this repo has no description
post
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examples/.nvimrc
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examples/.nvimrc
···
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" insert fancy signifiers with abbrevs
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iabbrev todo ·
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iabbrev done ×
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" select the task list and hit `gq` to sort and group by status
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set formatprg=sort\ -V
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" syntax highlighting
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augroup JournalSyntax
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autocmd!
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autocmd BufReadPost * set filetype=journal
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autocmd BufReadPost * syntax match JournalAll /.*/ " captures the entire buffer
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autocmd BufReadPost * syntax match JournalDone /^×.*/ " lines containing 'done' items: ×
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autocmd BufReadPost * syntax match JournalTodo /^·.*/ " lines containing 'todo' items: ·
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autocmd BufReadPost * syntax match JournalEvent /^o.*/ " lines containing 'event' items: o
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autocmd BufReadPost * syntax match JournalNote /^- .*/ " lines containing 'note' items: -
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autocmd BufReadPost * syntax match JournalMoved /^>.*/ " lines containing 'moved' items: >
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autocmd BufReadPost * syntax match JournalHeader /^\<\u\+\>.*/ " lines starting with caps
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autocmd BufReadPost * highlight JournalAll ctermfg=12
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autocmd BufReadPost * highlight JournalHeader ctermfg=12
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autocmd BufReadPost * highlight JournalDone ctermfg=12
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autocmd BufReadPost * highlight JournalEvent ctermfg=6 " cyan
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autocmd BufReadPost * highlight JournalMoved ctermfg=5 " pink
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autocmd BufReadPost * highlight JournalNote ctermfg=3 " yellow
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autocmd BufReadPost * highlight VertSplit ctermfg=0 ctermbg=0 " hide vert splits
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augroup END
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augroup JournalHideUIElements
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autocmd!
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" hide junk
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autocmd VimEnter * set laststatus=0
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autocmd VimEnter * set noruler nonumber nocursorline nocursorcolumn norelativenumber
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" pin scrolling
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autocmd VimEnter * set scrollbind
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augroup END
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syntax on
examples/06
examples/2025/06
examples/06
examples/2025/06
examples/07
examples/2025/07
examples/07
examples/2025/07
examples/08
examples/2025/08
examples/08
examples/2025/08
examples/09
examples/2025/09
examples/09
examples/2025/09
examples/10
examples/2025/10
examples/10
examples/2025/10
+353
readme.md
+353
readme.md
···
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I cobbled together a journaling system with {neo,}vim,
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coreutils and [dateutils](http://www.fresse.org/dateutils).
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This system is loosely based on [Ryder
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Caroll's](https://www.rydercarroll.com/) Bullet Journal
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method.
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[](https://u.peppe.rs/SpF.png)
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### The format
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The journal for a given year is a directory:
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```bash
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λ ls journal/
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2022/ 2023/
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```
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In each directory are 12 files, one for each month of the
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year, numbered like so:
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```bash
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λ ls journal/2023/
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01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
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```
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We can now begin writing stuff down:
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```bash
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λ vim journal/2023/1
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```
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Every month must start with a calendar of course, fill that
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in with:
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```vim
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:read !cal -m
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```
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Your entry for January might look like this:
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```bash
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λ cat journal/2023/01
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January 2023
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Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
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1
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2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15
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16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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23 24 25 26 27 28 29
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30 31
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```
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I prefer planning week by week, as opposed to creating a
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task-list every day, here's what I have for the first couple
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of weeks:
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```
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January 2023
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Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
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1
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2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15
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16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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23 24 25 26 27 28 29
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30 31
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+
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week 1
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done apply leaves
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done dload boarding pass
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moved reply to dan
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week 2
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+
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todo reply to dan
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todo pack bags
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done travel insurance
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todo weigh luggage
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```
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I start the week by writing a header and each item that week
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is placed on its own line. The items are prefixed with a
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`todo` or a `done` signifier.
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### Form over function
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Right off the bat, the signifiers look very noisy, Even more
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so once we start introducing variety (I use "event", "note"
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and "moved"):
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```
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week 1
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todo apply leaves
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done dload boarding pass
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todo reply to dan
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event fr trip
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note weight 68.6
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```
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We can clean this up with "abbreviations" (`:h abbreviations`):
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```vim
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:iabbrev todo ·
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:iabbrev done ×
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```
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Now, typing this:
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```
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todo apply leaves
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```
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Automatically inserts:
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```
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· apply leaves
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```
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You can use `x` and `o` as well, but `×` (U+00D7,
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MULTIPLICATION SIGN) and `·` (U+00B7, MIDDLE DOT) are more
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... *gourmet*.
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The other signifiers I use are:
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- `-` for note
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- `o` for event
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- `>` for moved.
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Nit #2 is the lack of order. We can employ vim to introduce
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grouping and sorting. Select the list of entries for this
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week:
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```vim
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vip " line-wise select inner paragraph
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:'<,'>sort " the markers '< and '> are automatically inserted,
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" they mark the start and end of the selection
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```
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We end up with:
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```
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week 1
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· apply leaves
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· reply to dan
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× dload boarding pass
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```
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The lines are grouped by their signifiers, segregating todo
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items from completed items. Luckily, MIDDLE DOT is lesser
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than MULTIPLICATION SIGN, so todo items are placed at the
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top. The same goes for `o` and `x` symbols, either set of
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signifiers will result in the same sorting order.
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We can shorten this select-paragraph-invoke-sort dance by
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setting the `formatprg` variable:
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```vim
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:set formatprg=sort\ -V
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```
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Now, hitting `gqip` should automatically group and sort the
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items for the week under the cursor, moving todo items to
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the top. Finding signifier glyphs that suit your sorting
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preference is a fun exercise.
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### Syntax highlighting
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Adding color to items introduces another layer of visual
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distinction. In truth, I like to deck it out just because.
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First, create a few syntax groups:
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```vim
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:syntax match JournalAll /.*/ " captures the entire buffer
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:syntax match JournalDone /^×.*/ " lines containing 'done' items: ×
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:syntax match JournalTodo /^·.*/ " lines containing 'todo' items: ·
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:syntax match JournalEvent /^o.*/ " lines containing 'event' items: o
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:syntax match JournalNote /^- .*/ " lines containing 'note' items: -
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:syntax match JournalMoved /^>.*/ " lines containing 'moved' items: >
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```
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Add highlights to each group:
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```vim
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:highlight JournalAll ctermfg=12 " bright black
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:highlight JournalDone ctermfg=12 " bright black
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:highlight JournalEvent ctermfg=6 " cyan
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:highlight JournalMoved ctermfg=5 " magenta
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:highlight JournalNote ctermfg=3 " yellow
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```
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In my terminal, this is rendered like so:
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[](https://u.peppe.rs/Du6.png)
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### Habit tracking
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While this is not a part of my journaling system anymore, a
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few headers and an awk script is all it takes to track
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habits. My weekly entries would include a couple of habit
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headers like so:
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```
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week 1 --------------
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× wake up on time
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× water the plants
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spend 7.5 7 10
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---------------------
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week 2 --------------
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· make the bed
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· go to bed
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spend 30 2.75 6
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---------------------
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```
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Here, under the `spend` header in week 1, are a list of
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expenditures accumulated over the week. The monthly spend is
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calculated with this awk script:
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```awk
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BEGIN {spend=0;}
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/spend/ {for(i=1;i<=$NF;i++) spend+=$i;}
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END { printf spend "eur"}
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```
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And invoked like so:
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```
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λ awk -f spend.awk journal/2023/01
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63.25eur
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```
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### Reflection
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Journaling is not just about planning what is to come, but
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also reflecting on what has passed. It would make sense to
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simultaneously look at the past few weeks' entries while
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making your current one. To open multiple months of entries
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at the same time:
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```
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λ vim -O journal/2023/0{1,2,3}
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```
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Opens 3 months, side-by-side, in vertical splits:
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```
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JANUARY ------------ │ FEBRUARY ----------- │ MARCH --------------
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│ │
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Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su │ Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su │ Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
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1 │ 1 2 3 4 5 │ 1 2 3 4 5
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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 │ 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 │ 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15 │ 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 │ 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
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16 17 18 19 20 21 22 │ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 │ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
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23 24 25 26 27 28 29 │ 27 28 │ 27 28 29 30 31
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30 31 │ │
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│ │
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│ │
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WEEK 1 ------------- │ WEEK 1 ------------- │ WEEK 1 -------------
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│ │
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> latex setup │ > forex │ - weight: 64
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× make the bed │ × clean shoes │ > close sg-pr
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× 03: dentist │ × buy clothes │ × facewash
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× integrate tsg │ × draw │ × groceries
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│ │
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│ │
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WEEK 2 ------------- │ WEEK 2 ------------- │ WEEK 2 -------------
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│ │
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× latex setup │ - viral fever │ > close sg-pr
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× send invoice │ × forex │ × plan meet
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× stack-graph pr │ × activate sim │ × sg storage
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│ × bitlbee │
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```
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### Reducing friction
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Journaling already requires a solid amount of discipline and
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consistency. The added friction of typing `vim
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journal/$CURRENT_YEAR/$CURRENT_MONTH` each time is doing no
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favors.
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To open the current month based on system time:
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```bash
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λ vim $(date +"%Y/%m")
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```
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To open all the months within a 2 month window of today, is
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a little trickier. The command we wish to generate is (if
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today is 2023/12):
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```bash
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λ vim -O 2023/10 2023/11 2023/12 2024/01 2024/02
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```
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And that is where `dateseq` from
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[dateutils](http://www.fresse.org/dateutils) comes in handy,
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for example:
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```bash
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λ dateseq 2012-02-01 2012-03-01
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2012-02-01
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2012-02-02
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2012-02-03
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...
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2012-02-28
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2012-02-29
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2012-03-01
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```
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This script opens all months within a 2 month window of
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today:
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```bash
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λ vim -O $(
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dateseq \
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"$(date --date "2 months ago" +%Y/%m)" \
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"$(date --date "2 months" +%Y/%m)" \
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-i %Y/%m \
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-f %Y/%m
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)
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```
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### Fin
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You can find a sample vimrc in this repository,
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along with a nix flake file to kick things off:
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```
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λ nix develop
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λ cd examples
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λ journal
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```
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Plain text journaling can be just as much fun as a pen and
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paper. Throw in some ASCII art for each month, use swankier
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signifiers, or louder syntax highlighting. Don't expect
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forgiveness from org-mode users though.
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[](https://u.peppe.rs/ZCK.png)
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