How do you track your work contributions effectively?

Question

I'm looking for better ways to track my work contributions and progress, both for my own reference and for communicating with my team/manager. Currently, I struggle with:Remembering all the small but important contributions I make throughout the sprint/quarter Quantifying impact in meaningful ways Keeping track of indirect contributions (helping others, reviewing PRs, mentoring)What systems/tools/methods have worked well for you? How granular do you get with tracking? And how do you present this information during performance reviews or 1:1s? Particularly interested in hearing from both ICs and managers about what they find most valuable in contribution tracking.

drfunk · Accepted Answer

Use a journaling app, and write a few notes on what you did everyday. Each week, write a summary, grouped by topic: on project A, did 3 MRs, assisted pre-sales team on product X... At the end of the quarter, review the weekly summaries. Done.I've been doing a version of this for the past 14+ years. Every manager I've had always told me I have the most detailed yearly review. It's been invaluable to me, as my work has usually been very fragmented on different topics / activities.