Why I Keep A “Done” List

For a while now,  outside my default to-do list, I’ve been keeping a “Done” list. At the  end of the day, I sit down and reflect on my day, writing a summary of  all that I accomplished: from meetings that I had, to small personal  things, like making some progress in learning German. Even if it feels  small, but I crossed it off some list — be it a work item or a step in  my personal development — it goes on a “Done” list.

Why do I do that, you ask? Well, for a lot of time I had this feeling  that even though I spent so much time being “busy”, I didn’t accomplish  much at the end of the day. Sitting down and writing a “Done” list  helps me reflect on what I actually accomplished today, this week or  this month. This helps me feel more accomplished, more productive and  fight back when the imposter syndrome kicks in — you know, in a “Hey, I  actually did a bunch of stuff, shut up, brain.”

So if you’re having issues with not feeling productive, I can highly  recommend creating a daily summary of all you’ve done. Include  everything that you made or what made you a better human than yesterday:  from work to personal stuff. It’s a very powerful tool.