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Keeping a Professional/Work Journal ?

post #1 of 18
2/13/10 at 1:11am
Thread Starter 
Does anyone here keep a Professional work journal? How and why do you keep it?

I have been advised that it is very good practise to keep a work journal during the course of ones professional life. Have been told to summarise each day the course of the events, who I spoke to about what was discussed, things that I have done well and things I may have done not so well. Then to use it over course of time as both a record and as a learning tool. More critically, to record also what was said and what was not.

The person who gave me the advice has recorded his journal over the course of 30+ years of his life in various corporate roles. He says that most of his sharp shooter friends in business do it.

I appreciate that like any journal it must be well secured least it captures the eye of the wrong person or too the extreme gets subpoenaed if there is a serious spot of bother and may be used against you.

Looking for thoughts and ideas on keeping a work journal.
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post #2 of 18
2/13/10 at 1:30am
Not everyone is Pavese, please don't do this.
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post #3 of 18
2/13/10 at 1:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Star View Post
Looking for thoughts and ideas on keeping a work journal.

Don't. I had a dream last night about Tesla and he kept repeating "the journal will destroy star, the journal will destroy star." Take that however you want but I think it means something.
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post #4 of 18
2/13/10 at 1:39am
Not something I'd do.
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post #5 of 18
2/13/10 at 7:28pm
Yes. I start every morning at five.
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post #6 of 18
2/13/10 at 7:32pm
I used to in my second full-time job as my boss insisted. He used to tick off each day's achievements and write little notes. He was a nice guy - but as Ferris Bueller said, you could stick a lump of coal up his ass and it'll come back out as a diamond. I suppose it's a handy aide-memoire if you're going to be at the same job for ever, or if you like being a diarist. I was never that regimented.
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post #7 of 18
2/13/10 at 7:47pm
I've been thinking of switching from electronic calendars to an actual paper based planner in order to maintain tighter control over it myself, plus the ability to take it with me when I leave a job.

But I certainly would not go very in depth due to the concern you mentioned.
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post #8 of 18
2/13/10 at 7:53pm
Yes, I write down what I accomplish in a day. Its a great reference tool if you need to tally your performance in quantitative terms.
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post #9 of 18
2/13/10 at 8:03pm
I keep a journal of technical arcana: admin passwords, reboots, whatnot - largely because by the time I have to do something again, I've forgotten it. Also it gives me good ammo against the people who ruin their computers.
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post #10 of 18
2/14/10 at 1:04am
required to keep one for proffesional acreditation purposes

i keep a brief list of big jobs ive worked on to remind me a performance review time what has occupied all my time

im terrible at it but find Outlook to be a pretty good rechord of what ive done.
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post #11 of 18
2/14/10 at 9:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Herbert View Post
im terrible at it but find Outlook to be a pretty good rechord of what ive done.
Although it's not really intentional, Outlook provides a good record of what I do day to day. I was doing a year-end report of sorts a month ago and found Outlook to be very useful for this.
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post #12 of 18
2/14/10 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkinnyGoomba View Post
Yes, I write down what I accomplish in a day. Its a great reference tool if you need to tally your performance in quantitative terms.

I was going to say this. But all I do is note the things that got done by the end of the week. What projects am I working on; what is the status of each; how did I contribute to project; etc. What you are suggesting would add a half-hour onto each day, for little benefit, imo.

b
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post #13 of 18
2/14/10 at 1:02pm
As an engineer I do, and it's actually suggested by most engineering bodies & schools. I can't imagine not keeping a record of my phone discussions with clients, my notes on projects, heck even sketches of ideas go in the record book, not to mention basic calculations & assumptions etc.
It's a good practice to get into but keep in mind that if you change jobs, there's strong argument that the book belongs to the company, not you.
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post #14 of 18
2/14/10 at 2:52pm
I used to when I was a young engineer but after about 5 years of keeping one and never having the need to go back and consult it I stopped. In my now 20+ years of experience, I've never felt the need to go back and look for something that I would have written down in a journal like that.

Those things can also backfire on you. If your company is involved in lawsuits, etc, those are fair game to be subpoenaed. This has happened to my wife a few times where she's had to go meet with some poor sap from legal who then got to photocopy her doodlings and shopping lists.

Lots of companies have record retention rules that get pretty anal too.
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post #15 of 18
2/14/10 at 6:40pm
I actually don't think that's a bad idea as long as you make it easy on yourself. I usually just take a lot of notes in meetings/conversations, write a lot of things I'm working on down, and keep those notepads stored in chronological order. Between that, and the Outlook, it covers a lot, and helps. I also feel somewhat protected if things do come back to me.
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