It’s tempting when you have a job in the private sector to go day to day without noting what you worked on. In public accounting you have to keep track in order to bill the client, but in the private sector that’s not as much of an issue. When you’re really busy it seems that writing down what you’ve been working on is just a waste of time. It’s actually a very valuable exercise.

Even though I work in the private sector, I track my day exactly as I did when I was in public accounting. If I’m working on a special project, I take meticulous notes on the progress of what I call the ‘case.’ I keep a journal of all the names, dates, and summary of the conversations I’ve had with various people. I make note of any special things I do to get what I think is…