Do your future self this 1 simple solid

Do you remember what you worked on last quarter? How about last week?

The struggle is real when it comes to recalling our activities, accomplishments, and impact at work—all useful info for weekly manager check-ins, team updates, performance reviews, and future job interviews (which we all need to be prepared for these days).

Every Friday afternoon at my last job, I spent just 10 minutes jotting down the main details of my projects that week, and what I was starting next, in a running Google doc with a three‑column table.

I gathered the info from a few sources, including project folders, meeting notes, my calendar and email, Slack messages, and a physical notebook.

Over 2.5 years, this tiny habit turned into an 80‑page, searchable record of my work.

Here’s why tracking your work matters.

1. Better manager and team check-ins: Save time on providing updates to get to the more important topics. Plus it helps your boss advocate for you, your goals, and your team’s value to the company.

2. Evidence of your awesomeness: When it’s time for reviews, promotions, and job searches, you can easily find examples of your contributions, expertise, and impact from your work log. There is no scrambling or guesswork involved, nor a need to spend days and days looking at detailed project documentation.

3. The details matter: In addition to key responsibilities and impact, capturing the details (who, when, how, what, why) helps you tell a realistic and relatable story (especially if you’re trying to recall a project from 2 years ago).

What I would have done differently:

If I could go back, I would make some changes to what I captured in my work log.

• More qualitative and quantitative evidence of impact to product, business, strategy, roadmaps, processes, workplace culture, etc.

• Project challenges to use as examples for case studies and interview questions.

• Links to documentation for easy access. These die when you leave an organization, so make sure to save as much as possible, with careful consideration for your employer’s security measures.

Save time and stay ahead of the game.

Honestly, I found it to be a pain in the ass to update my weekly work log my when all I wanted to do was log off for the weekend! But I'm so glad I did because I ended up with a repository of literally everything I'd ever done, at the ready for any future need.

It might be one more annoying task on your list, but your work log isn’t just a repository, it’s a power move to save time, avoid stress, and achieve your goals. Your future self will thank you!

Feel free to reply if you want tips on templates, formats, or integrating this into your workflow. I loooove to help people work smarter (not harder).

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Worth your time 🎆

• Useful (unfortunately): Declassified CIA Guide to Sabotaging Fascism

• Empowering (actually): It’s time to organize. 

• Positively cunning: The Resignation Checklist: 25 Sneaky Ways To Bleed Your Employer Dry Before Quitting

• Reality-checking (sorry): The AI jobs crisis is here, now.

• Relatable: I’m bored of it (a short poetic essay on AI)

Thanks for being here!

Owls in Towels 🦉