Proof & documentation

Most people try to remember their best work the week before a review, and most of it is gone by then. The fix is simple but easy to skip: write down what you did, why it mattered, and who noticed, while it is still fresh. A short, steady record turns vague memories into specific evidence you can point to.

These posts cover what to capture and when, the kinds of work people forget to document (the quiet saves, the cleanup nobody asked for, the help that made someone else succeed), and how to turn a raw note into proof another person can check. Good proof names the situation, what you did, and the result, in numbers when you have real ones and in plain words when you do not.

You do not need a complex system. A few lines each week, kept in one place, is enough to start. When the review, the raise talk or the interview comes, the record is already built, and you can spend your time on the case instead of digging for it.