Know yourself
Journal • Projects • Personal Science
A Personal Science lab for your life, on Mac
Dlog combines a journal, projects and goals with an AI Coach and Scientist. It scores your days across four rings of life, so you can see what actually moves the needle for your work and well-being.
Mac app
Local-first by default
No account required
4 Rings Model
PhD-based
Journals, baselines, scores and analytics run on your Mac. Only the text you send to the Coach or Scientist is processed, with an optional anonymiser for names and places.
Coach for everyday decisions
Scientist for deep Personal Science
Four Rings model of your life
Mixed-methods personal report
Why Dlog is different
Not just a journal. A working model of your life.
Dlog sits between a journal, a planner and a research notebook. It keeps your projects and goals next to your reflections, then uses a Four Rings model to estimate what actually drives your productivity and well-being.
Use it casually as a journal and projects app, or switch on the Scientist and treat your life like Personal Science.
Personal Science
Four Rings of your life
Dlog scores your entries across personality, character, resources and well-being. Over time it builds a baseline and shows how each ring moves.
- Scores based on your own words
- Simple, interpretable ring visual
- See change over weeks and months
Coach & Scientist
Two faces of the same engine
Use Coach for everyday prompts and decisions. When you want depth, ask the Scientist to show drivers, trade-offs and long-term patterns.
- Coach for quick, conversational help
- Scientist for evidence and structure
- Both grounded in the Four Rings model
Journals & Projects
Reflect and execute in one place
Goals, projects, reminder lists and daily logs live together. You can see how your projects impact your stress, energy and well-being.
- Projects behave like dedicated journals
- Attach reminders and milestones
- Review by goal, ring or project
Private
Local-first by design
Dlog stores your data as calendar events on your Mac. There is no sign-in. Only the text you choose to send to AI leaves your device, with optional anonymisation.
- No account, no cloud by default
- Optional anonymiser for names and places
- OpenAI used purely as a processor
How Dlog works
Three steps: Journal, Score, Decide.
You do not need to think like a researcher to use Dlog. You just log your days. Coach and Scientist do the scoring and pattern-finding for you.
Step 1: Journal naturally
Capture what happened, what you think and what you plan, as short Dlogs.
- Quick entries for ideas, conflicts and wins
- Attach entries to goals and projects
- Use as your main journal, or alongside others
Step 2: Dlog scores and models
Behind the scenes, Dlog scores each entry across the Four Rings and updates your baseline and driver estimates.
- Baselines show where you sit today
- Drivers suggest what moves each ring
- Visualisers show patterns over time
Step 3: Ask Coach or Scientist
Ask the Coach for next steps, or invite the Scientist to summarise and explain what changed and why.
- Coach: prompts, planning, small adjustments
- Scientist: narrative plus evidence
- Always grounded in your own journals
The Personal Science engine
Dlog Labs, Four Rings and your mixed-methods report.
Under the hood, Dlog uses a model built from years of well-being and productivity research. It treats every Dlog as data and story at once, so you can see how your own life actually works.
What Dlog Labs does for you
- Four Rings baseline estimates your typical levels of personality, character, resources and well-being from your journals.
- Drivers show which factors in your Dlogs most strongly relate to each ring over time.
- Visualisers give you a fast view of how rings, projects and conflicts rise and fall together.
- Mixed-methods article combines quotes and numbers into a compact, human-readable report about your life at this moment.
Coach and Scientist, side by side
- Coach mode focuses on today: what should you do next given your current projects, energy and constraints.
- Scientist mode focuses on structure: what has changed, what stayed stable and what seems to drive what.
- You can switch between them at any time. They share the same model and respect the same privacy rules.
Who Dlog is for
Built for students, researchers and professionals who think in systems.
If you like to understand why your life works the way it does, not just get through your to-do list, Dlog gives you the structure to do that without extra admin.
Students
Final-year and master’s students can use Dlog to turn the final year into a simple system. Track study blocks, stress and sleep, and let the Scientist show what actually helps your grades and mood.
- One place for thesis, classes and life
- See how workload affects well-being
- Use the report as a reflection tool
Researchers
Doctoral students and academics can keep a research diary, project tracker and N=1 lab in one Mac app. Observe how autonomy, conflict and deep work shape your progress.
- Structured research journaling
- Personal Science without spreadsheets
- Supports narrative and numeric thinking
Professionals
Founders and knowledge workers can use Dlog as an operating system for work and life. Projects, experiments, conflicts and wins sit next to a running model of how you perform best.
- Reflect on decisions as you execute
- See which patterns lead to burnout
- Design better weeks with data
Teams
Individuals keep fully private Dlogs. With consent and anonymisation, leadership can view aggregate Four Rings metrics to sense organisational health.
- Respectful, bottom-up insight
- No access to individual journals
- Early signals of conflict and burnout
Compare
Where Dlog stands among journaling and AI apps.
Dlog is closest to a Personal Science platform. It combines journals, projects, an explicit model and rich analytics, while still feeling like a daily app.
| Dimension | Dlog | Stoic | Day One | Rosebud |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core purpose | Personal Science on Mac. Journal and projects app that runs a Four Rings model of your life with an AI Coach and Scientist. | Mental health companion. Guided journaling, mood tracking and exercises focused on stress and anxiety. | Life diary. Beautiful, cross-platform journaling for memories, photos and daily reflections. | AI self-care journal. AI-assisted reflection space oriented around emotions and growth. |
| Projects and goals | Goals and projects live next to your Dlogs, with reminder lists and timelines. | Routines and prompts rather than structured projects. | Journals and tags, but no native project system. | Focused on reflection, not projects. |
| Personal Science / analytics | Four Rings baseline, driver estimates, visualisers and a mixed-methods report. | Mood trends and habit tracking. | Streaks and simple stats. | Qualitative patterns around feelings. |
| AI role | AI Coach and Scientist grounded in the Four Rings model, tied to your own journals. | AI prompts and reflective analysis inside mental health workflows. | Prompts and summaries layered onto classic journaling. | Conversational AI focused on emotional processing. |
| Privacy model | Local-first on Mac, no account required. Optional anonymiser for any AI calls. | Standard cloud-based app with strong privacy policies. | Cloud sync with encryption across devices. | Cloud-based, privacy-minded journaling. |
Privacy and safety
Your Personal Science stays personal.
Dlog is designed for people who care deeply about privacy. Journals and analytics stay on your Mac by default. You decide what, if anything, is sent to AI.
Local-first journals
Dlog stores entries as calendar events on your device. There is no account layer or central Dlog server with your data.
Anonymiser for AI
When you send content to Coach or Scientist, you can apply an anonymiser that replaces names and places while keeping your story readable.
Transparent processing
AI providers are used purely as processors. Dlog does not use your journals to train its own models or build marketing profiles.
You stay in control
You choose which journals or projects the Coach or Scientist can see. You can work entirely offline if you prefer to use Dlog without AI.
Pricing
Built for deep use, priced like a simple app.
Dlog is designed to support serious Personal Science without heavy subscriptions. You can start with a free trial, then keep using it for the price of a small coffee.
Dlog for Mac
€1.99/month
Includes a generous monthly token allowance for Coach and Scientist, plus all journaling, projects and analytics features.
- 14-day free trial
- Full Personal Science engine
- Local-first, no account required
- Coach and Scientist modes included
FAQ
Questions about Dlog and Personal Science.
Do I have to understand statistics to use Dlog?
No. You just write Dlogs the way you would write a normal journal. Dlog does the scoring and modelling for you, then explains the results in plain language.
What is the difference between Coach and Scientist?
Coach is focused on what to do next: planning days, choosing between options and making progress on projects. Scientist is focused on structure: what has changed, which patterns repeat and what appears to drive your well-being and productivity.
Can I use Dlog without AI?
Yes. You can use Dlog as a standalone journal and projects app entirely offline. Coach and Scientist are optional layers you can turn on when you want them.
Is Dlog suitable for universities and teams?
Yes. Dlog can be recommended as a private tool for students and staff, or used in pilots where individuals opt in to share anonymised Four Rings metrics for aggregate insight.
Will there be versions for other platforms?
Dlog is currently focused on providing the best possible Mac experience. Other platforms may follow based on demand.
Begin your Personal Science
Turn your days into evidence, not just memories.
Start journaling and planning in Dlog, then invite Coach and Scientist to help you understand what really drives your life. One quiet Mac app, no accounts, your data on your machine.
Designed for students, researchers, founders and teams who want more than another to-do list.