In today’s fast-paced work environment, staying focused and organized can be challenging. Those in the business world are met with constant meetings, chats, emails, and phone calls that can all quickly pull them off task and be distracting. One simple yet powerful tool to combat this is maintaining a work journal. Incorporating a work journal can be beneficial for multiple reasons. In today’s blog we’ll explore some of these and why this small addition can have such a big impact on your career.
Promotes Accountability
When you write down your to-do items, their deadlines, and any other work goals you may have, it can help you gain clarity and stay focused on the tasks that need to be accomplished. Having a light sense of structure like this can help you stay on task throughout the day as you reference your daily to-do items. Beyond writing down the daily tasks you need to accomplish, you can also include more long-term goals or projects and outline action steps to help you reach them.
Boosts Your Focus
Writing down your action items and having them clearly laid out in black and white can help you focus and prioritize. In an article on CareerContessa, they write, “When you create structure, follow a plan, and start to gain clarity at work, a quick change of plans in your schedule will be easier to manage. In his book Essentialism, Greg McKeown emphasizes the importance of doing less by discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution toward the things that really matter. By forcing us to apply more selective criteria for what is essential, you’ll better understand how to prioritize your action items, increasing organization, efficiency, and productivity. A work journal can help you do this because as you consider your plans for the day, you can simultaneously focus on your future goals. You’re less likely to get caught up in the day-to-day.”
Memory Retention
Having a work journal can also help you reinforce important work information and help you retain important details. For any work meetings you have, bring your journal with you and write down any pertinent information you may want to reference later.
Stress Relief
Sometimes work stress can get the better of us and leave us feeling discombobulated, frantic, and frazzled. When you feel like you are being tasked with projects left and right, taking a moment to slow down and write down your priorities can help. In an article on LinkedIn, they write, “A study published in the ‘International Journal of Stress Management’ found that journaling can be an effective tool in reducing stress and anxiety, which can lead to improved focus and attention. When we are feeling stressed or anxious, our mind can become cluttered and it can be difficult to focus on the task at hand. Journaling allows us to process these emotions and release them on paper, helping us to clear our mind and focus on the present.”