My Org Capture Templates - Part 2 emacs:

I was happy this capture template series generated interest on Reddit. One of the things I love about org-mode (and Emacs) is the passion among its users and the ability to learn more from each other. One of the major reasons for this is org-mode’s complexity: with so many options, it has to be personalized to its users' needs. org-mode is the most intimate tool I’ve used in a while. Every time I read something about someone’s org-mode system, it feels like I’m invited for a discussion over a cup of coffee.

Speaking of intimate, today I’m going to discuss my journal capture template(s). I hope you enjoy. As always, comments are welcome on Reddit (follow me using the links above) at least until I integrate a commenting system on this site, or you can find me on Mastodon.

Part 2 - The Journal template(s)

First, here’s the code:

("j" "Journal" entry
  (file+datetree "~/Documents/Personal/journal.org")

  "**** %U%?%a \n" :tree-type week)

1. For key-press “j” initiate “Journal” template as follows:
2. Go to ~/Documents/Personal/journal.org and create a dateree entry there.
3. Create a sub-header (level 4) under the day header (level 3), under the week header (level 2), under the year header (level 1).
4. Enter an inactive timestamp, place the mark right after it (when done), place a link to the buffer you were just visiting.
5. New line.
6. Make this a weekly datetree (the default is a monthly datetree).

I prefer a weekly format in my journal over a monthly format. In fact, the week is a “productivity unit” which always made sense to me, and this mindset integrates beautifully into org-mode. In my archive folder, which you saw in part 1, each week has its own .org file. I get a sense of content viewing the archive folder and seeing all the week files sorted by order.

The reason the timestamp and the link are condensed together (no space) is because I delete most of the timestamp and just leave the hour. This way, the mark is where I need to start erasing the timestamp from¹. I haven’t found a way yet to create an hourly timestamp (without the date) and I don’t want to forget to put in the hour, so this is the best solution for now.

Why is the hour important? First, personal preference: I write the time and the location for each entry. Second, this helps me discern multiple entries when a certain event is developing, and I’ve journaled about it a couple of times. The hour of each entry is a separator.

Finally, I use a link to connect me back to w[##].org file (week number of the year, as I mentioned above) from which I created the journal entry. In my weekly org files, the incidents or events themselves contain very little details, usually only what is my next action (next thing to do) with a logbook drawer containing the times I worked on a task as I keep track. When I want to expand on something, I create a journal entry for it. I prefer to write my thoughts and conclusions in a personal space, keeping them separate from the more generic org file, which also contains work-related information. The link takes me back to that event or incident, and because the name is the same as the event, I know what I’m referring to.

My journal is a feature of org-mode that fits my workflow effortlessly. The lack of friction encourages me to write my thoughts more often than I did in the past. The journal file is kept in a personal folder that is not synced to my work VM. I use TRAMP as part of the capture template on that machine, so when I want to capture something in my journal from work, I’m prompted to log into my file server with a password. This privacy barrier may sound cumbersome, but after I set it up, it works without intervention on my part. This separation of my personal files from the cloud helps me sleep better at night.

Updates to the Journal Template: 2021-09-19

I wrote the above post more than two years ago. I wanted to leave the post intact, as it still explains the philosophy behind my journal well and serves as a good guide to write a functional capture template.

Here is my updated template, as it is today:

("j" "Journal Related")
	  ("jj" "Journal: Event" entry (file+datetree+prompt "~/Personal/journal.org") "**** About: %a %^G \n\n %U:\n%?" :tree-type week)
	("je" "Journal: Elements" entry (file+datetree+prompt "~/Personal/journal.org") (file "~/Personal/temp-elements.org") :tree-type week)
	("jp" "PPP" entry
	(file "~/Personal/PPP.org")
	(file "~/Personal/temp-ppp.org"))

And the explanation, for the first journal template:

1. For key-press “j” initiate “Journal Related” org-capture menu. This is explained in this post. Pressing J once opens the menu, and then:
2. For another key press, J:
3. Go to ~/Personal/journal.org, ask me for a date, and create a datetree entry there.
4. Create a sub-header (level 4) “About” under the day header (level 3), under the week header (level 2), under the year header (level 1).
5. Create a link from the buffer you’re on.
6. Ask to enter a tag (in the journal, I tag entries with a person’s name if it relates to them)
7. Two new lines
8. Make an inactive time-stamp
9. Another new line, place the mark there.

This form of journal entry, “About: <an event that happened> <with this person>” is how I write most of my thoughts now. For example, say I watched a movie and I have a couple of thoughts to write down. I create the event itself on the agenda, a simple entry that shows me what I was doing and when. Then, I use this template to create a journal entry tied to it and write my thoughts there.

The second template has to do with my “elements”. To invoke it, I press “e” after the initial “j” that brings up the Journal Related org-capture menu. It is a template for a structured journal entry I’ve been writing almost every morning since the end of July 2019. The syntax for this capture template is in a file, temp-elements.org. Using a file makes it easy to deal with spaces and indents. It also helps create another sub-header inside the one I’m already creating in the template itself. Here’s how the template looks like inside its file:

**** Yesterday's Elements                                          :elements:
%^{Exercise}p %^{Food}p %^{Meditation}p %^{Sleep}p

%U

- Total: %?

***** Of Note

As you can see, it’s just like writing the syntax into the settings above. This is something useful I found out earlier on. As a matter of fact, I’m considering placing most (or even all) my templates in files now, with the main settings only opening the sub-capture template and pointing to these files. This will keep things more organized.

There’s a third template, the PPP one, which has to do with dating. To invoke it, I press “p” after the initial “j”. I rather not get into its details here, but I promise it’s similar to elements template.

Footnotes