I started writing a diary in 2019. It's not that I love keep a diary, Exactly. Furthermore, I find my brain functions better if I spend some time writing its contents down on paper every morning. This method got me through 2020, which was an incredibly difficult year, and I've maintained it ever since.
My diary is not improving. I've had some sections recommended by my therapist since around the time I started—like there's a section I fill out every day with things I look forward to. I use another part to think about what I'm going to eat and what else I'm going to do that day. All of this is simple; I just use a template that includes headers for those.
But there is a bit of information I would like to collect and include. For example, the weather every day. I find that I'm often in a bad mood on gloomy, rainy days, so jotting down the weather along with my thoughts gives me some useful context when I review items later. This. I also like to know what time I write the post, where I write it, and—if possible—include a quote of the day or something else to reflect on.
I can collect all the above information manually every morning by myself. But I find it's a lot faster to use Apple Shortcuts for work. This app, pre-installed on every Mac, iPhone, and iPad, can automatically pull in all kinds of information and format it nicely for my journal. I run a custom automation every morning. Here's how I built it.
Date, Weather and Location
Apple via Justin Pot
Enable Apple Shortcuts on the device of your choice and create a new shortcut. This software can be a bit confusing, but don't worry, I'll walk you through everything. In the right column, you'll see a number of different small automations you can run. Drag as many as you want into the main column on the left. I like to search for what I'm looking for, but if you want, you can explore the options manually to understand what Shortcuts can do.
