Baseline

Key idea

I’m building a universal self-design system that integrates the personal growth practices I use into
an AI-powered journal. I've been journaling every day since April 2015, and it’s the single practice that has impacted my life the most.

There are many other practices I’ve tested on myself over the past ten years. The problem is, they’re all scattered across different apps, so there’s no way to see the full history or long-term progress.

Holistic journal connects your past and future through the present moment; blending reflection, self-regulation, and productivity. It maps the structure of your life and helps you write the story you’ll want to remember. It captures your thoughts, emotions, goals, tasks, events, meetings, habits, and key metrics, training your personal assistant with this data.

It brings you back to the present moment through regular writing, weaving each moment into the larger flow of your life.

Status update

I’m designing the first version at the moment. It will include a holistic life calendar and key metrics. The basic structure that everything else will build upon.

At the same time, I’m researching journaling practices. I’ve interviewed about ten people so far, and everyone does it a little differently. I’m genuinely curious to learn more. So if you journal regularly and want to share your experience, send me a message. We'll arrange a one-hour chat.

Follow my channel for project updates, I’ll be posting everything there.

Characteristics

• Combines the best of digital and paper. You can write freely by hand on paper, then transfer your notes into a digital structure for storage.
• Secure and flexible. All data belongs to the user and is stored locally in popular formats (md, txt). Optionally, advanced encryption and password protection can be added.
• Collects and stores all possible data from past days. Enough to be able to reconstruct each day in your memory.
• Helps plan the future based on past experience.
• AI tools analyze behavior patterns and highlight areas for improvement.
• Gradually immerses you in the experience by introducing new practices and tools through a modular interface.

1. Structure and data visualization

A life-based structure supports and extends your natural memory.

• A year, month, and week layout that lets you navigate past dates and keeps the finiteness of life in view.
• A daily structure with meta-data (location, weather), templates for different day types (work, weekend, vacation), weekly reflection prompts, habits, tasks, and events.
• A semantic graph that links entries by tags, location, mood, and record type.
• A viewing mode with an auto-generated one-sentence summary of the day.

2. Daily journaling practice

Writing every day is one of the most powerful habits you can build. It fuels growth and keeps your head clear.

• Instant capture — open the app and start writing right away.
• Voice input with speech recognition.
• Scanning and recognizing handwritten notes from paper notebooks.
• An inbox for fast capture: write first, then sort. Turn a note into a journal entry, a task, or an event.
• A universal note template (entry type, life area, photo, tag, mood, a 1–10 rating, and a reflection prompt).
• An emotion tracker built into each note, because every emotion is a response to something in your environment.
• Baseline reset tools (breathing exercises and meditations for the moments when writing isn’t enough).
• Review and reflection, log key moments from past years, months, and days.

3. Planning

Planning the future works best when it’s grounded in a long-term vision and the progress you’ve already made. It links all the elements together top to bottom.

• Life vision for 3, 5, and 10 years.
• Your ideal future day in details.
• Key life areas.
• A past year review.
• Goals for the year, quarter, and month.
• Tasks for weekly sprints and for today.
• A nightly mind-dump to clear your head and outline tomorrow’s priorities.
• Backlogs for projects and life areas.
• Daily habits connected to your goals and key life areas.