wj is a simple tool for keeping track of progress on different tasks. All entries are stored in a plain text file that's kept in a central place. Entries are grouped by date so they can easily be read or edited.

The format of the file is simple:

1. Dates are in YYYY-MM-DD format on a single line starting at the first character.

2. Entries start with "- " are followed by a single sentence which ends in a full stop. They can be followed by any number of tags starting with an @.

3. To keep track of the amount of effort put into an entry, add a second phrase separated by a semi-colon.

So a file might look like:

2018-04-20

- Got wj working. @python @opensource

2018-04-23

- Fixed the README file; 20 minutes. @opensource
- Running; 6 km. @running @exercise

The python package provides a simple command line interface that can be used to add entries and produce basic reports.

To install, clone the repository and use pip:

git clone [email protected]:tdm-dev/wj.git
cd wj
pip install .

wj uses an environment variable to find the journal. To set this with bash call:

export WJ_FILENAME=<path-to-journal>

To get a list of available commands call wj --help or wj -h:

usage: wj [-h] {add,tags,summary,tag,cal,recent,effort,today,yesterday} ...

positional arguments:
  {add,tags,summary,tag,cal,recent,effort,today,yesterday}
                        commands
    add                 Add a new entry for today.
    tags                Print the list of used tags.
    summary             Print a short summary of the journal.
    tag                 Print entries for a given tag.
    cal                 Print a calendar showing dates which have entries for
                        a tag.
    recent              Print entries for last fortnight.
    effort              Print the effort associated with a tag.
    today               Print entries for today.
    yesterday           Print entries for yesterday.

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

Use add:

wj add 'Worked on paper. @research'

All entries with a particular tag:

wj tag research

Everything for the last two weeks:

wj recent

Everything that you've done today:

wj today

Everything that you did yesterday:

wj yesterday

Print a list of tags:

wj tags

Print the total effort associated with a tag:

wj effort running

Display a calendar that shows dates which have an entry for a tag:

wj cal running