Journal writing tracks career

0 Comments | Milwaukee Sentinel, Jan 9, 1995 | by Margo Frey

The holidays are over. Hopefully, you got a little rest and had some fun.

But isn't it amazing how quickly you can get caught up in the rat race when you come back from vacation? The constant demands of your job often result in the neglect of your personal career needs.

The new year is a good time to begin keeping a career journal. This activity will help you remain focused on yourself and your career progress throughout 1995.

Some daily appointment book and planning calendar combinations known as day-timers provide a space to keep track of long-range career goals. A career journal should not detract from such monitoring, but it can add various dimensions to your career reflections.

A career journal is also an attractive alternative for those who dislike the discipline required by a day-timer.

The twofold purpose of a career journal is to record meaningful events, and to express emotions. Events to be recorded should include not only your personal accomplishments, but also random thoughts about your future, ideas obtained from reading and meaningful conversations.

A career journal does not require daily entries. It is a good idea to plan about 20 minutes a week to reflect and write. To stimulate recall, ask yourself: "Did anything of unusual interest happen this week?"

One advantage of journal writing is that you can be as structured, or unstructured, as you want.

You might want to create some categories to help you capture your thoughts. These categories may work for several months, but be replaced by others as time goes by. It is definitely a do-it-yourself project.

To get started, consider answering some of the following questions:

{} What did I accomplish that I feel good about?

{} Who needs to know about my accomplishment? What is the best way to inform them?

{} Did I have an experience that resulted in further development of my special skills?

{} What did I read that was meaningful? How can I incorporate this information into my life?

{} What ideas did I bring back from the last seminar I attended? What have I done to use this information?

{} Did I experience something for the first time this week? What did I learn from it?

{} In what specific ways am I becoming a better manager? To what do I need to pay special attention, and how am I going to do that?

{} In what ways am I becoming a better team player? Should I be collaborating in new ways?

Writing about your feelings as well as your thoughts can help you further analyze your career progress.

It can also serve as a good stress reducer. Expressing your emotions in writing can free you to solve problems, or to take needed actions.

Results of a study conducted jointly by Stefanie Spera of the outplacement firm Drake Beam Morin Inc., Eric Buhrfeind of Anderson Consulting's Change Management Group and James W. Pennebaker of Southern Methodist University were reported in the June 1994 issue of The Academy of Management Journal. Their study demonstrates the benefit of writing about one's feelings.

Sixty-two men and one woman who had been laid off from professional jobs that they had for many years participated in the study. Those who spent 20 minutes a day writing about their deepest feelings about being laid off found jobs faster than those who recorded only their job search activities, or who did not do any writing.

Keeping a career journal is an excellent career management tool. This investment in yourself can pay both immediate and long-term dividends.

Margo Frey is president of Career Development Services Inc., Milwaukee.