Recommendation for Keeping a Work Journal: Reflecting on the Meaning of Writing One

First, the triggers that led me to write this article are the following two points:

• I recently started reading the book 『ソフトウェアエンジニアガイドブック』, and the author recommends "keeping a work journal."
• Since I also keep a work journal myself, I reflected on my reasons (motivation) and realized that I was keeping it simply out of habit rather than with a clear sense of purpose.

Therefore, in this article I will summarize in my own way the following two points:

• What benefits you gain from keeping a work journal, and conversely, what drawbacks you might encounter.
• Key points for keeping a work journal.

I know many engineers keep work journals on projects, but for those who don’t, I hope this article will spark an interest in doing so.

Here, I discuss the reasons given in the book and my own thoughts.

First, summarizing what the book says, there are three points:

1. Tasks become easier to manage.
   By creating a list of tasks, it's easier to set priorities. Also, when unexpected tasks come up, it's easier to adjust your plan.
2. You feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
   Recording your work for the day allows you to view your day's work objectively.
3. It can be used for performance evaluations.
   You can look back on your past work (you can’t immediately recall what you did six months ago). It also serves as material when explaining to your manager in meetings (allowing you to present your achievements efficiently).

My impressions of the recommended reasons above are as follows:

• I can definitely feel the benefit of item 1, "making tasks easier to manage." Listing out tasks makes it easier to decide on priorities.
• I also understand item 2, "feeling a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day." Even if a task spans several days, knowing what you did each day makes you feel like you're making progress.
• Regarding item 3, "using it for performance evaluations," I had never thought of that idea before, so I want to give it a try.

Next, here are my reasons for recommending a work journal:

1. It makes it easier to start your day's work.
   If you plan your tasks in advance, it's clear what you should start with on the day. I think it's especially effective when there's a gap in time, such as after a holiday.
2. You work with an awareness of results.
   A work journal requires you to record your results (outcomes). Therefore, if you don't produce results during your work, there will be nothing to record. This encourages you to focus on delivering results as you work.
3. You gain insights.
   When you keep a daily record of your work, you often have various realizations.
   • As mentioned above, you may notice that some tasks lack clear outcomes.
   • You may also realize that low-priority tasks you’ve started continue to linger indefinitely.

So far, we've covered the benefits of keeping a work journal. However, once you actually start keeping one, you may encounter the following issues.

The busier you are, the harder it is to secure time to write your journal. You tend to put it off, and before you know it, you end up writing several days’ worth of entries all at once.

Terms like "TODO," "priority," and "progress" can leave you wondering how detailed you should be. The distinction from a TODO list is also vague^[1], and it can end up as just a list of tasks.

Sometimes you're instructed to keep a work journal as part of your job, but if the purpose and reasons aren’t clear, your motivation may not last.

The most important thing is to ensure that keeping a work journal doesn’t become a burden. To that end, you might keep the following points in mind.

Since you'll be writing every day, it's a good idea to decide the content in advance. I make a point of writing "Today's Tasks" and "Tomorrow's Tasks."

Trying to write too much can feel burdensome, so stick to the essentials. I basically record "Today's Tasks" and "Tomorrow's Tasks," but I add the following only when necessary:

• Deliverables (only if you need to share work with someone)
• Progress status (if a task spans multiple days)
• Expected completion date (if a task has a clear deadline)

If someone else is expected to read it, you're less likely to skip it. Therefore, even if there's no strict need for someone else to read it, I suggest sharing your work journal. I mention my team leader on Slack with my journal. (They react every time, which is very helpful 😊)

By the way, I think it’s safest for the journal to be text-based. The reason is that sometimes you want to tweak the content slightly each day. With that in mind, creating your journal in Slack isn’t a bad idea. It’s also easy to share with others.

1. There are several benefits to keeping a work journal, so you can’t lose by starting one.
2. That said, keeping a work journal can be challenging, so you need strategies to make it sustainable.

If you’ve read this article and are interested in keeping a work journal, please give it a try.