AI-Powered Journaling

👋 Who am I?

Timo Bakx
Senior Backend (PHP) Developer @ Linku

👋 Who am I?

Timo Bakx
Senior Backend (PHP) Developer @ Linku

My quirks:

👋 Who am I?

Timo Bakx
Senior Backend (PHP) Developer @ Linku

My quirks:

  • No visual imagination (aphantasia)

👋 Who am I?

Timo Bakx
Senior Backend (PHP) Developer @ Linku

My quirks:

  • No visual imagination (aphantasia)
  • No internal monologue/dialogue

👋 Who am I?

Timo Bakx
Senior Backend (PHP) Developer @ Linku

My quirks:

  • No visual imagination (aphantasia)
  • No internal monologue/dialogue
  • Cannot relive memories

😰 Which results in...

😰 Which results in...

  • Difficult to articulate growth

😰 Which results in...

  • Difficult to articulate growth
  • Cannot see patterns over time

😰 Which results in...

  • Difficult to articulate growth
  • Cannot see patterns over time
  • Challenging performance reviews

😰 Which results in...

  • Difficult to articulate growth
  • Cannot see patterns over time
  • Challenging performance reviews
  • Evaluated as 'stagnant'

📝 Previous attempts

📝 Previous attempts

  • On paper
    • Not searchable
    • Too slow
    • Not readable

📝 Previous attempts

  • On paper
    • Not searchable
    • Too slow
    • Not readable
  • Digital on phone
    • Typing is difficult
    • No feedback

💡 The solution: AI Coach

Not just a note-taking tool.

But rather a sparring partner / coach.

With a critical eye.

🤝 What does an AI coach do?

🤝 What does an AI coach do?

  • Memory function for daily events

🤝 What does an AI coach do?

  • Memory function for daily events
  • Pattern recognition during evaluations

🤝 What does an AI coach do?

  • Memory function for daily events
  • Pattern recognition during evaluations
  • Direct feedback: asking questions when unclear

🤝 What does an AI coach do?

  • Memory function for daily events
  • Pattern recognition during evaluations
  • Direct feedback: asking questions when unclear
  • Critical perspective: course correction when needed

🔍 How does it work?

The daily flow in 3 steps:

🔍 How does it work?

The daily flow in 3 steps:

  1. Prepare at the start of the day

1. Prepare at the start of the day

👤 User:

Good morning! Will you start a new day for me? I have no other tasks to do than those left over from last Friday.
I had a day off yesterday, so it's Tuesday today.

1. Prepare at the start of the day

🤖 AI Coach:

Good morning! ☀️ I've created your Tuesday, November 25th journal entry with the three tasks carried over from Friday:

  1. Implement shipment tracking filters (Customer Portal API)
  2. Spike: returns management state machine with Workflow component (Customer Portal API)
  3. Review Co's authentication implementation (Internal Tools)

Have a great day getting back into things after your day off!

🔍 How does it work?

The daily flow in 3 steps:

  1. Prepare at the start of the day
  2. Throughout the day, share what I'm doing

2. Throughout the day

👤 User:

I finished implementing the shipping tracking filters. And I learned something new about API Platform filtering.

2. Throughout the day

🤖 AI Coach:

Perfect! ✅ I've checked off the task and started documenting it. What specifically did you learn about API Platform filtering? I'd love to capture those details in your journal so you can reference them later.

2. Throughout the day

👤 User:

I didn't know you could reuse the SearchFilter for multiple properties at the same time. So that you don't have to define a service for each one.

2. Throughout the day

🤖 AI Coach:

Perfect! ✅ I've documented your API Platform learning. That's a great discovery - being able to reuse SearchFilter across multiple properties definitely keeps the code cleaner and reduces duplication.

You still have two tasks remaining for today. Are you planning to work on one of these next?

2. Throughout the day - Journal Result

## 📝 Daily Flow - Events

### Customer Portal API - Implementing Shipment Tracking Filters

Completed the shipment tracking filters feature today. This allows 
customers to filter their shipment history by various criteria.

**API Platform Learning:** Discovered that you can reuse the 
SearchFilter for multiple properties at the same time, rather than 
having to define a separate service for each property.

2. Throughout the day

👤 User:

Just did the review. It was great work. There were some small things that could improved, mostly around naming.

2. Throughout the day

🤖 AI Coach:

Excellent! ✅ I've documented the code review. It's great to see Co's progress - and providing constructive feedback on naming conventions is exactly the kind of mentoring that helps junior developers grow.

You now have one remaining task for today. Are you planning to tackle that next?

2. Throughout the day - Journal Result

### Internal Tools - Reviewing Co's Authentication Implementation

Reviewed Co's authentication implementation. The overall quality was 
great - Co is really picking things up quickly. Provided some feedback 
on small improvements, mostly around naming conventions to make the 
code more consistent with our existing codebase standards.

🔍 How does it work?

The daily flow in 3 steps:

  1. Prepare at the start of the day
  2. Throughout the day, share what I'm doing
  3. At the end of the day, reflect

3. At the end of the day, reflect

👤 User:

I'm about to head home. Shall we review the day?

I'm proud of how fast I could implement the filters. That went really well.

3. At the end of the day, reflect

🤖 AI Coach:

Perfect! 🎉 Your day review is complete. Here's what stands out:

Key Highlights

  • ✅ Implemented shipment tracking filters (quickly!)
  • ✅ Learned about API Platform SearchFilter reusability
  • ✅ Reviewed Co's authentication code with constructive feedback

3. At the end of the day, reflect

🤖 AI Coach:

Key Insight: Your speed on the filter implementation shows that last week's deep learning is paying dividends. You're moving from "learning" to "mastery".

3. Reflect - Journal Result

### 🌟 What I am proud of

**Fast implementation** - The shipment tracking filters went really 
well. I was able to implement them quickly and efficiently, which 
shows I'm getting more comfortable with API Platform and the codebase.

**Learning while doing** - Not only did I complete the feature, but I 
also discovered a better way to use SearchFilter for multiple properties.

**Quality code review** - Gave Co constructive feedback on his 
authentication work. The naming suggestions I provided will help 
maintain code consistency.

3. Reflect - Journal Result

### 🌱 Growth & Insights

**Learning Goal: Symfony Expertise** - Today continues the momentum 
from last week. You deepened your API Platform knowledge by discovering 
the SearchFilter multi-property pattern. More importantly, you 
implemented the filters *quickly* - speed is a sign of growing mastery.

**Mentoring Pattern** - You're continuing to develop as a mentor. Last 
week you helped Co learn authentication concepts, this week you're 
reviewing his work and guiding him on code standards.

**Efficiency Through Knowledge** - The fast filter implementation 
demonstrates something important: deep learning pays off.

🔍 How does it work?

The daily flow in 3 steps:

  1. Prepare at the start of the day
  2. Throughout the day, share what I'm doing
  3. At the end of the day, reflect

📊 Weekly evaluation

Goal: See patterns across the week

📊 Weekly evaluation

Goal: See patterns across the week

AI analyzes:

📊 Weekly evaluation

Goal: See patterns across the week

AI analyzes:

  • Recurring themes

📊 Weekly evaluation

Goal: See patterns across the week

AI analyzes:

  • Recurring themes
  • Make growth visible

📊 Weekly evaluation

Goal: See patterns across the week

AI analyzes:

  • Recurring themes
  • Make growth visible
  • Signal improvement points

📊 Weekly evaluation

Goal: See patterns across the week

AI analyzes:

  • Recurring themes
  • Make growth visible
  • Signal improvement points
  • Highlight learnings

💼 Processing performance reviews

From conversation to growth:

💼 Processing performance reviews

From conversation to growth:

  1. Add transcript of performance review

💼 Processing performance reviews

From conversation to growth:

  1. Add transcript of performance review
  2. Analyze with AI Coach against personality

💼 Processing performance reviews

From conversation to growth:

  1. Add transcript of performance review
  2. Analyze with AI Coach against personality
  3. Recognize patterns

💼 Processing performance reviews

From conversation to growth:

  1. Add transcript of performance review
  2. Analyze with AI Coach against personality
  3. Recognize patterns
  4. Formulate learning goals

💼 Processing performance reviews

From conversation to growth:

  1. Add transcript of performance review
  2. Analyze with AI Coach against personality
  3. Recognize patterns
  4. Formulate learning goals
  5. Define concrete actions

👥 People (optional)

Separate file per person:

  • Background information
  • Observations about collaboration
  • Communication patterns
  • What works / what doesn't
  • Backlinks to journal files

Goal: Better collaboration by seeing patterns

📦 Projects (optional)

Separate file per project:

  • General description
  • Context and history
  • Key learnings
  • Backlinks to journal files

Goal: Maintain context across projects

💡 For you?

External reflection is valuable for everyone:

💡 For you?

External reflection is valuable for everyone:

  • Want to become senior?

💡 For you?

External reflection is valuable for everyone:

  • Want to become senior? → Show your growth

💡 For you?

External reflection is valuable for everyone:

  • Want to become senior? → Show your growth
  • Struggling to see patterns?

💡 For you?

External reflection is valuable for everyone:

  • Want to become senior? → Show your growth
  • Struggling to see patterns? → Document behavior

💡 For you?

External reflection is valuable for everyone:

  • Want to become senior? → Show your growth
  • Struggling to see patterns? → Document behavior
  • Want to improve communication?

💡 For you?

External reflection is valuable for everyone:

  • Want to become senior? → Show your growth
  • Struggling to see patterns? → Document behavior
  • Want to improve communication? → Analyze interactions

💡 For you?

External reflection is valuable for everyone:

  • Want to become senior? → Show your growth
  • Struggling to see patterns? → Document behavior
  • Want to improve communication? → Analyze interactions
  • Dreading performance reviews?

💡 For you?

External reflection is valuable for everyone:

  • Want to become senior? → Show your growth
  • Struggling to see patterns? → Document behavior
  • Want to improve communication? → Analyze interactions
  • Dreading performance reviews? → Concrete examples ready

🚀 Technical: What does it look like?

Markdown files in Git repository

  • IDE as application (Cursor, AntiGravity, IntelliJ)
  • AI coach (Claude, GPT, Gemini)
  • Personality context (optional)
  • Personal profile (optional)
  • Fully customizable set of rules

🎯 Template available

What's included?

  • Daily journal templates
  • Weekly evaluation structure
  • AI Coach configuration (personality, role, rules)
  • Optional: people, projects, profile context

Open source & customizable - make it yours!

❓ Questions?

💪 Get started

🙏 Thank you!

Reach out:

  • Mastodon: phpc.social/@timobakx
  • Bluesky: @timobakx.bsky.social
  • GitHub: github.com/TimoBakx
  • Symfony Slack: @TimoBakx

Vertel over de conferentie jaren geleden: Closing keynote over aphantasia