Four Reasons You Should Keep a Job Journal

Back when you were a kid, you most likely kept a diary. Looking back now, it’s fun to see how your goals and aspirations have changed (back then, I wanted to be an astronaut. Today, I just want to get out of bed without hitting the snooze button twelve times).

Today, I always make a point of keeping a daily job journal at work. And it’s not just for venting about the guy in the next cube who insists on cracking his knuckles five times a minute and eating peanuts in an insanely annoying way. I find that keeping a paper record of my day-to-day activities is the best insurance against a wide range of workplace-related problems.

Here are four good reasons to start a job journal:  

1. To Manage Your Daily ‘To Do’ List

A daily ‘To Do’ list is an invaluable tool to help you prioritize. When you see your hectic calendar laid out in front of you in black and white, it can calm you down and help you both identify and put out the biggest fires first, a skill which is important for both time management and stress management. 

And nothing feels better than crossing off that final ‘To Do’ item at the end of the day, sitting back, and basking in the glow of having achieved everything you set out to achieve.

2. To Show Your Boss What You Actually Do

This may come as a surprise to you, but your manager or boss may not actually have a clue what you do all day in exchange for your paycheck. For those who spend their lives being paranoid that their boss is reading every last personal email and IM that comes from their work computer, this might be something of a letdown.

In reality, your boss most likely doesn’t know exactly what your day-to-day responsibilities are, apart from fixing those ‘server’ things and discombobulating the Front End, or something like that. But if he ever asks, it’s always wise to have something to show him.

The point isn’t to detail every last detail of your job, but rather to have something on paper that you can use in a bind to cover yourself and show a third party in case your time management (or job worth) is ever questioned.

This can come in handy when it’s time for a performance evaluation. You can show your boss how your responsibilities have grown over time, and request that your pay is adjusted accordingly.

3. To Bulletproof Yourself Against Complaints

Every office has that guy or girl who never stops complaining. This is usually the person who is slacking at their own job and likes to kick up dust to cover their tracks by pointing the finger at everyone but themselves.

Complaints might be as trivial as being accused of sending personal emails on company time, or as serious of an accusation of stealing company money. Either way, if you have a comprehensive record of the accounts you’ve been handling or the transactions you’ve made over time, you’ll be better prepared if you find your daily actions put under the microscope in response to a co-worker’s complaints.

On the flip side of the coin, if you are ever in a position where you need to file a complaint against a slacking co-worker or a racist manager, having a dated daily record of their behavior can be a valuable tool in your case against them. 

4. To Plan a Path for the Future

Inspiration can strike at the strangest of times and places. Whenever and wherever that may be, you should have one convenient place to write down all your work-related ideas.

Rather than papering your cubical walls in sticky-notes or writing madly on the windows like John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, having a dedicated Word document or even a voice-memo file that you transcribe to paper once a week can be a valuable repository for flash-in-the-pan ideas which – you never know – just might prove valuable to your company in future.

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