5 ms·

Does anyone here keep a log or journal at work? I'm leaving a place that I've been at for quite a few a years and I am a little regretful for not writing down s

Does anyone here keep a log or journal at work? I'm leaving a place that I've been at for quite a few a years and I am a little regretful for not writing down some observations and predictions as I had them. It seems like nothing the business did over the long term went according to plan, but I've lost a lot of the past perspective so its hard to compare.

selfhoster11 5y ago
I did. It was valuable to be able to go back and refer to discussions about the architecture of something, or to note down obscure details. If you choose to do it on paper, make sure you photocopy regularly.
poidos 5y ago
Yes, religiously. I have a list of tasks for each year which links to a file with my notes on each task, as well as a daily journal where i log my work hours, random notes from meetings, etc. It is exceedingly helpful.
arminiusreturns 5y ago
When I was working for scientists this was a habit I learned and loved it, but due to some other factors I became aware that in more traditional business the kind of frank statements I put in logbooks could be a potential issue, and have found myself not doing it due to the chilling effect.
znpy 5y ago
I think that rednotebook is invaluable for this purpose. It's a nice linux app that works like.. a notebook.
bodge5000 5y ago
yeh I keep digital notes, a notebook and a load of sticky notes. Theres no real system to it (just the way I like it), but generally speaking working notes go in the notebook (also for tangent tasks), important reminders on the sticky notes (pasted all over my monitors) and "knowledge" goes in the digital notes. In reality its a lot more sporadic than that, but I know where to find things
ethangarofolo 5y ago
I do, yes, and I ask my team to do the same. Even in software development it's very helpful. It helps the team stay in sync more, reducing the need to meet. It helps me stay in sync from yesterday me to today me as well. It avoids duplicated work as well. I consider doing this part of professionalism 101 at this point.
marbu 5y ago
Yes, for every important long term goal/task I'm working on. Eg. I have a journal file for feature foo I'm working on and another one for bug bar I'm looking into, but I don't immediately create one for something I can do in a day or two.
dkarl 5y ago
I keep a journal, because otherwise I tend to forget or minimize much of what I've done. It helps me remember the big things when it comes time for performance reviews, and it also helps me remember the small things with accurate sprint retrospectives. Spending several hours per week fighting with environments, retrofitting code to ancient dependencies, and investigating build failures that turn out to be local to one person's laptop are time sucks that need to be called out in retrospectives so that people understand the potential value of paying down technical debt. Those things are also exactly what I tend to forget about by the end of the week. My journal consists of a notebook with a new note for each day, titled with the date for easy sorting. I copy/paste in a template that looks like this: Morning checklist: _ Check email _ Check Slack _ Make sure my tickets are in the correct state _ Look at the meetings on my calendar and decided how to prepare (or not) for each one (etc.) Plan today: Actual today: I love the morning checklist because it ensures that if I space on one of those items during the day, like updating a ticket, it'll get taken care of the next morning. Trusting this part of the process takes a lot of stress out of the rest of the day. After I make my plan for the day, I don't touch that section again. That way I can compare and contrast my plan with what actually happened. It can be enlightening to look back and see that a development project was in my plan every morning for a week, and my "actual" was dominated by production support and fighting with test environments. The best part is that since I started keeping a journal like this, I've realized I get way more done than I give myself credit for.
Isthatablackgsd 5y ago
I do. I have four journaling system. 1. Small Whiteboard - Daily Todo & quick notes for me to remember later. Easily erasable and save paper when it is not need. It is always on my right-side corner of my desk for easy access and quick jot note. And I take a picture of the small whiteboard at the EOB for archival reason in case if I need to go back. 2. Legal Pad - For weeklong Todo, project notes (for developing forms and contracts), clients, etc. I have two pads: the normal pad and the small pad (5x8). I have more than 10 small pads for various functions since they are small and don't take much desk space. They are easily accessible when I can grab the pad quickly and write it down. 3. Obsidian - For documentations and information for long term storage, including development planning and various stuff. 4. Google Docs - For collaboration Todo, agenda for the meeting, conversation notes, minutes, etc. to share with my boss. I could use Obsidian for collaboration but my boss is not knowledgeable with Obsidian or any journaling software and it will be pain for him to set it up. I rather to make it simpler for my boss and easy access for him to look into. I strongly used 1 and 2 because I found that jotting it down via handwriting is quicker and ready to use than doing it electronically. Doing it electronically can take some time to get into typing mode when time is critical like in the middle of the phone call. Pens, papers & highlighters are always available and ready to use within a second. I have a ‘check spindle holder’ for my small legal pad paper when I am done with it. I just “whamp” the paper on it and get the satisfaction and stress relieving from it.
cpach 5y ago
Kind of. As I mentioned elsewhere (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28327689 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28327689) I recently read a very interesting post on Xe’s blog and that inspired me to start writing things down in a physical notebook.

selfhoster11 5y ago

I did. It was valuable to be able to go back and refer to discussions about the architecture of something, or to note down obscure details. If you choose to do it on paper, make sure you photocopy regularly.

poidos 5y ago

Yes, religiously. I have a list of tasks for each year which links to a file with my notes on each task, as well as a daily journal where i log my work hours, random notes from meetings, etc. It is exceedingly helpful.

arminiusreturns 5y ago

When I was working for scientists this was a habit I learned and loved it, but due to some other factors I became aware that in more traditional business the kind of frank statements I put in logbooks could be a potential issue, and have found myself not doing it due to the chilling effect.

znpy 5y ago

I think that rednotebook is invaluable for this purpose. It's a nice linux app that works like.. a notebook.

bodge5000 5y ago

yeh I keep digital notes, a notebook and a load of sticky notes. Theres no real system to it (just the way I like it), but generally speaking working notes go in the notebook (also for tangent tasks), important reminders on the sticky notes (pasted all over my monitors) and "knowledge" goes in the digital notes. In reality its a lot more sporadic than that, but I know where to find things

ethangarofolo 5y ago

I do, yes, and I ask my team to do the same. Even in software development it's very helpful. It helps the team stay in sync more, reducing the need to meet. It helps me stay in sync from yesterday me to today me as well. It avoids duplicated work as well. I consider doing this part of professionalism 101 at this point.

marbu 5y ago

Yes, for every important long term goal/task I'm working on. Eg. I have a journal file for feature foo I'm working on and another one for bug bar I'm looking into, but I don't immediately create one for something I can do in a day or two.

dkarl 5y ago

I keep a journal, because otherwise I tend to forget or minimize much of what I've done. It helps me remember the big things when it comes time for performance reviews, and it also helps me remember the small things with accurate sprint retrospectives. Spending several hours per week fighting with environments, retrofitting code to ancient dependencies, and investigating build failures that turn out to be local to one person's laptop are time sucks that need to be called out in retrospectives so that people understand the potential value of paying down technical debt. Those things are also exactly what I tend to forget about by the end of the week. My journal consists of a notebook with a new note for each day, titled with the date for easy sorting. I copy/paste in a template that looks like this: Morning checklist: _ Check email _ Check Slack _ Make sure my tickets are in the correct state _ Look at the meetings on my calendar and decided how to prepare (or not) for each one (etc.) Plan today: Actual today: I love the morning checklist because it ensures that if I space on one of those items during the day, like updating a ticket, it'll get taken care of the next morning. Trusting this part of the process takes a lot of stress out of the rest of the day. After I make my plan for the day, I don't touch that section again. That way I can compare and contrast my plan with what actually happened. It can be enlightening to look back and see that a development project was in my plan every morning for a week, and my "actual" was dominated by production support and fighting with test environments. The best part is that since I started keeping a journal like this, I've realized I get way more done than I give myself credit for.

Isthatablackgsd 5y ago

I do. I have four journaling system. 1. Small Whiteboard - Daily Todo & quick notes for me to remember later. Easily erasable and save paper when it is not need. It is always on my right-side corner of my desk for easy access and quick jot note. And I take a picture of the small whiteboard at the EOB for archival reason in case if I need to go back. 2. Legal Pad - For weeklong Todo, project notes (for developing forms and contracts), clients, etc. I have two pads: the normal pad and the small pad (5x8). I have more than 10 small pads for various functions since they are small and don't take much desk space. They are easily accessible when I can grab the pad quickly and write it down. 3. Obsidian - For documentations and information for long term storage, including development planning and various stuff. 4. Google Docs - For collaboration Todo, agenda for the meeting, conversation notes, minutes, etc. to share with my boss. I could use Obsidian for collaboration but my boss is not knowledgeable with Obsidian or any journaling software and it will be pain for him to set it up. I rather to make it simpler for my boss and easy access for him to look into. I strongly used 1 and 2 because I found that jotting it down via handwriting is quicker and ready to use than doing it electronically. Doing it electronically can take some time to get into typing mode when time is critical like in the middle of the phone call. Pens, papers & highlighters are always available and ready to use within a second. I have a ‘check spindle holder’ for my small legal pad paper when I am done with it. I just “whamp” the paper on it and get the satisfaction and stress relieving from it.

cpach 5y ago

Kind of. As I mentioned elsewhere (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28327689 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28327689) I recently read a very interesting post on Xe’s blog and that inspired me to start writing things down in a physical notebook.