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I had heard similar advice before, so when I started a new job this past spring, I decided to try it out for myself. As I go through the day, I write down what

I had heard similar advice before, so when I started a new job this past spring, I decided to try it out for myself. As I go through the day, I write down what I’ve accomplished. I closed out a ticket, helped someone fix a bug, went to a meeting, etc. I pretty quickly noticed two things. First, I personally find this really motivating. For no one other than myself, I want to have a satisfying list at the end of the day. Second, neither I nor my boss are going to find this level of detail useful in a year. You need some way of aggregating (as the article mentions) “the big picture” over time. I’ve started using an app to help hierarchically aggregate these notes per time period, and it’s super useful. Unfortunately, it’s not in a shareable state yet, but maybe one day. :)

gen_greyface 7y ago
What isn't in a shareable state, the app or your notes?
- LifeIsBio 7y ago
  Both, I suppose. The app is far enough along that I’m using it myself (for work and the project), but it’s still messy and I’m iterating on it. An “Export data” is on my TODO, but not done yet, so the notes are currently trapped.
thrwaway48261 7y ago
For >neither I nor my boss are going to find this level of detail useful in a year. Actually, if you include copious screenshots, you might find it useful forever! You could just change your text, to make your screenshots talk about whatever you wanted to show. Maybe a UX flow observation or suggested change. Maybe you want to show a UI inconsistency. Or you want to showcase a theme change between two major versions or when changing some front-end component. Regardless of why you originally prepared the screenshots, a picture says a thousand words. If you want to make your writing perennial, try adding screenshots! If nothing else it will have historical importance.
- LifeIsBio 7y ago
  Multiple good points here! I should have said “useful in a year without context.” or something similar. The daily write-ups will always be directly available from the aggregated summaries. But pictures are another great way of providing context! Maybe it’s because I’m more of a backend person, but I haven’t felt a pressing need to add screenshots at work yet. All of the scenarios you suggested though make it sound like a great idea. Thanks!

gen_greyface 7y ago

What isn't in a shareable state, the app or your notes?

LifeIsBio 7y ago
Both, I suppose. The app is far enough along that I’m using it myself (for work and the project), but it’s still messy and I’m iterating on it. An “Export data” is on my TODO, but not done yet, so the notes are currently trapped.

thrwaway48261 7y ago

For >neither I nor my boss are going to find this level of detail useful in a year. Actually, if you include copious screenshots, you might find it useful forever! You could just change your text, to make your screenshots talk about whatever you wanted to show. Maybe a UX flow observation or suggested change. Maybe you want to show a UI inconsistency. Or you want to showcase a theme change between two major versions or when changing some front-end component. Regardless of why you originally prepared the screenshots, a picture says a thousand words. If you want to make your writing perennial, try adding screenshots! If nothing else it will have historical importance.

LifeIsBio 7y ago
Multiple good points here! I should have said “useful in a year without context.” or something similar. The daily write-ups will always be directly available from the aggregated summaries. But pictures are another great way of providing context! Maybe it’s because I’m more of a backend person, but I haven’t felt a pressing need to add screenshots at work yet. All of the scenarios you suggested though make it sound like a great idea. Thanks!