Work Diaries

[vegasadmin]

I'm curious as to how many of you keep a work diary (you know, the notebook where you write down everything you do each day, things your boss said that he/she might contradict him/herself about later, how much time you have to spend unjamming the copier, etc.) and if you've ever found it to make a difference such as during a dispute or at review/raise time.

I almost always keep a work diary (not at this job but this job has been unique in many ways) but it's mostly for me since I've never known it to be useful in a practical way.  At good jobs where everything runs smoothly, I've never needed it and at jobs from hell (I've had a few in the past 21 years!) they didn't make a difference.  (At one job, my boss saw me making notes in my notebook and asked what I was doing.  When I told her that I was keep track of what I accomplished during the day and making a to-do list for the next day, she told me not to, since it was a waste of time.  That turned out to be a job from hell.  Perhaps that conversation at the beginning of my tenure there should've been a big red flag!  A couple of years ago, I was laid off from a very nice job and though I had my journal with me at that meeting - I didn't know it was a layoff meeting and thought it was going to be my annual review - it never came into play there, either.  That was the place where, when they had to cut the budget, they laid off me, someone in accounting, and a third professional rather than let any interns go.  And their interns weren't cheap - they hired them in at full time for just a $1.00 less an hour than they hired in their admins.  Does anyone else think that's weird?)

I'd love to hear y'all's experiences with work diaries, especially if they've made a positive difference in a work situation.  (But it you've had negative experiences with them, vent away.)

Colleen

[mcbethers]

The best experience I had for keeping a work diary is the job where my hours were split among 4 different divisions.  Just for timesheet purposes, I needed to keep track of who and what I was working on.  There were weeks where I had over 15 project codes on my timesheet.  On that job, when review time came, I was able to go through my work diary and document what I did versus my job description.  My supervisor and I were able to sit down and discuss what the job really was (it was a new position), and I was able to negotiate for some extra perks.

Personally, I just like to maintain one because it keeps me accountable to myself during work.  It's easier to avoid the temptation to goof around when I'm going to write that I was internet surfing in my journal (anyone coming by my desk can see it too).

[chevygirl55]

I keep one because I am asked by my boss for stuff from eons ago.  Like, you remember when we scrapped that equipment 5 years ago?  Well, who did I tell to call the scrap company and how long did it take to get the job done?  Or remember when so and so was out with the flu?  Who drafted the contracts and drove them to the customer for review?  

Or at evlauation time, I find them very helpful in doing peer reviews.  Also, my own self evaluation.  Helps me remember the good times.

chevygirl55

[donnap99]

I haven't been very good at keeping one, although I should.  What I have had documented has many times covered by butt.  The problem for me, I think, is that I do so many varied things and have sooo many interruptions, that a) I forget to make the notes, and b) I could fill PAGES daily, and then when I do have to look for something it could be pages and pages to look through.  Although... thinking about some of the things I've looked back for, having something to look at instead of relying on memory has been quite helpful...

I've often thought that I'd like to create a form I could use with headings like "scheduled/rescheduled meetings" "distributed __ to __" "tickler followed up on" "need to follow up on" & spiral bind myself.  Anyone have an ingenious idea on how to accomplish that?

I'm interested to see others' answers.  

DonnaP99

[magickalmeli]

You know what? When things get crazy, I start taking notes in my outlook. I don't know how many of you use Outlook for your e-mail and calendar, etc. I find it to be the BEST tool, and I am just sad that I don't have it at home on my mac. You can make notes in the calendar and I started using it as a journal, rather than a calendar.

[raindance]

I don't keep a work diary as such.  However, reading through these posts, I think I might just start one!  I did keep a diary a year ago about a specific situation at work which was very sticky.  The diary was a big help because it was my only proof and really helped to resolve things.

Raindance

[movinonup]

Had to keep track of work I did for one of my 3 divisions in order to get the division heads to see I was being overburdened.  It worked beautifully.  The division that expected the most out of me has switched an annual project I do for them over to an off-site secretary.  I was practically doing cartwheels down the hall after I heard of that decision!

It took a lot of time, however, to document all that work.  I found myself taking shorthand notes of the main work I did, and relying on my memory for the frequent interruptions.  At the end of the week I'd transcribe the notes onto an Excel log sheet and add in an estimated time for various interruptions.  Even with all that written down, I still think I worked more for that division than showed up on paper.

I've got to keep up the documentation in order to get the off-site director to realize that the 6 guys he's got me reporting to at our facility take up a big percentage of my work day.  In other words, taking away the one project was a wonderful start, but it's not all that needs to be done.

As far as setting up the Excel sheet to keep track, you could make columns of your most frequent duties and write in the various time periods spent on those duties in rows going across.  At the end of a week or month, you could then total up the columns to see what kind of a percentage of work is done on each duty.
Also, keep extra columns handy for those duties that come up out of the blue.

Movinonup