As a kid, I loved the idea of keeping a journal. I'd buy a fresh notebook every year, write for two days, and forget about it completely.

Fast-forward to adulthood: I'm a software engineer, and that habit hadn't improved. The first time I heard about work journals and "brag documents," I was intrigued. I gave it a shot, then dropped it. Again.

But this time, I was determined to make it stick. It took a few rounds of trial and error, but eventually, I found a system that worked. Here's what actually helped me turn work journaling from a good intention into a real habit.

I stopped trying to be perfect

I skipped a day of journaling? Whatever. I would just go back and journal what I could remember. Once I gave myself permission to be inconsistent, I ironically became more consistent.

That mindset shift - from perfect to "good enough" - made the habit sustainable.

I used tools I actually enjoy

There's no "best" tool for journaling - there's just the one you'll actually use. For me, that was Notion. It felt natural because I already used it for docs and personal notes. For others, it might be a physical notebook, a Markdown file, or even a notes.txt.

If opening the tool feels annoying, you won't stick with it.

I reduced the friction

If you've read Atomic Habits by James Clear, you've probably seen this idea: make the habit so easy it's hard to avoid.

That's what I did. I built a tiny CLI app in Rust called gj that lets me log entries straight from the terminal to Notion. The terminal is the one tool I use constantly - adding journaling into that flow meant zero friction.

Merged a big PR? I log it in two seconds, right where I am. No context switch, no excuses.

What logging with gj looks like — zero fluff, sent straight to Notion.

I'm not saying you should use my tool — just find what makes it effortless for you.

I started seeing the impact — and that kept me going

Once I had some consistency, what really kept the habit alive wasn't the tool or routine — it was the effect it had on me. Because journaling became easy, I started logging more often: small wins, tricky bugs, even small things like helping a teammate. Most of it wouldn't show up in Jira — but it mattered.

Seeing that progress, in my own words, helped me feel more confident. It didn't erase impostor syndrome, but it gave me something real to look back on.

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Now, it's not just a habit. It's a quiet tool that helps me stay focused, reflect on what I've done, and feel a little more confident on the hard days.

If you've tried and failed before, that's fine. What worked for me might not work for you — the key is finding something you'll actually stick with.