This guide gives you a voice‑friendly template that compiles into clean Markdown you’ll actually reread later. It’s short enough for busy days, structured enough to stay searchable.
Who this is for
- You want a daily journaling habit without a blinking cursor.
- You prefer speaking to typing on your phone.
- You use Brain Dump and keep notes as Markdown in iCloud.
The three sentence core (speak it as written)
Say a title, then three short sentences:
- Title - “Journal - feeling, topic”.
- What happened - one sentence.
- What it means - one sentence.
- What I’ll do - one sentence.
- Tag one emotion at the end (optional).
Example (spoken):
Title. Journal - relieved, retro went well.
Today’s retro surfaced the release delay and we set a new date.
It means we’re aligned and the risk is contained.
I’ll send an update and unblock design tomorrow.
Emotion. relieved.
Brain Dump saves that as one Markdown file named after the title you spoke, so the entry above lands as Journal - relieved, retro went well.md. Nothing else is added to it. There is no frontmatter block unless you or a template put one there.
Why this works
- Short sentences survive background noise and accents.
- The title makes files easy to scan in the Files app.
- The emotion tag helps future you find patterns in mood and energy.
For more capture techniques, see Voice dictation tips and the 60‑second prompts.
Morning vs. evening variations
Use one structure in the morning, one at night. Consistency beats variety. If the evening version becomes part of your wind-down, what journaling before bed actually does for sleep is worth knowing before you build the habit.
Morning (set direction)
- Title - “Journal - energized, today’s focus”.
- One thing I’ll finish.
- One blocker I can remove.
- One small reward I’ll give myself.
Evening (integrate the day)
- Title - “Journal - grateful, day in one line”.
- What I did that mattered.
- What surprised me.
- One adjustment for tomorrow.
Turn it into a real template
You do not have to keep the structure in your head. Brain Dump has a template system, and in an Obsidian vault it is Obsidian's template system.
A template is a Markdown file in your templates folder. That is the whole definition. Brain Dump reads the templates folder out of .obsidian/templates.json, the same key Obsidian's own Templates plugin uses (it also accepts the older templates_folder and template_folder spellings, and falls back to the Templates convention). Every .md file in that folder is a template. There is no separate import, and no app-private template store.
Save this as Templates/Daily Journal.md:
# Journal - {{date}}
## What happened
## What it means
## What I will do
Emotion:
{{date}}, {{time}} and {{title}} are the placeholders Brain Dump fills in when it stamps the template onto a new note. They are Obsidian's core Templates tokens, so the same file works from either app. Templater syntax (<% ... %>) is recognized as somebody else's and left alone rather than mangled.
Bind it to a folder and stop choosing it. Attach the template to your Journal/ folder and it is offered whenever you create a note there. Bindings inherit downward, so a template attached to Journal/ also applies inside Journal/2026/. Those bindings are stored in the vault itself, in .braindump/manifest.json, not in a hidden app database.
Editing templates in the app is safe by construction. The template editor writes in place, checks the file's fingerprint before it writes, and refuses the write if the file changed underneath it. Properties you declare in a template are typed, and the type is registered in .obsidian/types.json, so Obsidian and its plugins see the same declaration you do.
One thing Brain Dump deliberately does not touch: .obsidian/daily-notes.json. It reads that file, and it never writes it. Your Daily Notes folder, date format and template stay exactly as Obsidian left them.
If you would rather not use templates at all, speaking the labels still works. The structure comes from what you say.
Common pitfalls (and easy fixes)
- Rambling paragraphs. Switch to three sentences. Pause briefly between them.
- Vague titles. Include an emotion or topic in the title so future you can search faster.
- Names and jargon misspelled. Add them once to the custom dictionary.
- Wind and traffic. See mic positioning or use wired EarPods.
Make it effortless
- Create a Siri phrase like “brain dump now” using a tiny Shortcut: guide.
- Append to yesterday’s journal with one phrase if you prefer running entries: append to last note.
- Capture without signal - Brain Dump works offline: Airplane Mode tips.
Examples you can mimic
-
“Journal - frustrated, email backlog.”
Happened. Inbox hit 300 and I felt behind.
Means. I am avoiding because the task is ambiguous.
Do. Process 25 tomorrow after lunch. Archive newsletters.
Emotion. frustrated. -
“Journal - calm, Sunday reset.”
Happened. I planned meals and set out kid clothes.
Means. The week will start smoother.
Do. Prep coffee tonight and lights out by 10:30.
Emotion. calm. -
“Journal - anxious, 2 am loop.”
Happened. Woke up worrying about the demo.
Means. I care and the plan needs a dry run.
Do. Block 30 minutes to rehearse.
Emotion. anxious.
If this is frequent, try the 2 am worry script.
FAQ
How long should this take? About 60 to 90 seconds. If you are going longer, you are probably over explaining.
Where do the files live? In whichever folder you pointed Brain Dump at: an iCloud Drive folder, an on-device folder, or an Obsidian vault. Plain Markdown either way, one file per entry, named after the entry's title.
Will it add metadata to my journal entries? Not by default. Writing created_at and updated_at is a setting and it ships off. Frontmatter you or a template author stays as written.
Does any audio leave my device? Transcription is on‑device by default; optional AI polish is off unless you enable it. See privacy.
Keep it simple. Say the title, say the three sentences, tag a feeling. That’s enough to build a streak you’ll keep.
Download a Markdown journal template: /templates/journal-template.md