Career Tips: The Notebook

 

I posted recently on my Instagram stories about one piece of advice I would give young professionals entering the workforce: keep a notebook. I know pen and paper seem old school, but I prefer it because you can take it with you should you leave, which you likely will, at some point. Sure, there are apps on your phone, but you’ll soon learn that not every boss is “Team Phone” even in today’s technologically driven world. Plus any little sticky notes and other important documents can be taped or stapled in the notebook.

Those who keep work notebooks may speak only of the positives, such as it is good as tool to help you remember when and where you completed a task and it keeps your organized. These thing are true and are especially great if you have many moving parts to your job and you report to several people. However, there is a dark side. While we would love for all workplaces to be team joyful environments and  our colleagues to be team oriented and supportive, that is often not the case. The notebook can also be your lifeline when you’re thrown under the bus and blamed for not doing an assignment or doing it incorrectly in order to make themselves look like the star employee. Or the reason to this treatment could be based on prejudice or any number of the isms and phobias to other individuals. It is an unfortunate reality. It can be really cut throat and it is more common than you think. If you’re a member of a marginalized group, keep a notebook!

Additionally, I would proceed with caution with anyone who wants to meet but insists you not take notes. What don’t they want documented? Meetings should be recorded in some formate to ensure everyone is in the same page and the information is correct. This happened to be once, and I still took notes. If you are uncomfortable with not following such an order, record the meeting immediately after it ends while the information is fresh.

In my experience, those who make a big deal about keeping notes usually are up to any good anyway and do not want their actions traced. This leads me to my next point, keep your notebook in a safe place. If your workspace comes with a key, lock up and and keep the key in a conspicuous place along with your other work related valuables. When I worked in academia as a researcher, I was required to keep research documents under lock and key, so I treated my notebook the same.

In conclusion, if I haven’t made it clear by now: Document! Document! Document!