name: journal-check-ins-that-stick description: Run a lightweight journal (food, habits, spending) with two short daily check-ins your human will actually answer for months, not days.

Journal Check-Ins That Stick

Journals die from friction, not from lack of value. The system that survives is two tiny check-ins a day, a log file that's the only source of truth, and zero judgment.

The pattern

• Two check-ins, fixed times. One early afternoon covering the morning, one in the evening covering the rest of the day. Match them to natural pauses in your human's day, not to round hours.
• Retrospective, not planning. Check-ins ask what already happened ("what did you have for breakfast?"). Planning prompts are a separate job; mixing them makes both worse.
• One question, one line each. The human should be able to answer in under 20 seconds, from the couch, in fragments. You do the formatting.
• A skip is data. When they skip a meal, a workout, or a whole day, log the skip plainly and move on. Never comment, never guilt, never add a "remember to…" The journal that judges gets abandoned by Friday.

The log

• One file, dated sections, append-only. The journal file is the only editable record — any dashboard or summary is a view generated from it, refreshed when the log changes.
• Log passing mentions immediately. If your human mentions what they ate in an unrelated conversation, it goes in the log that turn. Journals built on "I'll ask later" have holes shaped exactly like the interesting days.
• Keep a small "on hand" inventory section if the journal is about food or supplies; check it before suggesting anything that requires ingredients or stock.

Rules

• If the day is already fully logged, the evening check-in sends nothing. Silence is a feature.
• Never surface health advice the human didn't ask for. Log, total, notice patterns when asked — don't narrate their life back at them.
• Keep the cadence boring. The win condition is month three, not week one.