Must have documents that everyone should try keeping
We’ve all been there—juggling deadlines, meetings, and last-minute tasks. In the middle of all the chaos, it’s easy to lose track of your progress and forget your wins.
That’s where tools like brag documents, priority lists, and got-done lists come in. They’re not just about staying organized—they’re about giving yourself credit where it’s due, tracking your growth, and building a system that works with your busy life, not against it.
In this blog, I share some of the things that I have been trying to keep things organized. They are simple, flexible methods that have helped me stay on top of things and feel a little more in control.
Brag Document
What is a brag document?
It’s a simple list where you record your achievements, the impact you’ve made, and what you’re working toward. Think of it as your archive of wins, big and small, and the things that you need to improve at.
Why do we need a brag document?
Avoiding Recency Bias
It is a fact that we tend to remember recent events better than events that occurred in the past, giving the recent event more significance. If someone asks, “What did you do six months ago?” we’d probably need a moment to recall. Without a brag document, we often have to dig through pull requests, tickets, slack conversations, launch emails, and design documents. I’ve been there—rediscovering small and sometimes major wins that I’d completely forgotten about.
Identifying patterns and preferences
A brag document is a great tool not only for performance reviews but also for self-reflection. By reviewing it, you can spot patterns in the work you enjoy, the skills you’ve developed, areas where you’ve had the most impact, and areas where there is a scope for improvement. It’s an opportunity to understand your preferences and chart a more intentional career path.
On days when imposter syndrome hits hard, going back to the brag document can be like having a good cup of ice cream on a bad day!
When I first wrote a brag document I was kind of nervous about sharing it with anyone. It felt weird to be like I wrote a long document listing everything I did this year so I kept the name of the document as “Review Document”.
How do we start writing a brag document?
Start by listing down everything
Include everything—big wins, small contributions, and fuzzy work that’s hard to quantify like refactoring code, reducing tech debt, fixing critical bugs, and improving the on-call process.Explaining the big picture
Organize your work by projects or themes. For example, if you have been working on multiple projects in parallel, you can add headings like “Project 1”, and “Project 2” and then list everything done under each project. This not only showcases the breadth of work but also highlights how your efforts align with broader team or organizational goals.
This is a simple template that I have been using and can help anyone get started.
How often to update the brag document?
Updating the document on a daily/weekly or sometimes even every month might feel like a lot. A trick that I have been following is to take notes that don't have to be flawlessly formatted; a few bullet points can do the trick and serve as a recall of the entire scenario when you go back to it. I record everything that comes to me and once every Quarter I update the document.
You might have to experiment with a few cadences to see which one suits you the best. Usually having one document for the year helps.
One important thing to keep in mind is to not pressure yourself with writing the perfect document in the first go. Keep it simple. It doesn’t need to be perfect or fancy—just real. You just have to explain your work the way it was done.
You can also check out https://jvns.ca/blog/brag-documents/
Kudoboard
There are going to be days when we tend to doubt ourselves. We overthink a message we sent or a conversation that happened, or we just need that quick pep talk before a big day or consolation after a not-so-good one.
That’s where our personal Kudoboard comes in—a treasure of positivity and encouragement.
It could be a screenshot of a Slack message from a teammate who appreciated your help, an email from your manager praising your work, or even a quick note from a friend saying, “I couldn’t have done this without you.” These small yet meaningful moments often fade into the background amidst the daily hustle, but collecting them in one place creates a powerful reservoir of confidence and motivation.
Your kudoboard becomes your personal cheerleader, whispering, “You’ve got this!” It’s a reminder that while setbacks happen, they don’t define you.
To start with, create a folder in your inbox, a private document, or use tools like Kudoboard or Google Docs or as simple as a Whatsapp group with just you in it.
To-Do, Priority & Got-Done List
A priority list outlines the key things you aim to achieve over the month/week, keeping you aligned with the bigger picture. Alongside this, a daily to-do list helps in breaking those objectives into manageable tasks for the day, ensuring steady progress. I usually use a notebook to maintain these lists but you can also experiment with Notion or tools like Trello. When you have a clear list of what needs to be done, your brain automatically follows and gets into a problem-solving state.
Some days, despite careful planning, unexpected tasks crop up, leaving you feeling like you’re constantly firefighting without making real progress. That’s when the got-done list becomes valuable.
To conclude, these documents aren’t about rigid systems—they’re about finding what works for you and following the rhythm to stay organized. What are some of the things that you have tried?