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Daily Capture Routines

⏱️ 2-10 minutes setup • 📊 Beginner • 🆓 Free Transform scattered thoughts into organized insights with proven daily capture systems. These routines take just minutes but create hours of clarity throughout your day.

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Quick Start: The 2-Minute Brain Dump

Perfect for beginners - start here:
1

Set Your Daily Trigger

Choose a consistent time: while coffee brews, during commute, or before checking email
2

Open Cleft and Record

Hit record and speak everything on your mind for 60-90 seconds:
  • Today’s top 3 priorities
  • Anything you’re worried about
  • Ideas or thoughts from yesterday
3

Quick Review

Listen back while getting ready, extracting any actionable items
Why this works: Your brain processes better when it’s not trying to remember everything. This simple routine clears mental RAM for actual thinking.

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The Complete Daily Capture System

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Morning: Mind Clearing (5 minutes)

Best Time: First 30 minutes after waking, before reactive tasks
Record these areas in order:
  1. Brain Dump (90 seconds)
    • Everything on your mind, no filtering
    • Worries, random thoughts, overnight ideas
  2. Today’s Focus (60 seconds)
    • Top 3 priorities for today
    • One important decision you need to make
    • Energy level and how you’re feeling
  3. Intentions (30 seconds)
    • How you want to show up today
    • One thing you’re grateful for
    • Quick win you can accomplish early
Custom Instructions Example:
Organize this morning capture into:
- Brain dump items (mark urgent ones)
- Today's top 3 priorities 
- Energy/mood check
- Quick wins for early momentum

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Workday: Transition Captures (30 seconds each)

Capture thoughts between major activities:

Pre-Meeting

  • Key points you want to make
  • Questions you need answered
  • Your agenda priorities

Post-Meeting

  • Action items and owners
  • Decisions made
  • Follow-up needed

Task Switching

  • Current task status/next steps
  • Context for when you return
  • Any blocking issues

Idea Capture

  • Solutions that pop up
  • Improvements you notice
  • Random good ideas

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Evening: Day Review (3-5 minutes)

Best Time: End of workday or before dinner
Reflect on these areas:
  1. Wins & Progress (90 seconds)
    • What went well today
    • Progress on important projects
    • Problems you solved
  2. Lessons & Insights (90 seconds)
    • What you learned
    • What you’d do differently
    • Patterns you’re noticing
  3. Tomorrow Setup (60 seconds)
    • Priorities for tomorrow
    • Preparation needed
    • One thing to remember
Custom Instructions Example:
Create an end-of-day summary with:
- Key accomplishments and wins
- Lessons learned or insights gained
- Tomorrow's top 3 priorities
- Any prep needed for tomorrow

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Advanced Routines

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Weekly Planning Session (15 minutes)

Every Sunday or Friday:
1

Week Review

Record a 3-minute reflection on the past week’s wins, challenges, and lessons
2

Priority Setting

Voice-record next week’s top 5 priorities and why they matter
3

Energy Planning

Consider your energy patterns and schedule demanding tasks accordingly

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Monthly Reflection (20 minutes)

End of each month:
  • Progress Review: Major accomplishments and project advancement
  • Pattern Recognition: What worked well vs. what didn’t
  • Goal Adjustment: Refine or pivot on quarterly objectives
  • System Optimization: Improve your capture and review processes
  • Gratitude & Growth: Acknowledge progress and areas for development

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Customization Ideas

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For Different Work Styles

  • Deep Work Focus
  • Meeting Heavy
  • Creative Work
  • Pre-focus ritual: Clear mental distractions before deep work sessions
  • Progress logging: Quick updates during breaks to maintain flow
  • Session wrap-up: Capture key insights while they’re fresh

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Integration with Your Existing Tools

Apple Notes: Export daily summaries to your main note-taking system Calendar: Use voice notes to prep for upcoming meetings Task Manager: Convert capture sessions into actionable items Journal: Transform evening reviews into longer-form reflection

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Common Challenges & Solutions

  • Solution: Stack capture onto existing habits (coffee, commute, etc.)
  • Tip: Set phone reminders for first week until habit forms
  • Alternative: Use Apple Shortcuts to automate capture triggers
  • Solution: Start with pure brain dump, organize later
  • Tip: Use custom instructions to structure rambling thoughts
  • Remember: Messy capture is better than no capture
  • Solution: Focus on actionable items, archive the rest
  • Tip: Use quick scan mode - just listen for key points
  • Alternative: Set up automation to process routine captures

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Success Metrics

Track these to measure your capture routine’s effectiveness:
  • Clarity: Do you feel more organized and less scattered?
  • Follow-through: Are you completing more of your stated priorities?
  • Insight generation: Are you recognizing patterns and making better decisions?
  • Stress reduction: Do you feel less mental pressure to remember everything?

Next Steps

Once daily capture is habit, level up with Meeting Notes System or Task Management workflows.