4 documents to sort your work-life.
.. tried and tested by a document minimalist. 📝
I hate having a drive full of documents. I am not a big fan of note-taking apps. I don’t have a fully indexed spreadsheet or like a pretty notion template. And to be honest, I don’t want to have one.
But when my work and responsibilities started growing quite a lot, I needed a system at work to keep me sane and sorted. I am trying out a bunch of ways, and ruthlessly trying to keep it VERY simple. So far, these 4 documents have made the cut.
Daily Notes
..or as I call it, the active changelog. To keep it simple, and sustainable and forgiving, I just add two columns to a word document. I then set up 15 mins meeting with myself at the end of the day.
The goal is simple — collect data points as you go on with your work life. For example,
1. Worked on XYZ feature
2. Hosted ABC workshop
3. Feeling excited about next week
Why? Our tiny human brains cannot remember most of the things, with a special ability to go blank when we are in that call with our managers, or writing our self-reviews at the end of the year. This document helps. For me, it is my work lifeline. For more, read this one.
1-on-1 Doc
You can have as many of these as you like, but for me, the most crucial one is the one with my manager. It’s attached to our recurring weekly meeting, and both of us can edit. I update it as I go along the week noting down things I want to talk about. If I forget, I jot down all things we discussed after the call.
Why? It’s the best way to keep accountability (on both sides) and make sure you utilize your time together well. It gives you both time to prepare and think before you hop on the call. It’s also a good indicator of how regularly are you meeting with your manager and if that time is sufficient.
The OKR Doc
Okay don’t run away. When I started out, I cringed at the word OKR too. But the hard truth of working in a company with more than 5 people is, you need a way to communicate and highlight all the good work you are doing, in a language that others understand.
It need not be OKRs. You could use another framework or just a simple list of 4–5 goals. Setting them with your manager, and referring back at set intervals is one of the fastest ways to catalyze your growth, both personally and in the company. I have found them incredibly helpful to set shared expectations and have all the career talks during review cycles!
My next blog is going to cover why and how to set OKRs as a designer, so follow along.
The Kindness Doc
.. or a kindness folder. I picked this up from one of the talks by Frank Bach, and have kept at it.
It’s a simple document (or folder) with screenshots of good things your team might have said about you on Slack/emails/Figma files. The simple, lovely signals we get from our team on a day-to-day basis.
We all have those days where we doubt ourselves. Or overthink that message which ended without an emoji. Or we just need that quick pep talk before a big presentation.
The kindness doc helps.
I collect screenshots in a folder on my desktop. I haven’t had to rely on them so far. But just knowing I have a handy SOS right there on my desktop makes all the difference.
I hope this helps. I share a lot of behind-the-scenes, and screenshots of my actual documents/Figma files here. Feel free to come along!
Documenting, Chhavi
