4 ms·

A work journal. I know this one seems a bit obvious, but in the workforce, I rarely see people with them. Work journals are not very exciting. But just writin

A work journal. I know this one seems a bit obvious, but in the workforce, I rarely see people with them. Work journals are not very exciting. But just writing things down really makes a difference somehow. Those boring meetings become slightly less boring when you take notes. That thing from six weeks ago doesn't slip by you as readily. That person's name on that one call isn't a mystery. Your year end report is chock full of stuff, not just a few .ppt bullet points of a few highlights. It's pretty straightforward, and just takes about two weeks of practice to get into the habit. For the effort, it really does multiply.

xcubic 6y ago
How do you organise your journal?
- Balgair 6y ago
  Personally, I try to use the Cornell note taking method [0], just with every meeting being a 'class'. In practice, I list the name of the 'activity' (a meeting, a work session, some forms filing, etc), the people at the activity, and then note whatever it is that needs notes to be taken. To be clear, I'm not taking minutes in a meeting, just more like action items for myself, and anything really important that came up. Like I said, it's not 'hard' stuff or very complicated, I may only have like two bullet points for an hour meeting sometimes. The habit is what matters. [0] http://lsc.cornell.edu/study-skills/cornell-note-taking-system/ http://lsc.cornell.edu/study-skills/cornell-note-taking-syst...
Mandatum 6y ago
Obsidian has been the biggest help for me here. Originally I was going to set up a Wiki for work journaling, but I found it was a pain in the butt to get working nicely.. Obs worked out of the box, and supported things like Screenshot and File pasting. Yummers!
roland35 6y ago
Keeping a log also makes you seem more on top of things to colleagues and managers! I have a poor memory myself (at least with conversations... I seem to remember just fine where most athletes played college ball or other random useless facts!) But I have had a much easier time referencing old decisions or meetings since I've kept a journal. My journal is a simple org notes file in emacs. I have a to do list on top and a daily log at the bottom and use search to find old info. The more I try to organize it, the harder it is to use, so I keep it linear now!

xcubic 6y ago

How do you organise your journal?

Balgair 6y ago
Personally, I try to use the Cornell note taking method [0], just with every meeting being a 'class'. In practice, I list the name of the 'activity' (a meeting, a work session, some forms filing, etc), the people at the activity, and then note whatever it is that needs notes to be taken. To be clear, I'm not taking minutes in a meeting, just more like action items for myself, and anything really important that came up. Like I said, it's not 'hard' stuff or very complicated, I may only have like two bullet points for an hour meeting sometimes. The habit is what matters. [0] http://lsc.cornell.edu/study-skills/cornell-note-taking-system/ http://lsc.cornell.edu/study-skills/cornell-note-taking-syst...

Mandatum 6y ago

Obsidian has been the biggest help for me here. Originally I was going to set up a Wiki for work journaling, but I found it was a pain in the butt to get working nicely.. Obs worked out of the box, and supported things like Screenshot and File pasting. Yummers!

roland35 6y ago

Keeping a log also makes you seem more on top of things to colleagues and managers! I have a poor memory myself (at least with conversations... I seem to remember just fine where most athletes played college ball or other random useless facts!) But I have had a much easier time referencing old decisions or meetings since I've kept a journal. My journal is a simple org notes file in emacs. I have a to do list on top and a daily log at the bottom and use search to find old info. The more I try to organize it, the harder it is to use, so I keep it linear now!