A daily journal

Start from an empty workspace

1. 1

   New workspace

   Choose File ▸ New Workspace… (⇧⌘N) and make a new workspace in an empty folder. Build the recipe there, so your own notes stay apart.

2. 2

   Open today

   Press ⇧⌘D, or choose Go ▸ Today. Today's page opens, titled with the date as an ISO day, such as 2026-11-02. It is empty, and nothing is written yet.

3. 3

   Write the first note

   Press Return and type Morning plan. The first note you type creates the #day supertag, the Journal that holds day pages, and this day's page, as one step. Undo removes all three and shows the empty day again.

Link a note as you type

1. 1

   Make the note to link

   Click Inbox in the sidebar, press Return and type Printer quote. Press Esc to leave it.

2. 2

   Go back to today

   Press ⇧⌘D. Under Morning plan, press Return and type Call about the flyers. See @Printer. The @ list opens at the caret and shows Printer quote.

3. 3

   Choose it

   Press Return. The typed text becomes a link to that note. Clicking the link opens the note in this pane.

Add tasks to the day

1. 1

   Make the task supertag

   Choose Sidebar ▸ Supertags, click New supertag, type task and press Return. No note is made. Open its page, fold open Configure and turn on Show as checkbox. Notes you tag from now on start with a box.

2. 2

   Add two tasks

   On today's page, press Return at the end of Call about the flyers. Type Send the flyers to print #task and press Return. Then type Confirm the venue #task and press Return.

Make a search for open tasks

1. 1

   Make the search

   Choose File ▸ New Search Note. A saved search opens, titled New search.

2. 2

   Name it

   Click the title, type Open tasks and press Return.

3. 3

   Add the supertag

   Under Find notes matching, keep All. Click Add condition, choose Supertag, and pick task. Leave the operator as is.

4. 4

   Add the checkbox

   Click Add condition again, choose Checkbox, and pick Not done. A checked task drops out of the results.

Show open tasks on every day page

1. 1

   Open the day supertag

   Choose Sidebar ▸ Supertags, then click day. Its page opens.

2. 2

   Add the search

   Fold open Configure. Under Related content, click Add related search and choose Open tasks.

3. 3

   Place it below the page

   Beside the Open tasks row, open the menu named Where Open tasks shows, and choose Below the page. The other choice is In the inspector.

4. 4

   Check a day

   Press ⇧⌘D. The Open tasks section sits below the day's outline. When you finish a task, put the caret in it and press ⌘Return. It is struck through and leaves the list.

The search runs over the whole workspace, so a task you wrote on Monday and have not checked is still listed on Friday.

Move between days

1. 1

   Step back

   On a day page, press ⌥⌘← (Go ▸ Previous Day). The page for the day before opens.

2. 2

   Step forward

   Press ⌥⌘→ (Go ▸ Next Day). Days with no notes open as empty pages, and stepping through them writes nothing.

3. 3

   Jump

   Choose Go ▸ Go to Date…, then type a date such as tomorrow, next fri, +3d or 2026-03-07, or pick it in the calendar.

Capture a line from anywhere

Choose File ▸ Quick Capture… (⇧⌘J), type one line per note and press Return. The lines are added to Today. ⌥Return starts a new line inside the panel, and Esc closes it without adding anything. See Quick Capture.

What each feature does here

Make it yours

• A weekly pageGo ▸ This Week opens a page for the week, filed under the Journal the same way. Use it to sum up the days.
• A second searchMake another search for a date, such as Edited in the last 7 days, and show it below the same day page.
• Show the search in the inspectorChoose In the inspector instead of Below the page, to keep the outline clear and read the open tasks beside it.
• Find a note fastPress ⌘K and type a note's name. Type #task before the words to narrow the list to tasks.
• Give a task a statusAdd a Status option field to #task and set a default, so each new task starts Open.