My Daily Log in Evernote

I love using Evernote. I love using it to take notes, to keep information archived, and just generally to bring structure to the information in my life. And I owe so much to other people — especially Jamie Todd Rubin — for opening my mind to the possibility of what Evernote can do. I love the way he has things automated, and while I’ve used or adapted several of his ideas, I had been looking for a central way to keep track of activities throughout each day. I like being able to go back to a specific day and seeing a summary of what I did for that day.

The Daily Log Idea

Then I saw E.C. Chang’s “Captain’s Log” recipes on IFTTT (“If This Then That”). I immediately liked the idea, and decided to adapt it for my own use.

Create the Daily Log note at 5:00 AM

Chang decided to refer to their note as a “Captain’s Log,” which I thought was witty, but I preferred the classic name of “Daily Log.” So every day at 5:00 AM, a note is automatically created in my Evernote “Timeline” folder. The title of “Daily Log” is given to the note (important for when other actions are appended later), the words “DAILY LOG” and the current date and time are added in bold font at the top of the note, and the tags of “Log” and “IFTTT” are added to the note.

Append the Weather Forecast at 7:00 AM

I like having the forecast for each day, including some details, so each day at 7:00 AM, IFTTT appends the weather forecast to my Daily Log in Evernote.

Append any Foursquare Check-ins

I like having a record of what places I visited each day, so for that, I’m currently using Foursquare to check into locations on my iPhone. I really like that this recipe adds any Foursquare check-ins to my Daily Log in Evernote, regardless of whether or not I’ve made the check-in “public” or “visible” to any friends. Now I can “check in” to any place that I care to keep track of, and add any notes to the check-in (for example, at a gas station, I like to note how much per gallon the gas cost, how much gas I put in and to which vehicle, and what the total cost was), and know that it will automatically be logged in Evernote.

Append any Tweets, Retweets, or Replies

I use Twitter not only to keep in touch with friends, but also as a good source of information. So I will frequently retweet something that I think is of particular value. This recipe captures not only my own Tweets, but also any Retweets and Replies and appends them to my Daily Log in Evernote.

Append “Favorited” Tweets

Sometimes I’ll like what someone shares on Twitter, and while I don’t necessarily want to retweet it, I do want to keep track of it for future reference. This recipe captures any Tweet that I mark as a favorite and appends them to my Daily Log in Evernote.

Append Facebook Posts

Facebook for me is a much more personal means of communication, and I frequently share funny things that my son says. I want a way to keep track of those, so this recipe appends any of my Facebook posts to my Daily Log in Evernote.

Non-Automated — My Own Thoughts and Feelings

The final component of my Daily Log is not automated — it’s simply taking time to write my own thoughts and feelings for the day, much like a diary. I’ve found that I like having this “diary” information in the same context as my other activities (social, travel, etc.).

That gives me a pretty complete view of my day!

Posted on 2014-11-01   #Daily Log     #E.C. Chang     #Evernote     #Facebook     #Forecast     #Foursquare     #IFTTT     #Jamie Todd Rubin     #Location     #Social Media     #Twitter     #Weather