How I Finally Stopped Losing My Best Ideas (A Simple Daily Journaling System)

For years, my ideas were everywhere—scattered across notebooks, random apps, voice memos, napkins. I'd have a breakthrough insight, write it down, and then never see it again.

And it'd just get worse or bloated, the more content I consumed, the harder it was to actually apply what I had learned.

Sound familiar?

The problem wasn't that I wasn't trying to capture the ideas. The problem was I had no structure. So my journaling became simpler and simpler until I landed on something that actually works.

The Framework: Three Levels, One Question

Here's how I structure the system:

AREAS → Quests → Projects

Every morning, I ask one question for each "box" accross each level: "Are we moving toward the goal?" Not "Have we hit it?" but "Are we on track?".

This yes/no check is everything. It removes ambiguity and forces clarity. There is no middle statuses. "Oh we're kinda at risk, or its up next, or we're going to work on it". No are we going to hit the target on time.

Areas: How You Slice Your World

Areas are MECE (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive) categories. For work, I use the Go To Market data model aligned to the customer journey.

For life, I use the wellness-resource wheel. For family, I scale that same wheel per person.

The key: Areas chain together in order of the customer journey. This lets me jump into the right context instantly when I need to capture an idea. Think of it like theres the "marketing area", but it can hold different departments as specific main system processes like Content, Ads, DM outreach, email outreach etc. And they all flow to capture and create value.

We group this under a 1YR target all unified under the step of the data model. E.g. marketings job is to push views, clicks and opt ins to the next step, and so on.

So when you have an idea, because the entire Model is mapped to a straight line aka the shape of the factory, you can link "up" to the space if its general... but what if you can put it under a specific department.

Thats what we use Quests for -- the main hub.

Quests: Your Active Implementations

Quests are specific systems with clear owners. In marketing, I don't have a generic "marketing quest"—I have Content, DM Outreach, and Email Outreach as separate quests. Each has a process (mine has 6 steps), each has a yes/no condition for tracking.

This matters because you can hand a Quest to a specific person, not some vague department head.

QUEST is both a scaffold of how to order the customer journey, but also the routine cadence to manage that area. Think of it as "heres the system production line", but also the routines to make the production line get better over time.

This is what business owners want. Its what you want. Its what your children, friends, and loved ones want. To have areas of your (or their life) to improve, get better and get better and not to anquish.

Zooming into a QUEST line we also

Projects: The Execution Layer

Projects live under Quests. Same rule applies—yes/no tracking on whether they're progressing toward their goal.

The 80% Rule

Here's where it gets interesting: You're not aiming for 100% on-track across everything. You're aiming for 80%.

100% = You're not ambitious enough
0% = You're too ambitious
80% = Optimal challenge zone

If everything's green, you're coasting. If everything's red, you're overwhelmed. 80% means you're pushing hard enough to grow, but not so hard you'll burn out.

How This Actually Works Daily

Open your journal (I use Obsidian, but use whatever works)
Scan your Areas in customer journey order
Check each Quest: Yes/No, are we on track?
Log ideas in the right Area as they come up throughout the day
Review at end of week: Are you at 80%? Adjust accordingly.

That's it. No complex tags, no elaborate systems. Just structure enough to capture ideas where they belong and track if you're moving forward.

The chaos stopped when I stopped trying to capture everything perfectly. Start with your Areas, add Quests as you need them, and trust the 80% rule to keep you honest.

Your best ideas are already in your head. You just need a place to put them where you'll actually find them again.

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