u/hermjohnson

The thing I kept wanting was simple: I like planning by hand, but the rest of my day lives in tools — Notion, calendar, Claude, ChatGPT, task databases. My handwritten page was the one place none of that software could really see.

So Penlog starts with a normal daily journal page. You write with Apple Pencil. As you write, Penlog picks out tasks, and notes, keeps the original page attached, and lets the useful pieces show up in the tools you already use. Each morning you can seed the day's page with your latest open tasks and calendar events.

What’s working now:

• handwriting (even my chicken scratch) converted and stored as text

• tasks and notes pulled out of the page

• two-way Notion task sync

• the original handwritten page stays as the source

• API / MCP access so agents can read your journal too

It’s in TestFlight now, free during beta. iPad + Apple Pencil required.

https://penlog.app

I’m curious how other people handle this today: if you think or plan by hand, does that writing make it back into your software anywhere — or does it mostly stay trapped on the page?

I’m working on a small app called Penlog for people who like writing notes by hand — especially on iPad with Apple Pencil — but still use Notion as their actual system of record.

The idea is simple: you keep writing naturally, and Penlog turns your handwritten pages into searchable notes and Notion tasks automatically.

I built it because I kept running into the same problem: handwriting is great for thinking, planning, and journaling, but terrible for follow-through. Tasks, decisions, and useful ideas get buried unless I manually export a PDF and upload them into Notion later — which I almost never do consistently.

Penlog is meant to bridge that gap. It reads handwritten pages, finds the action items, keeps the original notes searchable, and syncs tasks into Notion so they actually land where work happens.

It’s still early, but I’m looking for a few Notion users who already take handwritten notes on iPad and would be willing to try the beta and give blunt feedback.

Site: https://penlog.app

Curious if this resonates with anyone here. If you write by hand but manage your life/work in Notion, how are you handling that gap today?