I began my journal as a single file, ~/journal.org . Each day, I would add one or more events by using a capture template:

( setq org-capture-templates ' ( ;; ... other templates ( "j" "Journal Entry" entry ( file+datetree "~/journal.org" ) "* %?" :empty-lines 1 ) ;; ... other templates ))

Depending on how you bind it (I have mine set to C-c c ), I see a menu of locations where I could shoot quick notes (I’ll explain that code later).

Select a capture template ========================= [n] General Sprint Note [m] Meeting Note [j] Journal Entry [s] Scrum Status [t] Start Sub-task w/Comments [c] Close Sub-task ------------------------------------------- [C] Customize org-capture-templates [q] Abort

Selecting j brings up a narrowed perspective of the my journal file, only showing where I would enter a 4th level heading:

**** ▯

After entering the contents of the heading and the journal entry, I hit C-c C-c to return to my previous buffer.

Assuming I was beginning with an empty file, the entire journal buffer would have a first-level heading for the year, followed by a subheading for month, etc. as in:

* 2014 ** 2014-10 October *** 2014-10-18 Wednesday **** Pumpkin Patch Trip Traveled to Sauvie Island to acquire the required holiday decorations, but with constipated traffic, we...