Skill 142

Purpose

Toggle journaling on/off, or start a journal entry.

Usage

• /journal on — Enable daily journaling prompts
• /journal off — Disable journaling (daily planning works without it)
• /journal — Start today's journal (morning or evening based on time)
• /journal morning — Start morning journal
• /journal evening — Start evening journal
• /journal week — Start weekly journal

Behavior

/journal on

1. Update System/user-profile.yaml journaling section to enable all types (morning: true, evening: true, weekly: true)
2. Create 00-Inbox/Journals/ folder if it doesn't exist
3. Confirm: "Journaling enabled. I'll prompt you for morning reflection before daily planning, and offer evening reflection at end of day. Your journals will be in 00-Inbox/Journals/."

/journal off

1. Update System/user-profile.yaml journaling section to disable all types (morning: false, evening: false, weekly: false)
2. Confirm: "Journaling disabled. Daily planning will work normally without journal prompts. Your existing journals are preserved in 00-Inbox/Journals/."
3. Do NOT delete existing journal entries

/journal (no argument)

Check current time:

• Before 12pm → Start morning journal
• After 12pm → Start evening journal

/journal morning

1. Check if today's morning journal exists
   • If yes: Open it for review/editing
   • If no: Create from template, guide user through prompts
2. After completion, offer to generate daily plan: "Ready to plan your day? I can create your Daily Note now."

/journal evening

1. Check if today's evening journal exists
   • If yes: Open it for review/editing
   • If no: Create from template
2. Pull in morning journal intention for reflection
3. Guide user through evening prompts
4. After completion: "Day closed. See you tomorrow morning."

/journal week

1. Check if this week's journal exists
   • If yes: Open for review/editing
   • If no: Create from template
2. Link to this week's daily journals
3. Summarize patterns from daily entries (if available)
4. Guide through weekly reflection
5. After completion, surface insights: "Based on your week, you might want to focus on {{pattern}} next week."

Daily Planning Integration

When journaling is enabled and user asks to plan their day:

1. Check for morning journal

   • If missing: "Let's start with a quick morning reflection first. It'll take 5 minutes and helps you plan with more intention."
   • Guide through morning journal
   • Then generate daily plan

2. Morning journal informs daily plan

   • "ONE thing that matters most" from journal → First priority in daily plan
   • "What might derail me" → Blocked time or warnings in plan
   • Energy/mood → Adjust intensity of planned tasks

Folder Structure

When journaling is enabled:

00-Inbox/
└── Journals/
    ├── 2024/
    │   ├── 01-January/
    │   │   ├── Morning/
    │   │   │   ├── 2024-01-15-morning.md
    │   │   │   └── 2024-01-16-morning.md
    │   │   ├── Evening/
    │   │   │   ├── 2024-01-15-evening.md
    │   │   │   └── 2024-01-16-evening.md
    │   │   └── Weekly/
    │   │       └── 2024-W03.md

Why Journaling Matters

When explaining to users during onboarding or /journal on:

Morning journaling (5 min) helps you start intentionally instead of reactively. You'll notice what's on your mind, set a clear focus, and anticipate obstacles before they derail you.

Evening journaling (5 min) closes open loops, captures wins and lessons, and prevents the day from blurring into the next. What you notice, you can change.

Weekly journaling (15 min) reveals patterns you can't see day-to-day. Energy cycles, recurring frustrations, what's actually getting your time vs. what matters.

Research shows: Regular reflection improves decision-making, reduces stress, and increases goal achievement. It's not about writing perfectly — it's about paying attention to your own experience.

Configuration

Journaling preferences are stored in System/user-profile.yaml under the journaling section:

journaling:
  morning: true   # Enable morning journal prompts
  evening: true   # Enable evening journal prompts
  weekly: true    # Enable weekly journal prompts

Check this file to determine which journal types are enabled for the user.

Prompting Style

When guiding journal entries:

• Ask one question at a time
• Don't overwhelm — templates are comprehensive, but conversation can be lighter
• Accept short answers
• Reflect back patterns when you notice them
• Be warm but not saccharine
• Respect if user wants to skip sections

Example morning flow:

Good morning. Before we plan your day, let's take 5 minutes to check in.

How are you arriving today? Rate your sleep, energy, and mood 1-5.

[User responds]

Got it. What's on your mind right now? Just free write whatever's there.

[User responds]

Thanks. Now the important one: If you could only accomplish ONE thing today, what would it be?

[User responds]

Why does that matter?

[User responds]

Great. One more: What might get in the way today, and how will you handle it?

[User responds]

Perfect. Your morning journal is saved. Ready to build your daily plan around that focus?