Hello! I'm Rei, an official Notion ambassador.
This time, I'll be introducing how to keep a diary in Notion.
When asked what I use Notion for, the first thing I mention is my "diary."
I'll be explaining how I write my diary in Notion, specifically what I write, and how I organize it to make it a habit. Please read until the end!
🎬 Director：Rei
✍🏻 Writer：Minokurumi
How to write a diary in Notion.
I started writing a diary in Notion about a year ago, and thanks to Notion, keeping a diary has become a habit for me.
I believe that the way I write my diary, which I'll introduce later, and how I organize it are major factors in making it a habit. So, if you're someone who "wants to make it a habit but can't seem to," I highly recommend trying the same method.
The diary database I'm about to show you looks like this, and when displayed in calendar view, it shows which days I wrote in my diary and what I wrote.
As for how I write, I basically open my diary in the morning and reflect on what happened the day before.
If I try to write at night, I often get sleepy and can't do it, so writing in the morning is one point that makes it easier to habituate.
What to write in your diary.
Next, I'll introduce what kind of things I write in my diary, and the specific contents of my diary.
When you open each diary entry, it looks like this.
I'll explain why later, but in my case, I basically write the contents of my diary in the properties.
You can freely change the items and content you write in your diary, but in my case, I write things like this:
- Quality of sleep yesterday: Did I sleep well? (on a 5-star scale)
- Happiness level yesterday: If it was a good day, "★★★★★"
- What kind of day it was, written freely. "This happened today, and I felt this way." etc.
- Causes and solutions: What problems exist with sleep quality and happiness, and what solutions can be taken. "The air conditioner was too cold, and I woke up many times. I'll try sleeping without the air conditioner on." This can also apply to work.
- Relationships: Things I want to remember. Things to consider regarding family, friends, partners, etc.
Though hidden, there are also other items:
- A function for what day of the week it is.
- A function for whether it's this week.
- Checkboxes for habits, such as "Did I cook?" or "Did I write the YouTube script?"
The key points for writing are to feel free to write anything from personal matters to work-related topics, and to write whatever comes to mind without worrying about elegant phrasing.
Trying to write beautifully often makes it hard to continue, so writing freely is a surprisingly important point.
Why I don't write text within the page.
When you think of writing a diary in Notion, the first method that comes to mind is probably writing text within the page. However, as I mentioned earlier, I write all of my diary content in the properties.
The reason is that by writing in properties, I can view everything at a glance when I switch to calendar view or table view, like this:
If you were to write text inside the page, you would have to open each page individually to check it.
When you want to look back at your diary, being able to see everything at a glance like this is very convenient, so I think writing in "properties" is a highly recommended method.
Furthermore, another good thing about writing in properties is that you can apply filters.
For example, if you filter by times of high or low happiness, you can objectively understand "what actions increase (or decrease) my happiness."
This makes it easier to manage your mood, so I highly recommend trying this method of reflection.
How to organize your diary.
Finally, I'll talk about where to place this diary and how to make it a habit.
I have a Notion home screen that I open first every day, and I've placed a database of this week's diary entries there.
Since I included functions in the diary for "what day of the week it is" and "whether it's this week," I'm using them to display only the current week's entries.
When the next week begins, it automatically shifts to the next week, and the previous week is no longer displayed. This prevents the home screen from getting cluttered and makes it intuitively easier to write, thereby facilitating habit formation. I really like this arrangement.
This layout is included as is in the template, so please feel free to use it.
Summary
That concludes my introduction to how to keep a daily diary in Notion! What did you think?
I imagine many people want to write a diary but struggle to stick with it. I was like that too, but the method of keeping a diary in Notion was very easy and made it simple to form a habit, so please give it a try!
Although it's an older video, I've also provided a simple explanation on YouTube, so please check that out as well.
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