Journal, project sheets, decisions

This lesson is still being tested: it improves with learners' feedback. If something is unclear, it is the lesson that needs fixing, not you.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to

write a useful journal page in 5 to 10 lines;
keep a project sheet: goal, criteria, steps, decisions, next action;
note a decision with its reason;
keep this tracking light: about 2 minutes per session.

Why it matters to you

The journal and the project sheets are what let a new session pick up your work (lesson 1). Too thin, and the restart fails. Too long, and you stop keeping them after a week. This lesson gives you the right dose: what is useful, nothing more.

Before you start


You need	Claude Code in the app, in Manual mode, and your mon-espace-ia folder with the kit (module 4, lesson 4)
Cost	The agent subscription, the same as in module 4: Claude Pro at minimum, €18 per month excl. VAT, price shown in France on 24/10/2026
Duration	35 minutes, then 2 minutes per session
Reminder	The journal and the sheets are read again at every session, and shared if you send your folder: nothing from the “never” list

Understand it in 3 minutes

Three documents, three roles:

Document	When	What it contains	Length
Journal page (`journal/YYYY-MM-DD.md`)	At the end of each session	What we did, the decisions, the current project, the next action	5 to 10 lines
Project sheet (`projets/<nom>/projet.md`)	At the start of the project, then at each decision	The goal, “It worked if…”, the checked-off steps, the decisions, the next action	One page
Decision (in the sheet)	When a choice changes what comes next	The date, the decision, the reason	One line

The reason for a decision is worth more than the decision. In three weeks, you may remember your choice, but rarely why. Without the reason, you risk discussing again what was already settled.

A single, concrete next action. “Move the project forward” does not say where to start. “Ask for two quotes for a room rental” does.

Claude suggests, you approve. The kit’s CLAUDE.md asks Claude to announce what it is going to write and to wait for your approval. The journal remains your file: it must say what you take away.

The 2-minute rule. If keeping your tracking takes you more than 2 minutes per session, it is too heavy: shorten it.

The “Course step” section of the journal template is for the kit’s guided path: the workshop weekend (module 4), then about 30 days. It tells Claude which step to resume at. Once this path is finished, you can leave it empty.

Do it together

In your mon-espace-ia folder, in Manual mode, on the workshop project (or a project from your life).

1Step 1: Read the project sheet again

Open projets/<nom>/projet.md. Check that it contains: the goal, the “It worked if…” criteria, the steps, a table of decisions, and the next action.

2Step 2: Note a decision

Choose a real decision made during the workshop, or a new one. Write:

Note this decision in the project sheet: [your decision], because [the reason]. Add today's date. Show me the line before writing it.

Read the proposed line: is the reason there, in your words? Approve.

3Step 3: Check off a step, update the next action

Check off the step we have finished in the project sheet, and replace the next action with: [the concrete next action]. Show me the changes before writing them.

4Step 4: A short journal page

That's it for today: suggest today's journal page, based on journal/modele.md, in 10 lines of content at most, not counting the template's headings. Show it to me before writing it.

5Step 5: Read it as if you were coming back in three weeks

Imagine I come back in three weeks remembering nothing. Reading only the project sheet and this journal page, what would I be missing to pick things up again? Do not change anything, only suggest.

Keep one or two of its suggestions, no more: the 2-minute rule.

Your turn

A week of light tracking:

each session ends with a journal page of 10 lines at most;
each decision that changes what comes next is noted with its reason;
at the end of the week, read your pages one after another: do they tell the story of your project?

Check your work

It worked if:

each journal page has 10 lines of content at most (not counting the headings, the blank lines or the template’s reminder line) and ends with a concrete next action;
your project sheet has its steps checked off and at least one decision with its reason;
reading only your project sheet, you know in one minute where you stand;
your tracking takes you about 2 minutes per session.

Common mistakes:

the novel-length journal: telling everything, and no longer keeping it after a week;
a decision without a reason;
a vague next action, or three next actions;
approving the writing without reading: you are the one who has to recognize yourself in it;
writing information from the “never” list in the journal.

Keep it and pick it up later

Page names in the YYYY-MM-DD format (for example 2026-10-24.md) sort themselves in date order.
Once a month, a review page is enough to sum up the month: that is the subject of lesson 7.

Going further

optional

Claude Code’s documentation distinguishes what you write yourself (CLAUDE.md) from what Claude notes by itself (automatic memory, lesson 4). Your journal and sheets are a third layer, the most reliable for picking things up again, because you read them and keep them in your folder.

New words

4 words explained

Word	What it means
Journal page	A few lines written at the end of a session: done, decided, next action
Project sheet	The page that gives a project’s goal, criteria, steps and decisions
Decision	A choice that changes what comes next, noted with its date and reason
2-minute rule	If tracking takes more than 2 minutes per session, it is too heavy