You Journaled in School, But Are You Reflecting at Work?

Make 2024 your most inspiring year yet

Remember in elementary school when our teachers had us journal regularly about the goings on in our lives? Judging by the priceless memes that make the rounds on the Internet—where kids incriminate their parents for everything from drinking wine to calling someone a gold digger—it’s safe to say said practice is still intact.

Here’s the best journal-entry-turned-Internet-sensation I’ve seen to date:

Kids can be the worst incriminators. And what makes their reports so entertaining is the genuine nature in which they share them—completely unaware of how they smear their beloved parents in relaying what they deem obvious facts. People say “hairdressers know all the gossip” but I’d bet early childhood educators consider them amateur league compared to the sports they witness.

Case in point, a few years ago, a friend of mine took her four-year-old daughter for an interview at a prestigious primary school. Part of the assessment involved drawing a picture and then explaining it. So after a few moments of silence as her four-year-old put her crayons to work, the educator asked, “Can you tell us what you’ve drawn?”

The daughter picked up her artwork of a stick figure with a circle for a mouth. Then she said nonchalantly, “It’s a picture of my mommy yelling at me.”

(I could not stop laughing when my friend recounted this with horror. And frankly, if you knew my friend and what a good-natured, doting mom she is, you would find this story equally hysterical.)

But my friend was mortified. Heat coursed through her as her cheeks flushed and she smiled nervously at the educator, suddenly aware that she might be leaving the interview under greater scrutiny than her (devilish) little applicant.

Fortunately, with further prodding from the educator, the daughter elaborated on her drawing. She explained that it was inspired by the events of that morning—when her mommy wanted her to “stop playing” and “get ready” so they wouldn’t be late.

I assured my friend it could’ve been worse. I mean, what parent hasn’t raised their voice to get their kids to hustle for an appointment when they’re lollygagging? I dare say we wouldn’t be a functioning society otherwise. In any case, it’s not like the daughter said “My mommy likes to drink tequila and sing.” Surely, that would’ve been harder to recover from.

But alas, my friend only saw the humour in all of this a few days later… when her daughter was admitted to the school.

The Power of Journalling

My mom recently found my school journals from ages seven and eight and the combination of phonetic spelling, drawings, and absolutely zero filter in documenting everything (including quarrels with my sisters) is priceless.

Here’s an entry from February 17, 1998, detailing my upcoming trip to Florida:

I especially love my attempt to spell “collected” as “cowleckde.” And as it turns out my teacher wasn’t the only one able to decipher my writing. When I typed the misspelled word onto my screen, Grammarly (a free writing tool I have installed on my computer) suggested the following correction:

Impressive, right? Also, here’s my accompanying artwork to go with this entry:

Jokes aside, journalling prompts reflection. And reflection is a form of digestion. So even though most of us don't process the value of journalling in school as an exercise beyond learning how to write, it’s one of the most valuable practices we learn in school to make sense of our lives. (It would help if teachers were more explicit in planting that seed of knowledge.)

Reflections at Work

By learning to capture and interpret our experiences, we develop a muscle for distilling lessons from what we go through. It also facilitates planning for the future—work being one such case. Because in the same way you check your blind spot before changing lanes on the highway, it’s important to do a retrospective exercise before ploughing ahead on a project to ensure there are no disastrous collisions that could have been avoided.

But those who only reflect on their work at the end of a project are missing out on a goldmine of insights. There’s plenty to be uncovered on a week-to-week basis and it doesn’t require strenuous effort. In fact, it can be quite relaxing to schedule regular time to reflect on progress and plan for the week ahead—preferably with a warm coffee or tea.

As part of my new role at Dialogue, I've been doing this for over a month now using Lattice—a people management platform that helps companies make the most of their talent. And I’m a huge fan of Lattice’s weekly reflection prompt for three reasons.

Three Benefits of a Weekly Practice

1. Accountability

Every Friday, I get a prompt to write my 'Weekly Update' in which I reflect on these 5 questions:

• What did you focus on this week?

• What are your plans and priorities for next week?

• What challenges or roadblocks do you need help with?

• Is there anything else on your mind you'd like to share?

• Plus you get this vibe check at the end to reflect on how you're feeling:

In addition to keeping myself accountable by documenting my plans and progress from week to week (which goes a long way in staying organized and getting traction on my goals), I'm also giving my manager a clear overview, which brings me to benefit number two.

2. Transparency

An outdated way of working is depending on your manager to initiate communication around updates and status reports. In today's world, you need to be proactive about sharing information. And by clearly defining your plans and progress from week to week, you make your manager’s life a lot easier. Because in addition to not having to chase you for updates, they can swiftly weigh in and course-correct in the event your priorities need to shift.

Additionally, by zooming out to see a high-level overview of “the forest” on a weekly basis, you prevent yourself from getting lost amongst the trees. Not to mention, you develop a keener eye for forging the path to your destination and what to axe in the process. Ultimately, clarity of mind translates to clarity of communication in moving project teams forward in unison.

3. Learning & Development

As a Learning & Development professional, I can't overstate the benefits of taking the time to reflect on weekly progress. Because as education reformist John Dewey famously said:

"We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience."

Whether you're a manager or leader, you're guaranteed to benefit from a reflection practice. And more than that, if you're managing and leading young, ambitious teammates, you can do them a world of good by teaching them how to develop such a practice.

We often forget how difficult it is for less experienced teammates to structure their work in terms of planning and documenting progress. So by helping them do so, you're effectively helping them:

• Prioritize and stay organized

• Celebrate their achievements

• Articulate inputs and outcomes

• Appreciate how far they've come

• Improve how they manage their work

All of which play into well-being and motivation, which enhance performance. Not to mention it bolsters their confidence in taking on new challenges by teaching them how to take stock of and communicate the value they’re adding to the team on a week-to-week basis.

This last point is especially important as work, in general, is becoming more project-oriented, and people are prone to energy saps and lack of motivation if they don’t perceive weekly progress despite strenuous efforts to move a project along. By implementing a weekly reflection exercise, you can not only help people avoid this but also add fuel to their jetpacks.

Happy New Year

Speaking of parents, kids, and journalling, here’s a heartwarming post of a reverse scenario in which the kid is sharing their mom’s journal entry:

(I’m not crying, you are.) Seriously, though. As someone who knows the courage it takes to move to a new country without connections, I can’t even fathom the guts it takes to do so as an expectant mother. Let alone the confidence and humility to go back to school to learn a new language years later in life. What an inspiration.

On that note, here’s hoping you make 2024 your most inspiring year yet.

Happy New Year,

Alexandra

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