How To Maintain A Work Diary For Better Career Growth

I have often come across people who maintain a daily log of activities and indulge in so-called journaling. Now, some of you might think of a notebook or diary when I say ‘journaling.’ Well, it is, albeit with some difference.

The millennials are taking a step ahead towards creating a purpose-specific logbook. That is one for gratitude, one for the emotional outburst, everyday logging, and career growth. The last one is often referred to as a work diary.

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Now, a work diary is not a place where you can scribble about your crush or record your most intense, darkest secrets. Ensure keeping it as a space to log in to the everyday record

of the most important tasks you have done in your professional life.

Even if you are not looking for work, you will benefit from thoughtful monitoring of progress when it’s time for annual performance evaluations or promotional events. Think of the quantifiable advantages that you list and bring to the organization. It can create a huge difference if you are looking to get promotions or appraisals.

Some people have learned this hard way, but please document your work in a daily work journal if you can. A lot of successful tasks can turn meaningless if your efforts are lost.

For instance, you have been to a workshop, and you are learning many things in it. How do you make sure to retain the knowledge beyond a certain time? Under such circumstances, a work journal can be useful in documenting the learnings better.

It is something that you can always refer to. Moreover, keeping a work journal will hold you accountable and focused on your career goals rather than working on what happens during your day.

It is not hard to create a dedicated work journal. But certainly, the level of discipline it requires to make it almost like a challenge for the newbies. On the contrary, it is extremely helpful at certain points of your career to take the time to keep a diary.

Documenting Events

If you find it boring to log the work-related activities with a pen and paper, you can also upgrade yourself. Try the new way to journal your business and professional work using Lugelo App.

This app lets you timestamp the work moments and allow multimedia content in your digital journal. Millennials may find this useful since they can document their task related to work on the go.

You can get rid of the notebook and your dependency on office applications or even Gmail. You can simply download the app and start adding moments to log your entries.

It is fast, efficient, and reliable since all your work is documented digitally. You will not need a physical Journal to carry a bit with you all the time if you start using the Lugelo app.

If you’re looking for more meaningful journaling in life, it is always good to start with professional journaling. Here is how you can do it.

Listing Mentor Advices

There are, without any doubt, people who send you invaluable input and advice both inside and outside your workplace. You are often overwhelmed by my ideas and advice or receive from your colleagues, boss, or professional mentors.

But how can you remember them all the time? Well, there is one way to do it in style. Start using journaling for work, and you will never run out of inspiration, be it from your mentor, boss, or peers.

No need to memorize or recall their advice as you have a book dedicated to professional advice that comes in handy anytime in your life.

Identify and Note Interview-specific Incidents

Besides discussing your job tasks as described in your recently updated CV, you may also have some behavioral questions during an interview process.

There are questions, like, “Share your leadership experience and your teamwork” or “Give me an example of a time when you struggled and how you have handled the pressure.”

In such situations, you will need some anecdotes, and if you want to be pro at it, then referring to critical professional notes makes this approach even more meaningful.

If you keep a working diary, you will solve the problem. By preparing yourself well before the interview, you can easily recall such instances when asked by the interviewers.

Documenting References for Better Networking

You may have worked under managers in the past, but if I ask you about their emails and phone number, I’m sure you will have a hard time getting it.

This is because we are often burdened by the excessive information that some crucial details will be missed. You can also not just refer to the notable managers you had worked under to give you the references when you needed them the most.

How about keeping a work diary section dedicated to the references?

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Make sure to include a list of the people you have worked with and the people you have worked with. This is to avoid calling them after years to reference our networking them with a purpose.

Make a reference diary so that you can stay in touch with the people who matter the most in your professional network, so whenever you need it for reference or a business opportunity, you can always have one easily.

A Safe Place to Vent

We all go through waves of emotion in our workplace. Sometimes it is about the strict instructions received from the boss R the office politics that can annoy you to the extent of making your nights sleepless.

There are also times when you have no place to vent your frustration, and this can also lead you to spiral negative thoughts right from hitting the boss on his or her face to putting down the papers.

But you do not need to take extreme steps to maintain a work diary that can help you cope with momentary aggression. Simply write down your thoughts on trigger points that spike your anger in a diary, or even upload your selfie using Lugelo that can probably make you smile looking at it later on.

Conclusion

If you are maintaining a diary, then start using one of the professional purposes. In case you’re new to journaling, then start maintaining two different Diaries. One for your everyday tasks, which includes doing daily chores, running errands, noting down your emotional flow throughout the day, and even sad or happy things.

And the second one should be about the work. The work diary should have at least all the points that are mentioned above. If you are stuck in between, then start with a digital diary that can be used for work and recreational purposes and gradually weave your purpose around each entry that you log every day.