Write down what you do
I don't want this post to sound like I am trying to be a career coach or a career influencer or anything like that. I don't have all the answers. I could be better at networking. I can't get you that next promotion if you follow a 1-2-3 step plan. But I do have some experience working as an individual contributer and a manager, and there is one piece of advice I give people if they ever ask:
Write down what you do!
Writing your accomplishments and tasks and goals is the best way that I have found to be an effective worker.
Imagine you are your manager. Do they really have clarity into what you are working on? Do they really understand your priorities? Do they know who is being an obstacle or where you are getting stuck? Probably not. Maybe you have a weekly one on one with them, but are you expecting them to remember everything you say? They have their own tasks and priorities!
The simplest solution is to write down what you do. Even recording one bullet point per day works.
- I did some data analysis for Robert
- I met with Gwen on the new sales process
- I fixed a bug I discovered in our reporting dashboard.
Then, at the end of the week - send your boss your acheivements. If you forget to send it on Friday, then do it Monday. Forgot on Monday, then do it Tuesday. Something is better than nothing.
What I like about writing down what you do is that it's iterative. Maybe you start with one bullet point, but then you realize it would be a good place to write down what you learned. And then maybe it becomes a good place to record who to ask for your yearly review. And then it becomes a good place for defining your goals for the week.
It's your document - it could be anything. There are no rules except consistency.
For me, I've realized at the end of the day the last thing I want to do is to write down what I do. I'm tired, hungry, and maybe a little edgy from working all day. Instead of trying to fight my demons, I have realized that it's easier if I write down my actions from the day before each morning. It's a great way for me to start.
The other thing that's great is during review season - stick your document in ChatGPT, tell it "help me write my self review based on everything I've done this year", and before you know it you will have a great foundation for your review.
If you need more convincing, this blog post really influenced me: https://v5.chriskrycho.com/journal/writing-down-what-i-do-in-obsidian/