What’s a Debrief Log? And How It Could Save You Time

Every morning (or almost every), I outline the most important task for the day and review a few items I’d like to finish by the end of the week.

This has been game-changing for me. In the mornings, when I struggle to get started, this saves me quite a bit of time to dedicate to. It also helps me feel more accomplished by the end of the day, helping with the feeling of success and dopamine levels.

But what about taking this a step further and using the end-of-day clarity to outline more specifically what I got done?

Questions That Make Up a Debrief Log

So I decided to capitalise on it and came up with this idea called ‘debrief logs’. Kinda like a captain's log. Naming it something fun, as silly as it sounds, really does help.

I started with these three questions:

1. How did today go?
   1. I break these down into morning, midday, and afternoon. The purpose of this question is to capture thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This way, I’m able to spot trends. Think of it like an end-of-day journal question.
2. Already started to pick back up tomorrow
   1. Threads to carry on with that don’t really have urgency, but still need to be closed off. I find this so helpful for those tasks that are much smaller and easy to forget.
3. Important to begin
   1. You could easily dump the whole todo list in here, but it’s meant specifically for the urgent tasks that you haven’t started yet. I’ll often highlight this section in red for extra effect.

Tips & Tricks to Help it Stick

• I don’t end up using this every day as I don’t always have time. But the hard rule I’ve made with myself is to do this EVERY Friday - even if it means I have to spend a little extra time getting this done. It’s so unbelievably helpful. That Monday ends up feeling like a time machine straight back to my Friday focus flow.
• Do this in as much detail as is helpful to you (and yes, this fluctuates).
• Adapt the questions to fit your needs - but be careful not to add too much. The shorter, the easier it is to start. You can always add more detail later on.
• Use a software/app that has the feature of templates. I use Notion which makes this very easy (and is free).
• If you don’t like the written format, do it in any other way - it’s the principle that helps. This could be:
  • A sticky note on your monitor.
  • A voice note to listen back to.
  • A calendar block with answers written in the description.
  • A page in your notebook.
  • An email to yourself.
• There’s a benefit beyond the obvious post-morning help: and that’s the processing of sitting down to gather your thoughts and get clear on where you are. This is especially powerful on those big projects.

I urge you to try a similar practice. Even if it’s as simple as writing down what your next step is going to be.

Speak soon,
Will.