I first came across this journal method while listening to Massimo Pigliucci explain how he reviews his day.
The method is simple. You ask what went badly, what went well, and what you will try next time.
That last question matters. A journal that only records what happened becomes storage. A philosophical journal should change what you do next.
Copy the Stoic journal template
Use one page for each day. Five to ten minutes is enough.
Date:
Situation: What moment from today is worth examining?
1. What did I do badly?
Describe the judgement or action that missed the mark. Be specific. “I was impatient” tells you less than “I interrupted him twice because I had already decided his point was wrong.”
2. What did I do well?
Look for the part you handled with some care, even if the whole situation was messy. Perhaps you noticed your anger before speaking. Perhaps you apologised without defending yourself.
3. What will I try next time?
Write one action you could recognise and repeat. Keep it small enough to remember in the middle of a real day.
You can print this page, copy those questions into a notebook, or save them as a recurring note on your phone. The tool matters less than whether you return to it.
Choose one moment rather than reviewing every hour. Pick the conversation, decision or reaction that still has some energy around it.
Then separate what happened from your verdict about yourself.
“I raised my voice” is useful. “I am a terrible person” is not. One gives you something to examine. The other turns a mistake into an identity and leaves you with nowhere to go.
The second question prevents the review from becoming a nightly prosecution. You are looking for evidence about your conduct, and that includes what held up. This is especially useful when you caught yourself halfway through a bad reaction. Catching it late is still different from missing it completely.
The third question gives the page forward pressure. Avoid promises such as “be calmer tomorrow.” Name the next rep instead:
- Let the other person finish before answering.
- Put the phone in another room for the first 20 minutes of work.
- Ask one question before assuming I know what they meant.
- Leave the room for two minutes when I notice my voice getting louder.
These are easier to recognise than a vague instruction to become better.
A worked example
Here is what the review might look like after a difficult meeting.
Situation: A colleague interrupted me while I was explaining a problem. I assumed he was dismissing me and answered sharply.
What did I do badly? I treated my first interpretation as a fact. I interrupted him in return and spent the next few minutes trying to win the exchange.
What did I do well? I noticed that I was still angry after the meeting. I waited before sending the message I had drafted, then asked him what he had been trying to say.
What will I try next time? When I feel interrupted, I will write down the point I was about to make and let the person finish. Then I can decide whether the interruption was actually hostile.
The example does not end with a perfect performance. Most useful reviews will not. The aim is to leave with one clearer action than you had before.
Where the method comes from
Pigliucci’s version belongs to an older practice of evening self-examination.
In On Anger 3.36, Seneca describes reviewing his deeds and words at night. He credits the practice to Sextius, who asked himself what fault he had resisted, what failing he had corrected, and how he had improved. The questions on this page are a modern adaptation of that same habit.
The historical point is modest. The ancient Stoics did not leave us a branded journal with numbered prompts and a morning streak counter. They did leave repeated examples of using reflection to examine judgement and conduct.
Pigliucci’s interview gave me the three-question shape used here. I have shortened the wording, added the situation prompt, and made the final answer behavioural. That distinction matters because it is easy to present a modern template as though Seneca printed it two thousand years ago. He did not.
Read yesterday’s final answer before you begin the next day.
If you wrote, “Let him finish before I answer,” picture the first conversation in which you might need that instruction. If you wrote, “Put the phone in another room,” decide which room before the work begins.
This turns the evening review into morning preparation. The two practices reinforce each other:
- At night, you notice the pattern.
- In the morning, you prepare the next response.
- During the day, you get another attempt.
For a wider structure, use this template alongside the Stoic daily routine or the shorter Stoic morning routine.
You will still repeat mistakes. I do. The value of the page is that the repetition becomes harder to ignore and a little easier to interrupt.
If you want help turning Stoic ideas into daily reps, start with the free 7-Day Stoic Challenge. It gives you one practice a day rather than another reading list.
For a deeper library of guided practices and weekly training, explore the Stoic Vault.
If you want the reflective version rather than the template, that is the daily mindful review.