Journaling
Journal entry examples
A journal entry is a few sentences about your day, in your own words. Below are four real journal entry examples: a workday, a day off, a study day and a scattered day. Each one is shown with the hours it became.
Last updated
Reviewed by Mohammed Raqeeb
Example one
A workday journal entry.
The workday journal entry below reads like a quick summary of the day. The parser found 8h 45m of work and 1h 20m on the train. Most of the unaccounted 3h 5m is late evening, between reading and lights out, which the entry skips.
“Up at 6:45. Showered and made coffee, out the door by 7:30. The train took 40 minutes. Emails from 8:15 to 9, then a planning meeting until 10:30. Worked on the quarterly report until lunch at 12:30. Ate at my desk for half an hour. Two more meetings from 1 to 3. Back on the report from 3 to 5:30, then the train home. Cooked pasta around 7 and ate with my roommate. Scrolled my phone on the couch for about an hour. Read for 20 minutes and lights out at 11.”
The hours it became
- Work8h 45m
- Sleep7h 45m
- Travel & Commute1h 20m
- Food & Meals1h
- Using Phone1h
- Personal Care45m
- Self-Growth20m
- Unaccounted3h 5m
20h 55m of 24 hours accounted for. Unaccounted is the time the words never mentioned.
Real output from the Think in Numbers parser (version v21), run on with the app’s starter categories. Stored as written, not edited.
Example two
A day-off journal entry.
The day-off journal entry below is loose about times and still adds up. Sleep came to 10h 30m with the nap, and 2h 30m went to texting and a game at the end of the night.
“Slept in until 9. Long breakfast, pancakes, about an hour. Went for a run at 10:30, 45 minutes. Did laundry and cleaned the kitchen until 1. Met two friends for lunch downtown from 1:30 to 3:30, then walked home through the park. Napped for an hour. Watched a movie from 7 to 9 with takeout. Texted my family and played a game on my phone until about 11:30, then bed.”
The hours it became
- Sleep10h 30m
- Food & Meals3h
- Using Phone2h 30m
- Entertainment2h
- Household1h 45m
- Fitness45m
- Travel & Commute30m
- Unaccounted3h
21h of 24 hours accounted for. Unaccounted is the time the words never mentioned.
Real output from the Think in Numbers parser (version v21), run on with the app’s starter categories. Stored as written, not edited.
Example three
A study day journal entry.
The study day journal entry below has lectures, a library session and a group call. The parser counted 2h 15m of learning in the library and 45m lost to the phone inside that block.
The lecture, the lab and the call landed under Work, because the app’s starter categories have no Study category. In the app, you can relabel a block like that on the Day page.
“Woke up at 8. Lecture from 9 to 11, then a lab until 1. Lunch with classmates from 1 to 2. Library from 2 to 5 on the statistics problem set, though I lost maybe 45 minutes of that to my phone. Gym from 5:30 to 6:30. Dinner in the dorm. Group project call from 8 to 9:30. Watched two episodes of a show and fell asleep around midnight.”
The hours it became
- Sleep8h
- Work5h 30m
- Self-Growth2h 15m
- Food & Meals1h 30m
- Fitness1h
- Entertainment1h
- Using Phone45m
- Unaccounted4h
20h of 24 hours accounted for. Unaccounted is the time the words never mentioned.
Real output from the Think in Numbers parser (version v21), run on with the app’s starter categories. Stored as written, not edited.
Example four
A scattered day journal entry.
The scattered day journal entry below calls the afternoon a blur, and the hours agree. The phone took 5h 30m and videos took another 3h. Writing and email together came to 1h 45m, on a day meant for writing.
“Woke at 7:30. Meant to write all morning. Opened the laptop at 9 but kept checking messages. Real writing was maybe 10:30 to 11:15. Then errands, the bank and the pharmacy, back by 12:30. Lunch. The afternoon is a blur: some emails, a long call with my mom around 3, a lot of YouTube. Made dinner at 7. Couch and phone after that. Bed at midnight.”
The hours it became
- Sleep7h 30m
- Using Phone5h 30m
- Entertainment3h
- Work1h 45m
- Food & Meals1h 30m
- Travel & Commute1h 15m
- Family & Friends1h
- Unaccounted2h 30m
21h 30m of 24 hours accounted for. Unaccounted is the time the words never mentioned.
Real output from the Think in Numbers parser (version v21), run on with the app’s starter categories. Stored as written, not edited.
Your turn
How to write a journal entry like these.
A journal entry like these takes three moves. Say what you did in order. Add a rough time or length where you know it. Add one sentence about how it went.
If you are stuck on what to write, start from a journal prompt. If you would rather write through the day than at night, read about interstitial journaling.
Questions
Questions people ask.
What should a journal entry include?
A journal entry should include what happened, roughly when, and what you think about it. Facts first make the entry useful later, because you can compare one day with another.
How long should a journal entry be?
A journal entry can be a few sentences. The examples on this page are short paragraphs, and each one still covers most of a day.
Should a journal entry be written in the first person?
Yes. Write as yourself, the way you would tell a friend about your day. Plain words are easier to keep up than polished ones.
Can I write a journal entry the next morning?
Yes, though the details fade fast. Writing a line after each part of the day is the most accurate, and one entry at night is the next choice.
How were these examples turned into hours?
Each example was run through the parser inside Think in Numbers, a smart journaling app with time tracking built in. The hours shown are its stored output, not edited by hand.
Try it on my day.
Think in Numbers is a smart journaling app with time tracking built in. Write or say today in your own words, and see where the hours went. No timers.
For iPhone and Android. Try it on your own day before you pay.