientifica</a>,
293 <a href="https://git.peppe.rs/fonts/curie/about">curie</a>.
294 </p>
295 <p>Send me a mail at [email protected] or a message at [email protected].</p>
296 </div>
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