How Keeping a Work Log (aka Brag List) Helps You Get Promoted? 📈

One year ago, I started a new job.

One year late, I got promoted during the first possible promotion cycle.

There’s one instrument that helped me a lot → keeping a work log (aka brag list) of all the achievements and impact I’ve done over the period.

And it not only help me, but it also helped my manager to defend my promotion case.

In today’s article, I’ll share why keeping a work log (aka brag list) is so crucial.

I’ll also share my personal Work Log (Brag List) template in Notion.

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Why Keeping a Work Log Matters?

1. You don’t remember everything you did

• you can’t remember all the things you’ve done in the last 6-12 months, so keeping a record makes a big difference

2. Boosts your confidence

• looking at your work log, you can see the amount of work done, your progress, impact, and key contribution

3. Reduces imposter syndrome

• looking back at your work is the only way to see your growth, learnings, and what you’ve accomplished

4. Clarifies you impact

• by seeing a list of all achievements makes it easier to quantify the impact you’ve made over a certain period
• and no one can say anything about that because it’s documented

5. Supports Self-Promotion

• it’s much easier to apply for a promotion with a strong and documented case, supporting all necessary points to get promoted

Self-Promotion is not about showing off, it’s about sharing what you worked hard for and your impact.

Keeping a Work Log Helps Your Manager

When it comes to a promotion, your manager plays a crucial role.

That’s the person who should create a promotional case, present it in front of others, and defend it against the naysayers.

Supporting your manager with clear evidence of your impact and accomplishments helps him get the job done.

By sharing your work log (aka brag list), you help your manager:

1. Be your advocate

• having your work log helps your manager to present clear examples, evidence, and defend your promotional case

2. Save time and effort

• your manger won’t dig deeper into JIRA tasks, tickets, or PRs because they have everything they need to build their promotional case

And remember, your manager also doesn’t remember everything you did.

It’s your job to remind him of your work done.

Start Your Work Log (aka Brag List)

The most important thing is to start documenting what you do on a daily basis.

Personally, I do it every week, so I don’t forget anything.

Every Friday I have a dedicated 15-30 min slot to reflect on the accomplishments from the last week.

Small or big, I record them all.

Examples of achievements to include:

• work done on projects and results
• code reviews, pull requests, design docs
• mentorship and/or onboarding roles
• company wide initiatives, improvements, or participation in working groups
• interviews
• helping stakeholders
• and other relevant things you think are worth recording

📋 Recap

• Keeping a work log (or brag list) helps you track accomplishments so you can easily share them during performance reviews.
• Both you and your manager might forget something, so keeping a record of your work done makes a huge difference.
• Self-Promotion is not about showing off, it’s about sharing what you worked hard for and your impact.
• Update your work log (or brag list) every week or two to avoid forgetting about something.