Some weekend conversations feel important in the moment. Some personal decisions feel pivotal. But a week later? The details blur. The why gets fuzzy. The insight fades.
This is the quiet tragedy of personal life: we move too fast to capture what mattered.
So I built lifelog-email - a scrappy weekend project—to catch those moments before they slip away.
It leans heavily on the Limitless API and their pendant device, which captures audio from daily conversations. Without Limitless doing the heavy lifting, none of this would exist.
I only use the pendant on weekends for personal conversations (never for work!), and I always make sure to get explicit permission from everyone involved before starting any recording. It's important to respect privacy and maintain clear boundaries between personal and professional life.
A Note on Privacy & Permissions
Privacy and consent are absolutely fundamental to this system. Here's how I handle it:
- Weekend Use Only: The pendant only comes out on weekends for personal conversations. No work discussions, no professional meetings.
- Explicit Permission: Before any recording starts, I explain the system to everyone present and get their explicit consent.
- Clear Opt-Out: Anyone can ask to pause or stop recording at any time, no questions asked.
- Data Control: Participants can request to review or delete their conversation data.
- No Sensitive Topics: Some conversations should never be recorded, period.
This isn't just about legal compliance—it's about respect, trust, and using technology ethically.
Quick disclaimer: This system is still imperfect. It's rough around the edges. It misses things. Sometimes it misinterprets. But even in its current form, it's been transformative.
Why Memory Isn't Enough
We overestimate our ability to remember.
Big meetings, casual coffees, one-off decisions—these shape our trajectory more than we realize. Yet:
- We forget key points.
- We lose the thread of a relationship.
- We repeat mistakes because we can't recall why we chose what we did.
I didn't want to carry a notebook everywhere. I didn't want clunky apps disrupting conversations.
I wanted something ambient. Frictionless. Passive.
Day-After Worker is the layer that sits on top of Limitless—taking the pendant's captured audio summaries and extracting the parts that matter most.
What It Captures (and Why)
1. Decisions
Tiny choices that steer personal projects, relationships, and weekend activities.
"Let's try that new restaurant." "We agreed to start that side project."
Before, these moments would evaporate. Now they leave a trace.
2. New Connections
People you meet. Contexts for those meetings.
Over time, a web of relationships you can actually remember and nurture—not just "Oh right, we met that one time."
3. Speech Patterns
My early digests showed I overused fillers like "you know" and "like" in casual weekend conversations. Subtle, but eye-opening.
It's about becoming a slightly better communicator in personal interactions, day by day.
4. Action Items
Small commitments you make aloud—"I'll send that," "I'll set that up"—get captured.
It's surprisingly easy to forget what you said you'd do until someone chases you. This catches it early.
5. Conversation Summaries
A simple snapshot of weekend discussions. Over time, you start seeing patterns you'd otherwise miss.
The System Flow
- Pendant: Captures weekend conversations (with permission)
- Limitless API: Transcribes and summarizes
- Day-After Worker: Parses, tags, reflects
- Monday Morning Email: Digest shows up in your inbox
It's a bit duct-taped together. But it's my duct tape—and it works.
What Changed For Me
1. Decision Context
"When did we decide that?" is no longer a guessing game.
I have receipts—not just what we decided, but why.
2. Relationship Building
It's easier to follow up when you actually remember people's names, projects, and what you discussed.
It turns "networking" into genuine relationship-building.
3. Communication Awareness
Getting feedback on your speech patterns—even automated, even imperfect—is powerful. You spot habits you didn't realize you had.
4. Better Follow-Through
Seeing your action items in writing the next morning makes you way more likely to actually do them.
Acknowledging The Rough Edges
This isn't a polished SaaS product. It's not real-time. It's not perfect.
- Sometimes the pendant misses things.
- Sometimes summaries are a little… weird.
- Sometimes it flags things I don't actually care about.
And that's okay.
The goal isn't perfection. It's momentum. It's continuity. It's being 10% more reflective than yesterday.
Future Dreams (Maybe)
If I keep tinkering, here's what I'd love to explore:
- Smarter Prioritization: Highlight only the most meaningful decisions and connections
- Relationship Mapping: Visualize how my network evolves over time
- Skill Tracking: How is my communication changing month over month?
- Better Search: "When did we talk about X?" → instant recall
But even as a janky weekend hack, it's already delivering more value than I expected.
Final Thought: Remembering Is a Competitive Advantage
Most people forget. Most people repeat mistakes. Most people lose the threads that could have changed their path.
Having a system—even an imperfect one—to remember what matters gives you an edge.
In a world obsessed with moving faster, maybe the real power move is learning how to slow down just enough to reflect.
That's what Day-After Worker—powered by Limitless—is giving me.
And it's just the beginning.