Managing Your Career with Daily Accomplishment Lists

Lifehacker mentioned the idea of a "did-do" list instead of/in addition to a "to-do" list a couple of days ago. I've been using something similar, though for other reasons than they cited.

Keeping an accomplishment list on a daily basis can be great career management. I write down the things I get done at work in a specific notebook, under a heading for the day. I don't use any special formatting, just a quick note for each thing I finish, with a dash to the left to mark the separations. If I can easily quantify how long I worked on it, I also make a note of how many hours went into it on the left.

This list is useful at several different levels of rollup for career management. Given how many people complain about the tasks I use this for, it might be useful.

1. Daily timesheet. Because I'm usually accountable for my time on a project and task level, this log of activities makes filling out my timesheet easier. I can include more detail in each entry
2. Status reports in meetings. I used to work in environments where weekly status meetings were a recounting of what you had done the previous week. Having this list lets you pick out the best stuff for those meetings.
3. Annual reviews. More relevant if you're an employee, but when it's time to discuss how well you've done for the year (and negotiate a salary adjustment), having a complete list of what you've done all year to pick from is a GREAT thing. I guarantee you'll find things you would have otherwise forgotten about.
4. Consultant skills inventory. I work in an environment where my company has a "resume" for selling my skills to clients. The list helps in updating that when it's time.
5. Your resume. Even if you're not looking for a job, I think everyone should update their resume at least once a year. I actually recommend doing it as soon as you file your taxes. Think of it like changing the smoke detector batteries when daylight savings time changes. In case you're not paying attention, that means it's time right about now.

Having an updated resume makes for a *better* resume because you're not trying to remember the details of a 3 year old project. It also means that should you find yourself without a job (it happens to everyone at some point) unexpectedly, you can jump right into the game.

Personally, I also recommend actually going on interviews every so often as well, to keep those skills sharp. This is NOT disloyalty. It's an acknowledgment that I know of no company out there that is willing to make a 45 year career commitment to provide a job to anyone from age 20-65. There's only one thing guaranteed to be part of each of those 45 years: you. As a result, you need to manage your career because no one else will.

And, until companies are willing to share the details of your layoff 8 months before it happens, managing it on a daily basis is the best way to ensure that you're ready on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis is to keep track of the stuff you accomplish *as it happens*.

Besides, there's often no one around who's willing to listen to your bragging, and it can feel really good to brag, even if it's just on a sheet of paper on your desk.