RE: Journaling your work (was RE: So...ya wanna be noticed, huh?)

[Rebecca Downey <rdowney -at- matrox -dot- com>]

John Posada said:
>My thought? When does he have time to do some actual work?

I wondered the same thing. Lee Copeland's article makes journaling sound
like a method of creating a diary so detailed you could publish it at the
end of the project without modification, editing or ... anything. My
journals would require a lot of work before anyone other than me could read
them.

I use them primarily to track open questions, list who gave which answers
and associate problems to drafts checked into CVS and ever-moving deadlines.
I do type in meeting notes, but these are more summaries of decisions made
at meetings (and what those decisions mean to the documentation) more than a
verbatim regurgitation of the meeting. 

By using Microsoft Outlook's Tasks, I can drag and drop calendar
appointments, emails and other files into the task. Our office uses
Microsoft Exchange to keep track of bug lists, daily builds and
specifications.

Like any other tool designed to help you get organized, you can waste a lot
of time with it. Journaling shouldn't take more than a few minutes a day and
in return you're able to keep names, facts and dates straight long after the
project is finished. In my previous job, I was required to keep a weekly
task list. Journaling is just a bit more project-specific and detailed than
a task list and I find it far more useful personally.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Rebecca Downey Senior Technical Writer
Imaging, Matrox Electronic System
1055 St Regis, Dorval, Quebec, H9P 2T4

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