7 ms·

Ask HN: The best app to keep a work diary

28 points by funkyy 11y ago

Hi there. Is there an app that let you keep a work diary? All good diary apps seems to be limited to either mobile, or desktop. Best calendar web app seems to be all about organizing rather than keeping notes. Some ideas? I am looking for app possibly with build in calendar that will let me to make quick notes for each day on what I did and how was my day work-wise.

rkwz 11y ago
I use plain text file. I use the following format: ---- 2015 September Weekends/Holidays - 13,15,20,23 Wasted days - 26,27 Project{Name}/Component{Name} 01 - what I did 02 - what I did ... Project{Name}/Component{Name} 14 - what I did 16 - what I did 2015 October .... ---- So, I have a breakdown of my worklog by days and grouped by months. Multi-month components/projects have an entry in each month. Holidays and weekends are noted down for me to quickly know why there's a gap in the middle of working on a component. Whole days wasted due to meetings are also noted down.
reinder 11y ago
I recommend DayOne, both available for Mac and iOS. Recently I've begun recording done MITs in Rescuetime, because I don't want to make time for writing a log but do need to jot down 1-2 lines on accomplishments. You could also just use a text file, or Trello. Oh and DayOne has calendar and sync features.
- markba 11y ago
  DayOne integrates with the excellent jrnl project. https://maebert.github.io/jrnl/ https://maebert.github.io/jrnl/
- funkyy 11y ago
  Windows Laptop here unfortunately - this was first app that looked cool for me, but it is available only on Mac.
danielvf 11y ago
A good text editor! Make macro to open a text file named with the date of the current week. Make another macro to insert the current day and time and a new line.
iJebus 11y ago
Timely is alright, though free tier only supports a low number of 'projects'. Depends how you want to use it I guess.
slilo 11y ago
http://orgmode.org/ http://orgmode.org/
- marc_c 11y ago
  +1 to orgmode. Plain text, with tools to export into different formats (HTML, PDF...)
- erik998 11y ago
  +1 orgmode is the way to go. Everything is kept in a text file and you can have multiple text files. It's a bit of a learning curve but a quick tutorial and some practice can get you going. http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/orgtutorial_dto.html http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/orgtutorial_dto.html The tab effects are pretty cool. It's the best way to track your ideas, tasks, notes.
rasengan0 11y ago
After many years of trying everything, a few conclusions have greatly helped: only PLAIN TEXT, cross platform and date stamp every line item (add to your dotvimrc or dotemacs or js bookmarklet) mindmappers? - bought and tried them all cloud subscription notetakers - yep pretty much all Best to have data close at hand - Oh nooos, everything is locked in that proprietary app I bought in the 90's or cloud service I threw 3 yrs in. After years with orgmode and vimwiki, I went back to Firefox http://tiddlywiki.com/ http://tiddlywiki.com/ + vim as editor with https://github.com/docwhat/itsalltext/ https://github.com/docwhat/itsalltext/ if you live in emacs then stay in orgmode or deft.el for speed if vim, vimwiki rsync is my friend
- nodivbyzero 11y ago
  +1
- mercer 11y ago
  I agree. I've been keeping work/life journals using various systems and inevitably either the tool would become unsupported, my data would get corrupted, or the 'friction' of opening the application would eventually make me stop keeping track of things. What really worked well for me instead has been to us Notational Velocity (nvALT to be specific). I create a new note for every day (titled YYYY-MM-DD), and especially for work notes I add a timestamp for every new entry for that day (ISO 8601). The result is one folder full of text files that I can quickly update and search through using nvALT. I can use the same app for storing all kinds of other things, but I can also use any other text editing tool for my notes as well (grep, WriteRoom, Sublime Text with markdown plugins, etc.). Currently I moved my 'journalling' into a locally running web tool, but because the source data is just text, 'migration' has been trivial. It's quite possible I'll move back to the plain text + nvALT solution though. I usually do. I just can't help tinkering.
- Scarblac 11y ago
  I actually went back to paper, a good quality notebook with squared paper (to turn into checkboxes). People who want to explain stuff to me can scribble things on the next page, I can draw outlines of UIs, and doing something away from the computer screen helps me focus.
pcr0 11y ago
I think Evernote might be able to do the trick. You can put the notes under a notebook, and then there's an "Expanded cards view" which comes sort of close to a real calendar. Example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k2skt4exf5eg66e/Screenshot%202015-10-20%2012.59.43.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/k2skt4exf5eg66e/Screenshot%202015-...
rreyes1979 11y ago
Try https://github.com/rodrigoreyes79/ttlogger https://github.com/rodrigoreyes79/ttlogger
rreyes1979 11y ago
Try https://github.com/rodrigoreyes79/ttlogger https://github.com/rodrigoreyes79/ttlogger
tsocks 11y ago
Workflowy :) https://workflowy.com/ https://workflowy.com/ You can use either the app or the web version. Best TODO list I've seen so far (simplicity, ux, etc)
hanfer 11y ago
for plain time tracking im rather happy with https://toggl.com/ https://toggl.com/
varnamvmv 11y ago
Moo.do - Organize everything in a tree:) https://www.moo.do/ https://www.moo.do/
- gexos 11y ago
  Thanks for that, it looks great.
heynickc 11y ago
I've been using Yast https://www.yast.com/ https://www.yast.com/ for about 5 years now and I still love the simplicity.
apricot13 11y ago
My first suggestion would have been DayOne but since your on windows that’s ruled that out! (or moo.do) I think evernote is your best bet - maybe using a digital bullet journal style? Or just keep a bullet journal open on your desk and photograph the pages into evernote at the end of each day. (That’s what I do)
devarist 11y ago
Please feel free to checkout Devarist, it's an app we built for exactly this purpose. https://devarist.com https://devarist.com It's for capturing quick daily notes, supports Markdown, Screenshots, export, daily standup view...
WilliamMayor 11y ago
I really like using a calendar for this. I use Google Calendar and iCloud in Sunrise, on my MacBook, iPhone, and iPad. Events get a title that provide the project. They then get more detailed in the description. I also have a Google Apps Script that pulls this information into a spreadsheet so it's easy for me to report on my time. What I like about this system is that it's pretty universal, fits into my current workflow, and it's flexible. Every platform has a calendar app, I don't have to do anything fancy to get my time tracker up and running on a new device. I'm already using my calendar to tell me what things I'm doing today, now I'm also using it to tell me what I did yesterday. Changing dates, times, and descriptions is easy, you just edit a calendar event, you can even do it on the train home when you realise that you've forgotten to update.
kayman 11y ago
Surprised no one mentioned iDoneThis.com I use it to keep a log of accomplishments of the day. You get an email at a set time (4:30pm) is what I set mine to. For journaling I use a emacs journal mode. It lets you create a text file with the date stamp. To organise notes it's org mode all the way.
chrisbennet 11y ago
I use plain old Notepad on Windows. "F5" inserts the date and time which I then edit a bit. I wrote a program to total the hours and such. I started keeping a log years ago because sometimes it seems like I can't remember what I had for lunch. :-) It a lifesaver when your boss wants to know what you did last week. Keeping a daily log comes in handy. A former colleague needed to know the details of a project I worked on a few years ago. I had him search my old logs and the answer was there (weird complier switch for using QT).
- whatok 11y ago
  I've been using Notepad for quite a while and had no idea you could use F5 to insert a timestamp. Thank you for this.
  - chrisbennet 11y ago
    Don't feel bad, I discovered it by accident. I think a cat walked on the keyboard one day.
- thehoff 11y ago
  Same idea but I use Sublime Text. You can add the same feature to ST by creating a new plugin. Stack Overflow answer (not mine) for how to do this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11879481/can-i-add-date-time-for-sublime-snippet http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11879481/can-i-add-date-t... * Note it's not the accepted answer but the one with the most upvotes on the proper way.
- tasdev 11y ago
  You can also use .LOG at the start of the file and every time you open it, Notepad will insert the current date/time.
anotheryou 11y ago
I use markdown text files and display them as a wiki with yellow cms on my desktop. not too calendary though
pajop 11y ago
if you type .LOG on the first line of Notepad, it will also put a timestamp (just like if you had pressed "F5") https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/260563 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/260563
skriptmonkey 11y ago
I use TimeTrap (https://github.com/samg/timetrap https://github.com/samg/timetrap) for keeping track of my time and pen/paper (Bullet Journal) for my work journal. In TimeTrap, I give the name of my current task in the notes and that will point me towards specific notes in my notebook.
kapv89 11y ago
Google Keep : http://keep.google.com/ http://keep.google.com/
mmosta 11y ago
I prefer a combination of two methods: Can't beat a regular pen and paper for quick recording of the micro-tasks you do to answer the question of "what did I do today, what advanced, what didn't and why?" For things that need to be referenced or searchable, a timestamped flat-file that you synchronize is the way to go, especially useful inside of your git repo
jasimq 11y ago
I just found out about orgmode and use that on a text file in sublime using this plugin https://github.com/danielmagnussons/orgmode https://github.com/danielmagnussons/orgmode
devopsproject 11y ago
OneNote
jfaucett 11y ago
I know you're asking for an app, but I just would like to suggest a good ol fashioned diary. I use this method and really like it, you can sketch up abstract models of your ideas and implementations, not to mention jott down thoughts and algorithms easily enough. I really like the feel of a pen on real paper, I feel I even remember better (I know on what part of the page I wrote something, and can remember the dates, for some reason I dont have this kind of recall when typing - probably due to all the noise and multitasking) when I write things down by hand. I use this method and like it so much Id never consider going digital.
gdiocarez 11y ago
Any.do helps you and reminds you your daily and future task. Also "Discipline" should always be imposed.
itemzapp 11y ago
I recommend http://itemzapp.com http://itemzapp.com - it can be used like a notebook, and it has not only calendar but also "someday" and "overdue" column. The cutomized view might be also handy. It's more productivity app, but it's web and it's easier than most of the organizing apps like wrike or asana. I'd suggest you try it and I hope it helps :) Good luck finding the right app!
Gustomaximus 11y ago
I use a combination of Outlook and Onenote. I'd really suggest trying outlook tasks. I was hesitant to start having build my dream spreadsheet over the years. But its great for scheduling tasks + blocking out time in the calendar if that's useful. Onenote I use for all note keeping. The structure is different so you need to think how best to layout the note keeping first and then its a good platform.

28 points by funkyy 11y ago

rkwz 11y ago

I use plain text file. I use the following format: ---- 2015 September Weekends/Holidays - 13,15,20,23 Wasted days - 26,27 Project{Name}/Component{Name} 01 - what I did 02 - what I did ... Project{Name}/Component{Name} 14 - what I did 16 - what I did 2015 October .... ---- So, I have a breakdown of my worklog by days and grouped by months. Multi-month components/projects have an entry in each month. Holidays and weekends are noted down for me to quickly know why there's a gap in the middle of working on a component. Whole days wasted due to meetings are also noted down.

reinder 11y ago

I recommend DayOne, both available for Mac and iOS. Recently I've begun recording done MITs in Rescuetime, because I don't want to make time for writing a log but do need to jot down 1-2 lines on accomplishments. You could also just use a text file, or Trello. Oh and DayOne has calendar and sync features.

markba 11y ago
DayOne integrates with the excellent jrnl project. https://maebert.github.io/jrnl/ https://maebert.github.io/jrnl/
funkyy 11y ago
Windows Laptop here unfortunately - this was first app that looked cool for me, but it is available only on Mac.

danielvf 11y ago

A good text editor! Make macro to open a text file named with the date of the current week. Make another macro to insert the current day and time and a new line.

iJebus 11y ago

Timely is alright, though free tier only supports a low number of 'projects'. Depends how you want to use it I guess.

slilo 11y ago

http://orgmode.org/ http://orgmode.org/

marc_c 11y ago
+1 to orgmode. Plain text, with tools to export into different formats (HTML, PDF...)
erik998 11y ago
+1 orgmode is the way to go. Everything is kept in a text file and you can have multiple text files. It's a bit of a learning curve but a quick tutorial and some practice can get you going. http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/orgtutorial_dto.html http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/orgtutorial_dto.html The tab effects are pretty cool. It's the best way to track your ideas, tasks, notes.

rasengan0 11y ago

After many years of trying everything, a few conclusions have greatly helped: only PLAIN TEXT, cross platform and date stamp every line item (add to your dotvimrc or dotemacs or js bookmarklet) mindmappers? - bought and tried them all cloud subscription notetakers - yep pretty much all Best to have data close at hand - Oh nooos, everything is locked in that proprietary app I bought in the 90's or cloud service I threw 3 yrs in. After years with orgmode and vimwiki, I went back to Firefox http://tiddlywiki.com/ http://tiddlywiki.com/ + vim as editor with https://github.com/docwhat/itsalltext/ https://github.com/docwhat/itsalltext/ if you live in emacs then stay in orgmode or deft.el for speed if vim, vimwiki rsync is my friend

nodivbyzero 11y ago
+1
mercer 11y ago
I agree. I've been keeping work/life journals using various systems and inevitably either the tool would become unsupported, my data would get corrupted, or the 'friction' of opening the application would eventually make me stop keeping track of things. What really worked well for me instead has been to us Notational Velocity (nvALT to be specific). I create a new note for every day (titled YYYY-MM-DD), and especially for work notes I add a timestamp for every new entry for that day (ISO 8601). The result is one folder full of text files that I can quickly update and search through using nvALT. I can use the same app for storing all kinds of other things, but I can also use any other text editing tool for my notes as well (grep, WriteRoom, Sublime Text with markdown plugins, etc.). Currently I moved my 'journalling' into a locally running web tool, but because the source data is just text, 'migration' has been trivial. It's quite possible I'll move back to the plain text + nvALT solution though. I usually do. I just can't help tinkering.
Scarblac 11y ago
I actually went back to paper, a good quality notebook with squared paper (to turn into checkboxes). People who want to explain stuff to me can scribble things on the next page, I can draw outlines of UIs, and doing something away from the computer screen helps me focus.

pcr0 11y ago

I think Evernote might be able to do the trick. You can put the notes under a notebook, and then there's an "Expanded cards view" which comes sort of close to a real calendar. Example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k2skt4exf5eg66e/Screenshot%202015-10-20%2012.59.43.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/k2skt4exf5eg66e/Screenshot%202015-...

rreyes1979 11y ago

Try https://github.com/rodrigoreyes79/ttlogger https://github.com/rodrigoreyes79/ttlogger

rreyes1979 11y ago

Try https://github.com/rodrigoreyes79/ttlogger https://github.com/rodrigoreyes79/ttlogger

tsocks 11y ago

Workflowy :) https://workflowy.com/ https://workflowy.com/ You can use either the app or the web version. Best TODO list I've seen so far (simplicity, ux, etc)

hanfer 11y ago

for plain time tracking im rather happy with https://toggl.com/ https://toggl.com/

varnamvmv 11y ago

Moo.do - Organize everything in a tree:) https://www.moo.do/ https://www.moo.do/

gexos 11y ago
Thanks for that, it looks great.

heynickc 11y ago

I've been using Yast https://www.yast.com/ https://www.yast.com/ for about 5 years now and I still love the simplicity.

apricot13 11y ago

My first suggestion would have been DayOne but since your on windows that’s ruled that out! (or moo.do) I think evernote is your best bet - maybe using a digital bullet journal style? Or just keep a bullet journal open on your desk and photograph the pages into evernote at the end of each day. (That’s what I do)

devarist 11y ago

Please feel free to checkout Devarist, it's an app we built for exactly this purpose. https://devarist.com https://devarist.com It's for capturing quick daily notes, supports Markdown, Screenshots, export, daily standup view...

WilliamMayor 11y ago

I really like using a calendar for this. I use Google Calendar and iCloud in Sunrise, on my MacBook, iPhone, and iPad. Events get a title that provide the project. They then get more detailed in the description. I also have a Google Apps Script that pulls this information into a spreadsheet so it's easy for me to report on my time. What I like about this system is that it's pretty universal, fits into my current workflow, and it's flexible. Every platform has a calendar app, I don't have to do anything fancy to get my time tracker up and running on a new device. I'm already using my calendar to tell me what things I'm doing today, now I'm also using it to tell me what I did yesterday. Changing dates, times, and descriptions is easy, you just edit a calendar event, you can even do it on the train home when you realise that you've forgotten to update.

kayman 11y ago

Surprised no one mentioned iDoneThis.com I use it to keep a log of accomplishments of the day. You get an email at a set time (4:30pm) is what I set mine to. For journaling I use a emacs journal mode. It lets you create a text file with the date stamp. To organise notes it's org mode all the way.

chrisbennet 11y ago

I use plain old Notepad on Windows. "F5" inserts the date and time which I then edit a bit. I wrote a program to total the hours and such. I started keeping a log years ago because sometimes it seems like I can't remember what I had for lunch. :-) It a lifesaver when your boss wants to know what you did last week. Keeping a daily log comes in handy. A former colleague needed to know the details of a project I worked on a few years ago. I had him search my old logs and the answer was there (weird complier switch for using QT).

whatok 11y ago
I've been using Notepad for quite a while and had no idea you could use F5 to insert a timestamp. Thank you for this.
- chrisbennet 11y ago
  Don't feel bad, I discovered it by accident. I think a cat walked on the keyboard one day.
thehoff 11y ago
Same idea but I use Sublime Text. You can add the same feature to ST by creating a new plugin. Stack Overflow answer (not mine) for how to do this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11879481/can-i-add-date-time-for-sublime-snippet http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11879481/can-i-add-date-t... * Note it's not the accepted answer but the one with the most upvotes on the proper way.
tasdev 11y ago
You can also use .LOG at the start of the file and every time you open it, Notepad will insert the current date/time.

anotheryou 11y ago

I use markdown text files and display them as a wiki with yellow cms on my desktop. not too calendary though

pajop 11y ago

if you type .LOG on the first line of Notepad, it will also put a timestamp (just like if you had pressed "F5") https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/260563 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/260563

skriptmonkey 11y ago

I use TimeTrap (https://github.com/samg/timetrap https://github.com/samg/timetrap) for keeping track of my time and pen/paper (Bullet Journal) for my work journal. In TimeTrap, I give the name of my current task in the notes and that will point me towards specific notes in my notebook.

kapv89 11y ago

Google Keep : http://keep.google.com/ http://keep.google.com/

mmosta 11y ago

I prefer a combination of two methods: Can't beat a regular pen and paper for quick recording of the micro-tasks you do to answer the question of "what did I do today, what advanced, what didn't and why?" For things that need to be referenced or searchable, a timestamped flat-file that you synchronize is the way to go, especially useful inside of your git repo

jasimq 11y ago

I just found out about orgmode and use that on a text file in sublime using this plugin https://github.com/danielmagnussons/orgmode https://github.com/danielmagnussons/orgmode

devopsproject 11y ago

OneNote

jfaucett 11y ago

I know you're asking for an app, but I just would like to suggest a good ol fashioned diary. I use this method and really like it, you can sketch up abstract models of your ideas and implementations, not to mention jott down thoughts and algorithms easily enough. I really like the feel of a pen on real paper, I feel I even remember better (I know on what part of the page I wrote something, and can remember the dates, for some reason I dont have this kind of recall when typing - probably due to all the noise and multitasking) when I write things down by hand. I use this method and like it so much Id never consider going digital.

gdiocarez 11y ago

Any.do helps you and reminds you your daily and future task. Also "Discipline" should always be imposed.

itemzapp 11y ago

I recommend http://itemzapp.com http://itemzapp.com - it can be used like a notebook, and it has not only calendar but also "someday" and "overdue" column. The cutomized view might be also handy. It's more productivity app, but it's web and it's easier than most of the organizing apps like wrike or asana. I'd suggest you try it and I hope it helps :) Good luck finding the right app!

Gustomaximus 11y ago

I use a combination of Outlook and Onenote. I'd really suggest trying outlook tasks. I was hesitant to start having build my dream spreadsheet over the years. But its great for scheduling tasks + blocking out time in the calendar if that's useful. Onenote I use for all note keeping. The structure is different so you need to think how best to layout the note keeping first and then its a good platform.