Captain's Log

This letter to you is about an evolution in my note-taking in case it might be useful to you.

Two or more years ago, my boss said I should really journal more. Before that point, I'd owned maybe 30 or more blank journals with very impressive starts and only 2-3 pages filled out. I'd kept digital notes and lost them over and over again. For whatever reason, this time, I got the message.

"Writing is thinking" was what he said that caught me and captured my interest, and I've been noodling ever since. Time for a check-in.

My Two Types of Journaling - The Mechanics

I have life notes and I have work notes. Life is on paper. Work is digital. Why? Searchability. I need to be able to do things with my work notes that is much harder to do on paper. And for all you "I just scan my stuff into my iPhone" types, sure -but do you USE them actively and often?

Life is paper. Lately, my journals have also been smeared with whatever snack I've been eating or coffee stains. I spilled hummus on a page yesterday. It's because the journal is open and right beside my laptop while I work, in case I want to jot something. (Sure, I could close it. But I'm putting success in my way here.)

Work is digital. I use Obsidian (but it doesn't matter). I wanted something lightweight, that I could sync on multiple devices, and that I could VERY EASILY EXPORT to other uses. Lots of other tools looked amazing but gave me formatting nightmares. I wanted to just be able to select, copy, and paste.

Both Types of Journaling - the Content

For the paper journal, when I'm less lazy/overwhelmed, I write out whatever I want. Could be a list. Could be a question to pick at. Might be something where I remember something nostalgic and want to reflect on it. Sometimes, it's about what I did in a day. If I mostly worked, it's definitely not about what I did in a day.

For the work journal, I do a separate note for every meeting. I write almost like a court stenographer if there's lots to take down. I write like an abstract painter when the conversation gets so good. (That's not a good thing, btw. It means I can't decide what my notes mean later.)

Work-wise, I'm starting a two-phase process. Write longform notes (phase 1) and then distill them later in the day (phase 2) so that I can lock in the parts that matter most.

Having these notes has really upped my work game immensely. I've been able to recall meeting details better. I can find information like "when were we talking about the move from that old software to just doing it on Jira?" and that sort of thing.

And now, I have a new part of the process I thought you might want to see.

The Weekly Log

A short while back, the bossman took a few weeks off from work. (We really emphasize the importance of taking time off at Appfire - he leads by example.) I had stored up a lot of notes and thought, "I don't just want to blurt these at him verbally. I'll write them into a document where I can distill, prioritize, provide links if necessary, and all that."

I sent a fun little "Welcome back to work" doc ahead of our 1:1 meeting and it was useful. We could just run down the list and I could follow up on any actions he wanted me to take based on that.

This week, I thought, "Why not keep this practice going?" My boss is pretty busy. I bet he'd appreciate a simple-to-consume weekly summary of the most important, medium important, and low/informational stuff I covered in the week (my role is quite collaborative with him, so this might not fit your business needs).

So I started a weekly round-up log from scratch - and realized the issue immediately.

There's a difference between all my journaling/note taking and creating a LOG of all I want to report.

A New Process

Going forward, I'll open a log file at the beginning of the week and put things in there as they happen, so I don't have to "gather up" all my information. I think that's a wasted step, and it's easier to keep a browser tab open and just dump stuff in the right spots, prune it later, prioritize it, and call it a day.

You might say, "That's why I have my calendar," but if all your time is accounted for on your calendar, that's still nothing you can just hand to someone else. And it does nothing to prioritize. Not every hour of your day has the same value and weight.

So, the weekly log file it is. Not everything. The stuff I need to communicate and relay.

I'm looking forward to being able to look back on these. I suspect I'll have a good way to report on quarterly results versus goals, too.

There.

So what's your take?

Chris...