With an overwhelming workload, it’s hard to stay motivated. You feel like you’re treading water. You work all day, but it seems like you’re getting almost nothing done. Is your productivity really that low, or does it just seem that way to your critical self? How do you motivate yourself for the next day when you doubt you will get anywhere? Let’s put a positive spin on it with an Accomplishments Diary.
The Accomplishments Diary
An Accomplishments Diary tracks the results of your activities. These can be your work results (whatever they may be) or any other accomplishments you make during the day. They can be small, like calling a friend to set up a meeting, or impressive, like closing a million-dollar sale. Either way, you make your outcomes visible. You recognize and appreciate the progress you’ve already made, and it’s much easier to build motivation for the next day.
Benefits
1. Stay motivated, day by day
Writing down what you accomplish today clearly shows that you are performing. It shows and proves that you can do useful stuff. Thus, repeat and look forward to feeling good about your future accomplishments. If you can do it today, you can do it every day.
2. Grow your self-esteem
By keeping an accomplishments diary, you’re not just recording what you’ve done. You’re actively nurturing a mindset geared toward growth and positivity. Give yourself a pat on the back and feel good about yourself. You did it!
3. Develop a realistic idea what workload you can handle
Tracking your daily outcomes gives you a true picture of the workload you can handle. There may be room for improvement here and there. But the longer you track, the better you’ll see what you can really handle right now.
4. Clearly see your progress (however small)
Every day you see clearly that you have taken small steps forward. As small as each step may be, it’s still progress. It may be slower than you want it to be, but the progress is still there. Recognize it and appreciate it.
How to keep your Accomplishments Diary
You probably already know how to keep a diary. This one is just a bit picky about the lines you write down. Here’s how to do it.
- In the morning or before starting to work, put a notebook and a pen by your side. Keep them handy throughout the day so that it is easy to write something down. If there is the slightest inconvenience in making a note, you might be reluctant to make the effort. So be prepared and minimize friction.
- Whenever you did something useful, write it down. You gave a presentation at a meeting? You called your mom? You wrote a blog post? You cleaned the kitchen? Whenever you think that something was useful, meaningful or delivered a result, take a note.
- In the evening, take a kind-hearted look at your notes. And give yourself a pat on the back for what you have done, accomplished, or even completed. You have done it. You made it.
Over time, you will get a better sense of what to write down. The purpose of the diary is to make you feel better, so this should be your guide to how many items you write during the day. In general, there is no right or wrong number. As a rule of thumb, if you end up with more than 50 items, you may be writing too much. If you write down less than 5 items, you are probably being too critical of yourself. I suggest that you try this for a week or two and then check what you put in your diary.
Examples
Your notes in the Accomplishments Diary could like this:
- Paid 2 invoices online.
- Collected ideas for a blog post about an Accomplishments Diary (mindmap).
- Harvested the last lettuce from the garden.
- Called mom and asked how it’s going.
- Vacuumed the living room.
- Scanned 3 receipts and threw away the paper.
Some of these things would only take a few minutes, and you could probably do most of them in about an hour. However, don’t play too hard on yourself. It’s still a list of accomplishments that you got done, and you can always go for more when you’re ready for it.
My point of view
Actually, I love the idea of an Accomplishments Diary. It already makes me feel good while taking notes on what I’ve done, and it happens again in the evening when reviewing the day. Unfortunately, I often seem to forget to take these notes.
And it’s so important to take these notes during the day. I realized that in the evening I don’t remember all the little things I did. And I seem to be even more critical in the evening, and I tend to think that some result is not worth writing down after all. That’s why it’s crucial for me to take notes during the day, otherwise I run the risk of prohibiting the positive effect by myself.
But I’m all the happier when I do it and review my accomplishments in the evening.
Conclusion
The Accomplishment Diary focuses your attention on the positive things you already make happen. It can encourage you to find your way, stay on track and make progress. Keep in mind that the notes should be about accomplishments, not time wasters. And most importantly, be kind to yourself. After all, this is not a “who can accomplish the most” contest.
Where to go next
TBD