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title, date, author, excerpt
| title | date | author | excerpt |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to Actually Use DearDiary | 2026-03-26 | Konrad Lother | Stop writing essays. Start capturing moments. |
How to Actually Use DearDiary
Here's the thing about journaling: most people don't do it because they don't have time to write paragraphs at the end of the day.
I built DearDiary because I wanted to remember my life. Not write essays.
The Core Idea
You capture events throughout the day. In seconds. Then AI writes your diary.
That's it.
Not "write down your thoughts." Not "reflect on your day." Just: what happened?
Step 1: Capture Everything
Press Ctrl+J. Type what happened. Enter.
Examples:
- "Coffee with Marcus at that new place downtown"
- "Finished chapter 5 of the ML book"
- "Got caught in rain walking back from the station"
- "Argument with Sarah about the project direction - she's probably right"
Three seconds. Done.
Don't think. Don't edit. Just capture.
Step 2: Keep Going
Throughout the day, whenever something happens that might be worth remembering:
- A conversation that mattered
- Something you learned
- How you felt
- What you ate
- Where you went
Short notes. Bullet points. Voice memos if you're driving.
A short note beats no note.
Step 3: Generate Your Diary
When you're ready, click Generate.
AI reads all your events and writes a narrative diary entry. Not a summary. A story.
Step 4: Make It Better
Not happy with the result? Add instructions and regenerate.
"Focus on the conversations I had" "Make it more concise" "I want more detail about the technical work"
Or don't. The AI diary is a suggestion, not scripture.
The Secret
Be specific.
Bad: "Had lunch" Good: "Lunch with Anna at the Italian place, she mentioned moving to Berlin next month"
Bad: "Meeting" Good: "Project kickoff meeting - new client wants delivery by June, seems doable"
Specific notes = interesting diaries.
Why This Works
Traditional journaling asks you to reconstruct your day from memory at 11pm when you're tired.
DearDiary asks you to note things in 3 seconds when they happen.
3 seconds beats reconstructing from memory every time.
What You Get
At the end of the week, you have:
- A diary entry for each day
- The actual events, not reconstructed memories
- Locations, times, context
- Something you can actually read and remember from
Not perfect. But real.
That's the point.