Started a running wins doc after my last review and it fixed a problem I didn't know I had
Last cycle I sat down to write my self-assessment and could remember roughly two things I'd done all year, both from the previous six weeks. Everything before that had just evaporated.
So now: one line in a note whenever something goes well. Shipped the thing. Unblocked someone. Caught a real bug in review. Got a nice message from a PM. Takes ten seconds and I do it maybe three times a week.
The unexpected part isn't the review prep, though that'll obviously be easier. It's that on the days I feel completely useless I can scroll up and see that past me apparently did things. Turns out the feeling of being unproductive and the actual record of what you did don't line up nearly as much as I assumed they did.
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AnonymousAnon The gap between how productive you feel and what you actually shipped is such a real thing. Mine is worst on the weeks that are all review and unblocking other people, which produce nothing I can point at and are arguably the more useful weeks.
A log is the only thing I've found that argues back.