by borncrusader on 7/26/17, 6:05 PM with 58 comments
I've tried several solutions - Evernote, simple markdown, yaml, workflowy etc. but still haven't had a proper routine as I'm not entirely satisfied with any of the tools.
What do you folks use to track your work logs (if you do that)?
by TeMPOraL on 7/26/17, 7:16 PM
At any given moment I have two "running" files - one being a general tasklist, and one being this month's notes.
On the general tasklist I maintain my own, much more detailed, copy of what's in the issue tracker we use. I rotate that file every few months, copying over unfinished tasks. I also use it to record any bug and weird thing I spot with the application, if I don't have time to investigate it, so that I won't forget it and can come back to it later.
The monthly notes file has entries for each work day. Each entry follows the same template:
* <2017-07-26 wed>
** Things I want to accomplish
*** TODO A task
Some notes under it.
** Other work notes
This is my scratch area. Here I just type when I need to talk to myself.
** End-of-day mind dump
Here I dump the state of my head at the end of the workday, so that
I can pull it in quickly the next day.
** Jira for today :jira:
Here I note down task numbers I want to log time on - at least if
they don't match the commit log 1:1.
** Insight from today :insight:
Here I try to note down something important or insightful I discovered
that day.
** Things that should be automated :automate:
A most recent addition to the template - if something is repetitive
and annoys me, it goes here.
by monknomo on 7/26/17, 6:40 PM
by dbg31415 on 7/26/17, 7:51 PM
It's always a good idea to track your time. If you were looking for a more automated approach, Harvest integrates with just about everything and makes adding notes as you do commits or close out tasks pretty painless. Free for single users too.
* Time Tracking and Invoicing Software Pricing - Harvest || https://www.getharvest.com/pricing
by mercer on 7/27/17, 3:42 PM
In the web interface I can simply append something to the /logs/ url, so usually for a new work project I'll go to the /logs/work-<clientname> url and start keeping track of things.
Making a nice visualization of all this is high on my list of things to build, but even just scrolling back through the various logs has been extremely valuable to me. Especially for projects that have a lot of downtime (I'm a freelancer).
by lcall on 7/26/17, 8:42 PM
...because it tracks all my to-dos, and I mark them off when done ("archived") in a few keystrokes. Then there is a simple feature for displaying the ~"journal" for a date range which defaults to starting yesterday at midnight: everything created or archived in that time is shown, so I've basically stopped keeping track in any other way, of what I have done, as I can always look it up.
I used to use org-mode, "inspiration" (an old windows program for collapsible outlines and mind maps), and various text editors, but this is the most efficient and flexible I have found.
It has no mouse or mobile support yet, but it is the best thing I've found for any kind of notetaking (I'm the author). It needs simpler installation and added features but is stable and works really well, really efficient once you get familiar, and everything is on the screen. I hope to add anki-like features in the future. Contributions welcome.
ps: this program is like a textual mind map that is highly efficient to use from the keyboard, uses postgresql, and can handle large amounts of data, having the same thing linked in more than one place, etc etc, so you can organize all possible stuff in aribitrary ways to suit yourself: I tend to use a few hierarchies and some frequent categories go in multiple places, for convenience. I use it to keep lists of gift ideas, todos, calendar, all notes, plans, personal journal, and it just gets the job done with the lowest impedance of anything i have tried or heard of. It has an auto "journal-generation" feature, some finicky import/export features to html or to/from text, searching, somewhat limited file storage, and more.
edit: pps: lots of info at the web site, FAQs etc. The latest code is in github in the "wip" branch, where I am working (very slowly) on an infrastructure for sharing/linking info between instances.
by kabdib on 7/26/17, 7:47 PM
The file is many megabytes long, and that's useful because it's incredibly easy to search.
I've tried other approaches, other tooling, and really it just came down to realizing that there was tremendous value in keeping a log, and that to be successful I had to keep it dirt simple rather than switching horses to new shiny every few months.
by danesparza on 7/26/17, 7:01 PM
TFS for tracking effort in a sprint. And I no longer take notes -- our sprint planner takes notes in individual user stories.
Todoist for task management outside of TFS (and also for personal tasks)
by taude on 7/26/17, 7:44 PM
I think the big thing, no matter what you do, is to establish a routine of reviewing it for a few minutes daily. No matter where you're capturing ideas, todos, status etc, I believe you need to have dedicated mental processing time to maintain the list, keep it clean, organize priority, etc. Even if you can't do it daily (you may not need to), try to aim for once/week to review and iterate....
(I'm trying to give you more of a philisophy for managing it than a technology, because no matter which tech you go with, without an established process, you'll fail.)
by lkesteloot on 7/26/17, 6:57 PM
by wruza on 7/26/17, 7:42 PM
Draw a circle with text to the right, bottom, etc, connect to other items and sketches with arrows. In top left corner there is a type-box with "task|iss|pm|adm" text or combination of these — that quickly describes contents of the page. In progress, Completed, Rejected items are marked with ..., V, X. Once all is completed/rejected, big (V) mark near type-box is drawn, (W) for "even tested". If related group is completed, draw bounding shape and big (V) in it. Use colors for better visual cues.
Draw shortened operative plan (with ...) on separate temporary page. Dispose it once complete.
Put all papers into "punched pocket"[1] in you-see-latest order.
I tried many tools and formats, but these are either unflexible or slow to create, this tradeoff was never beaten. At first glance, one may note that there is no search or redraw capabilities, but these are not really necessary, if you follow simple rules.
Never reuse page for something completely unrelated or temporary. Use only one side of paper. Disallow your colleagues to draw anything on it, always have blank pages for them. Redraw papers that were wasted like above. Every [edit]discussed task should have a circle and text. Once punched pocket is full, archive bottom half of it into hard folder.
Listing these pages makes me instantly remember the entire situation/discussion. It never happens with post-created electronic records.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_pocketby jconley on 7/26/17, 7:39 PM
I've also been using DropBox Paper [1] a bit recently. They have a really cool meeting template so if someone is taking notes they can easily invite the team from Google Calendar and assign simple followup tasks from there using @mentions in a checklist.
[0]: https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/208423427-Set-a-rem... [1]: https://www.dropbox.com/help/paper/smart-meeting-notes
by rexpop on 7/26/17, 9:44 PM
As a developer, I don't hold myself accountable to any work that isn't written down in a user story prioritized by my product manager — the only person to whom I answer. Requirements don't come from meetings; they come from this backlog. I take work off the top, and when it's delivered I can easily filter into a historical view of my accomplishments (isolated from amongst my team's).
Within a single feature, I use TDD to orient myself forward: a test that's failing tells me what _technical_ requirement stands between myself and delivering the feature. If I am working on something that doesn't lend itself to testing — i.e. dev-ops — I will keep a context-stack of sticky notes that churns hourly, and is tossed at the end of the day.
Above features, Tracker's concept of Epics allows my team to measure progress on new wings of our users' journey, but I don't think at that level on a daily basis; only periodically when asked to wear a UX hat as part of a design exercise.
For the fuzzy things around the edges, I do use a half-assed bullet-journal. It mostly comprises questions like "why am I in this meeting?" or "when will this be written into a user story?"
I also use 750words.com to "take the edge off", some days. I fill it with stream-of-consciousness reflections that may later prime and inform my contributions to process-design exercises.
Tracker will appear heavy-handed for a team without a dedicated product manager who relies on developers' estimates to inform their sovereignty over backlog priorities.
by molecule on 7/26/17, 7:05 PM
$ today
created TODAY-20170726.md
by mattbgates on 7/26/17, 6:34 PM
And yes, it was created in part because my memory sucks badly.
After you've created your post, you can save the link and associate it with your email address so you can return back to it later on. Save a bunch of posts and you can always view them later.
While I don't have a routine for day-to-day logs, I use it often to keep track of activities, write to-do lists, even use it to take quick notes, like if I'm working with a client and I write everything down... I create a new MyPost... they can keep track of it and even comment on things that are done or have yet to be done. All URLs are custom and you "own" that URL. I even wrote a post on all the things I thought of what people could do with it.
https://mypost.io/post/what-can-i-do-with-mypost
Simple to use. Find your use!
by CogDisco on 7/26/17, 10:43 PM
If I go to a meeting I take notes with pen and paper and transfer them in elaborated form when I return. Good note taking is a skill, though!
I dabbled with an ultra quick template (F12 to write a single line in a mega list with a date stamp at the front of each item, no options, no slowdown). I found the discipline of taking slow notes at the end of every task or day much better than effectively tweeting my day to my future self.
One thing that I've found difficult is having task/project journals that work easily into this flow. Tags help but I found I was duplicating everything in changelogs.
by senorsmile on 7/29/17, 3:23 AM
by welder on 7/26/17, 11:48 PM
by imroot on 7/26/17, 7:35 PM
I do like to live in the console. If you're not a console/cli junkie, this might not work for you.
by SirLJ on 7/26/17, 8:48 PM
by bigtech on 7/26/17, 8:04 PM
by callesgg on 7/26/17, 6:52 PM
-A note block with ramblings on.
-Ipad pro. (I recently tried to switch away from the note block but unfortunately it does not work as well as the old note block did)
-And i have recently set up a intricate system consisting of Post-it's on a wall. (will evaluate it as i go but so far it is good)
-Complete shit as fast as i get it so that i don't have to remember. (this i the one that really get stuff done)
by jbob2000 on 7/26/17, 7:03 PM
by irpapakons on 7/26/17, 7:49 PM
For my own day-to-day todo list I use workflowy. These are things that I just delete once dealt with.
by zipperhead on 7/26/17, 8:12 PM
by vinoth15 on 7/26/17, 8:21 PM
Disclaimer: I am working Todoodly as a side-project.
by mobitar on 7/26/17, 8:31 PM
by williamstein on 7/26/17, 7:23 PM
by sairamkunala on 7/26/17, 7:26 PM
by shotgungg on 7/26/17, 6:52 PM
https://hackernoon.com/an-organized-chaos-5c844f8a9c82?sourc...
by c4ncri on 7/26/17, 9:31 PM
by webwanderings on 7/26/17, 7:06 PM