Mastering Obsidian Daily Notes: A Complete Guide

Introduction

So, what exactly is a daily note template? It’s a pre-formatted note that automatically generates each day, providing you with a consistent layout to capture your daily activities, goals, and ideas. Think of it as your digital diary, but supercharged with productivity features.

Why Use Obsidian Daily Notes?

Daily notes in Obsidian serve as your personal command center, offering:

• Consistent Structure: A reliable framework for your daily thoughts and tasks

• Automated Organization: Notes that create themselves with your preferred format

• Seamless Integration: Direct connections to your wider knowledge base

• Productivity Enhancement: Tools to track, review, and improve your daily workflow

Essential Setup

1. Core Requirements

To get started, you'll need:

• Obsidian installed on your device

• Daily Notes plugin (Core Plugin) enabled

• Templates plugin (Core Plugin) enabled

• Optional but recommended: Dataview and Templater plugins

2. Basic Configuration

1. Enable the Daily Notes plugin:

   • Go to Settings > Core Plugins

   • Activate "Daily Notes"

   • Click the gear icon to configure

2. Set up your template location:

   • Create a dedicated template folder (ex: "templates")

   • Configure the template path in Daily Notes settings

   • Set your preferred date format (e.g., "YYYY-MM-DD")

Creating Your Template

Essential Components

---
created: {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}
tags: [daily-notes]
---

# {{date:dddd, MMMM DD, YYYY}}

## Daily Overview
- [ ] Morning Review
- [ ] Evening Review

## Tasks
- [ ] Priority tasks for today

## Notes
### Meeting Notes

### Quick Captures

### Ideas & Insights

## Daily Reflection
- What went well today?
- What could be improved?
- Key learnings?

## Tracked Information
- Created:: {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}
- Modified:: {{date:YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm}}

Advanced Template Features

1. Automated Sections

Using the Templater plugin, you can create dynamic sections:

<% tp.date.now("dddd, MMMM DD, YYYY") %>

## Tasks Carried Over
<%* let yesterday = tp.date.yesterday("YYYY-MM-DD") %>
<%* let yesterdayTasks = await tp.file.include(`[[${yesterday}#Tasks]]`) %>
<% yesterdayTasks %>

By using an Obsidian daily note template, you’re not just taking notes; you’re creating a system that supports your productivity and personal growth. Whether you’re tracking habits, managing tasks, or journaling, a well-crafted template can transform your daily note-taking from a chore into a powerful tool for self-improvement and organization.

2. Daily Review Prompts

Add structured reflection points:

## Morning Intentions 🌅
- Today's Main Focus:
- Top 3 Priorities:
  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
- Energy Level (1-10):

## Evening Review 🌙
- Accomplishments:
- Challenges:
- Tomorrow's Preparation:

3. Dataview Integration

Using Dataview, you can track all your notes by creating different databases view based on different parameters. Example here: We list all our daily notes.

LIST
FROM "Daily Notes"
WHERE date(file.name) = date(today)
SORT file.name DESC

Organization Strategies

1. Folder Structure

Recommended hierarchy:

Daily Notes/
  └── 2024/
      └── Q1/
          └── 2024-01/
              ├── 2024-01-23.md
              └── 2024-01-24.md

2. Linking Strategy

• Use bi-directional links to connect related notes Example: I manage to create my daily notes template on the [[2025-02-23]].

Best Practices

1. Daily Workflow

1. Morning routine:

   • Review yesterday's unfinished tasks

   • Set today's priorities

   • Plan key activities

2. Throughout the day:

   • Quick capture thoughts and ideas

   • Log meeting notes

   • Track progress on tasks

3. Evening review:

   • Complete daily reflection

   • Prepare for tomorrow

   • Transfer important information to permanent notes

2. Template Optimization

• Keep it simple at first

• Add sections gradually based on actual usage

• Remove unused sections

• Maintain consistent formatting

3. Automation Tips

// Auto-create task overview
<%*
let tasks = await tp.file.create_new(
  "Tasks Overview",
  "Tasks for {{date:YYYY-MM-DD}}"
)
-%>

Your daily note template should evolve with your needs. Keep an eye on the documentation for both the Daily Notes Plugin, Templater, and Dataview, and you'll be able to understand more about these tools and continuously improve your template.

Start with the basics and gradually add features that enhance your productivity. Remember:

• Keep it simple initially

• Customize based on your workflow

• Review and refine regularly

• Focus on what helps you be productive

If you're looking for the best daily notes templates with more automation and ease of use:

We highly suggest you take a look at Obsibrain.

Resources

• Obsidian Official Documentation
• Community Plugins
• Template Examples