Obsidian Power User Part 3: Daily Life Tracking - Beyond Work Notes

It’s Saturday morning. You’re changing the HVAC filter and suddenly wonder: when did I last do this? Was it three months ago? Six months? You check your text messages, your email, your photos app. Nothing. You know you logged it somewhere, but where?

Meanwhile, your oil change is probably overdue. You finished a great book last week but can’t remember what you wanted to read next. And that journal habit you promised yourself? Three different apps, none of them stuck.

Life tracking doesn’t need five different apps. It needs one system that actually works.

This is where Obsidian transforms from work tool to life companion. Not because it’s fancy, but because it keeps everything in one place—searchable, linkable, and entirely yours.

Building on the Foundation

In Part 1, we built the PARA structure for organizing your vault. In Part 2, we added AI automation for work reports and research.

This article shows how the same principles apply to personal tracking: simple templates, consistent structure, and the power of having everything connected.

Why Obsidian Beats Specialized Apps

Specialized tracking apps have better UX. Car maintenance apps with service reminders, journaling apps with mood analytics, reading apps with progress bars.

But here’s what they don’t have:

• Unified search - Find that maintenance record AND the daily note where you mentioned the repair shop
• Cross-linking - Connect your reading log to daily notes where you captured insights
• Data ownership - Plain markdown files you control forever
• One system - No context switching between apps

You trade a little UX polish for massive organizational gain.

System 1: Daily Journaling

A daily journal is the simplest, most powerful personal tracking system. Not for productivity—for reflection, pattern recognition, and mental health.

The Template

Create Templates/daily-journal.md:

---
date: {{date}}
tags: [journal, daily]
mood:
energy:
---

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

## Morning
- **Intention for today:**
- **Grateful for:**

## Evening
- **Highlights:**
- **Challenges:**
- **Learning:**

## Notes

Morning section sets intention and practices gratitude. Evening captures highlights, challenges, and learnings. Mood/energy fields enable pattern tracking over time.

Start weekly, not daily. Saturday mornings with coffee. One sentence per prompt is fine. Link to daily work notes when relevant—connections reveal insights.

NOTE: In Part Four of this Obsidian productivity series we will be expanding these daily notes to include Work tracking.

Finding Patterns

Core search: "mood: good" finds contributors to good days. "challenges:" identifies recurring problems.

With Dataview (optional):

TABLE mood, energy
FROM "Areas/Journal"
WHERE mood = "good"
SORT date DESC
LIMIT 10

With Claude Code Obsidian MCP: Ask conversationally: “What patterns do I see in my January journal entries?” The AI reads all files and identifies themes—morning exercise correlating with good mood, late nights causing low energy, etc.

System 2: Home & Car Maintenance Log

Can’t remember when you last changed the oil? When the HVAC filter was replaced? How much that appliance repair cost?

A maintenance log is one solution.

The Template

Create Templates/maintenance-log.md:

---
date: {{date}}
category: home
item:
cost:
vendor:
tags: [maintenance]
---

# {{title}}

**Date:** {{date}}
**Category:** [Home/Car]
**Item:**
**Cost:** $
**Vendor:**

## Details


## Next Service
**Due:**
**Reminder:**

## Photos/Documents
-

## Related Links
- [[Daily Notes/{{date:YYYY}}/{{date}}|Daily note]]

Organize by category: Areas/Home-Maintenance/HVAC/ and Areas/Car-Maintenance/Regular-Service/. Date sorting happens automatically with YYYY-MM-DD-Item.md naming.

Real Examples

Example: HVAC filter change

1. Create a new note in the appropriate directory/category
2. Title the note with a date (in ISO 8601 format) along with a short description. (i.e. 2026-01-31-HVAC-Filter-Change). This will be used to populate the {{title}} field in the template!
3. Use the Insert Template option and select the maintenance-log template from the list.

---
date: 2026-01-31
category: home
item: 2026-01-31-HVAC-Filter-Change
cost: 45.00
tags: [maintenance, hvac]
---

# 2026-01-31-HVAC-Filter-Change

**Date:** 2026-01-15
**Item:** HVAC Filter (16x25x1 MERV 13)
**Cost:** $45.00 (3-pack), Home Depot

## Details
Replaced furnace and AC filters. Very dirty after 3 months.
MERV 13 for better air quality.

**Next Service:** 2026-04-15 (3 months)

Example: Oil change

---
date: 2026-01-31
category: car
item: 2026-01-31-Oil-Change
cost: 75.00
tags: [maintenance, car]
---

# 2026-01-31-Oil-Change

**Date:** 2026-01-20
**Cost:** $75.00, Quick Lube

## Details
Full synthetic 5W-30, new filter, tire pressure check.
Mileage: 45,234 miles

**Next Service:** 2026-04-20 or 50,000 miles

Finding Records

Core search: "oil change" in Areas/Car-Maintenance/ finds all records chronologically. "due: 2026-02" finds upcoming service.

With Dataview:

TABLE date, item, cost
FROM "Areas/Home-Maintenance" OR "Areas/Car-Maintenance"
WHERE contains(item, "oil change")
SORT date DESC

See maintenance history with costs. Track annual spending for budgeting.

Link to daily notes to connect work and life tracking:

## 2026-01-20 Tasks
- [x] Oil change completed ([[Areas/Car-Maintenance/2026-01-20-Oil-Change]])

Your daily note becomes the hub.

System 3: Reading Log

Finished a great book but can’t remember what you wanted to read next? Want to see what you actually read this year vs what you intended?

A reading log solves this.

The Template

Create Templates/reading-log.md:

---
title: "{{title}}"
author:
started:
finished:
rating:
tags: [reading, book]
status: reading
---

# {{title}} by {{author}}

**Author:**
**Started:**
**Finished:**
**Status:** 📖 Reading | ✅ Finished | ⏸️ Paused
**Rating:** ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5)

## Summary


## Key Takeaways
-

## Notes & Highlights


## Related
- **Daily notes:** [[]]
- **Similar books:** [[]]

Organize by year: Areas/Reading/2026/. Keep Currently-Reading.md and Want-to-Read.md at root.

Example:

---
title: "Range: Why Generalists Triumph"
author: David Epstein
started: 2026-01-05
finished: 2026-01-28
rating: 5
tags: [reading, book, non-fiction]
---

# Range by David Epstein

**Finished:** 2026-01-28 | **Rating:** ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

## Summary
Argues generalists outperform specialists in complex fields. Late
specialization beats early specialization for creative work.

## Key Takeaways
- "Wicked" environments (most of life) reward broad experience
- Range improves pattern matching and analogical thinking
- Tiger Woods vs Federer: multi-sport background wins

## Related
- [[Daily Notes/2026/2026-01-28|Finished today]]
- [[Areas/Reading/2025/Deep-Work|Deep Work]] (contrasting view)

Finding Books

Core search: "finished: 2026" finds books read this year. "rating: 5" finds favorites.

With Dataview:

TABLE author, finished, rating
FROM "Areas/Reading"
WHERE finished >= date(2026-01-01)
SORT finished DESC

Link to daily notes where you captured reading insights:

## 2026-01-15 Learning
**Reading Range (Ch. 3):** Analogical thinking insight.
Link: [[Areas/Reading/2026/Range]]

Bidirectional connections between books and daily reflections create an interconnected web, not isolated records.

Patterns & Best Practices

PARA Placement

Areas for ongoing tracking (journal, maintenance, reading). Projects for time-bound goals (marathon training, home renovation). Resources for reference (manuals, recipes).

The key: ongoing responsibility (Area) vs defined goal with end date (Project).

Naming Conventions

Dated entries: use ISO 8601 format YYYY-MM-DD-Description.md for chronological sorting.

Non-dated entries: Descriptive names without redundant suffixes. Vehicle-Info.md not Vehicle-Info-notes.md.

Template Evolution

Start with one template. Test 2-3 weeks. Remove unused fields, add missing ones. Templates should evolve—your first maintenance log might be 3 fields, later 7 fields as you learn what matters.

Track What Matters

The trap: tracking everything (coffee temperature, hourly step count).

Ask: Does this data inform future decisions?

• HVAC dates? Yes—tells you when to change next.
• Oil costs? Yes—budgeting and price tracking.
• Book ratings? Yes—recommendations.
• Coffee temperature? Probably not.

Track the minimum that provides value.

Conclusion: One System for Everything

Specialized apps promise better UX. The reality: fragmentation kills consistency.

When everything lives in Obsidian:

• Unified search finds maintenance records AND daily notes together
• Cross-linking connects reading insights to work projects
• Data ownership survives app shutdowns and subscription changes
• No context switching between 5 apps with 5 logins

You’re not optimizing for the fanciest features. You’re optimizing for the system you’ll actually use in 5 years.

Next Steps

1. Pick one system that solves a real problem
2. Create simple template (3-5 fields only)
3. Use for 3 weeks before adding complexity
4. Refine based on reality

Start simple. Build the habit. Expand gradually.

In Part 4, we’ll tackle professional team workflows: technical documentation that scales, meeting notes that people actually reference, and syncing Obsidian with tools like Confluence and Jira.

What do you track in Obsidian? Share your experience in the comments.