Work log

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 22:20:22 -0500

For the past few months, I’ve been keeping a work log in a Field Notes pocket notebook.

One page per day. At the top of the page, I list meetings I have that day. The rest of the page is a list of project tasks that I completed. It’s a Done list. Not a To Do list.

I don’t log every little task. If I spend a lot of time on miscellaneous emails or following up with people, I just write “email admin” or “follow-ups” as one line item.

I don’t log time, unless I’m working on something that’s not usually my responsibility.

Every page is a simple list, so logging doesn’t take a lot of time. It doesn’t feel like a chore.

Every few weeks, I review pages and look for patterns. What kinds of tasks have I been doing a lot? Am I doing the right mix of work? What work has led to positive impacts?

I’ve been logging and reviewing like this since May. I do a lot of different kinds of work in my position, so it’s helpful to have a place where I can review what I’ve been working on.

In the past, I tried more detailed logging and tracking time for all tasks (even though my job doesn’t require it). But that made logging feel like busy work. This simpler method works much better for me.

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 19:13:03 -0500

New month, new log in my bullet journal. I make a page like this every month to list events and appointments.

The “CO” column is for “creative output.” I put an X in that column for any day I’m working on a creative project (outside of my day job). Creative practice counts, too.

notebooks on Kali Kambo

Work log