The Engineering Journal - Your Secret Weapon for Problem-Solving

Yesterday I had a super interesting conversation with Caleb Belk, a software engineer who introduced me to the concept of an "engineering journal."

At first, I thought the concept is only relevant for software engineering practices, but there's a lot to it that could be extremely valuable in other types knowledge work.

That being I said, in this post I want to explore the journaling scenario specifically as a developer best practice - together with Caleb.

Haven't I solved this before?

Ever get that feeling "I've solved this problem before, but I can't remember how"?

If you're a software engineer, you've almost certainly experienced that frustrating moment. You're staring at an error message or debugging a complex issue, and there's a nagging voice in your brain saying "I've seen this before." But where? When? How did you fix it?

In the olden days, you'd likely go co-misserate with other developers on stackoverflow. Today you might be doing that over a Chat interface, likely alone with a robot that keeps forgetting you've asked this question before.

This is where an engineering journal becomes your secret weapon.

What is an Engineering Journal?

First of all, an engineering journal IS NOT simply a record of what you did each day. That's what standups and JIRA are for, and honestly, that kind of documentation doesn't end up being very useful.

Instead, think of your engineering journal as a personalized knowledge repository that tracks:

• Problems you encounter and their solutions
• Your decision-making process
• Questions that arise during development
• Technical wins worth celebrating
• Useful commands, patterns, and discoveries

The concept comes from "The Pragmatic Programmer" - a book that has shaped countless software careers. But unlike formal documentation that requires significant effort to create, an engineering journal is just for you. Raw, unfiltered, and incredibly valuable.

Why Your Brain Needs Backup Storage

Software development is an exercise in juggling complexity. You're constantly switching between:

• Different programming languages and frameworks
• Technical problems and architectural decisions
• Multiple projects and their unique contexts
• Team communication and stakeholder needs

Our brains simply aren't designed to hold that much information over long periods. You might solve a tricky problem in February, only to encounter a similar issue in May. Without external memory storage, you'll end up repeating the same investigative work.

Caleb put it well: "In the back of your mind, if you're not taking any notes, you'll say 'oh, I knew I figured this out before, but I don't really remember.'"

The Tangible Benefits of Journaling Your Work

1. Faster Problem-Solving

When you document how you approached a problem, including the dead ends and eventual solution, you create a roadmap for your future self. Instead of starting from scratch when you encounter the same issue weeks or months later, you can quickly reference your notes and save hours of investigation.

For example, Caleb keeps notes about framework differences: "In SwiftUI, you can use an observable rather than inheriting observable object... this one has better performance, it's easier to use." The next time he faces this architectural decision, he already has the research done.

2. Performance Review Ammunition

How many times have you struggled to remember your accomplishments during performance reviews? It's human nature to focus on recent work and forget the valuable contributions from months ago.

Your engineering journal becomes a chronological record of your wins, challenges overcome, and growth. When it's time to discuss your performance, you'll have concrete examples ready to share, not just the projects you completed in the last two weeks.

3. Building Your Toolkit

Every engineer accumulates commands, patterns, and tricks that make their work more efficient. Documenting these in your journal creates a personal reference that grows more valuable over time.

Need to remember that obscure Git command for rebasing? Or the exact syntax for that complex SQL query? Your journal has your back.

4. Project Continuity

Some debugging sessions span days or even weeks. Without tracking your progress, you risk forgetting important clues or repeating steps you've already taken.

Your journal creates continuity across work sessions, helping you pick up exactly where you left off, even after a weekend or vacation.

5. Knowledge Sharing (When You Choose)

While your engineering journal is primarily for you, it also creates opportunities to share knowledge. When a teammate struggles with an issue you've solved, you can reference your notes to help them through it.

Getting Started: Practical Tips

Choosing Your Medium

The tool matters less than the habit. Some engineers prefer:

• Markdown files (like Obsidian or simple text files)
• Dedicated note-taking apps
• Physical notebooks
• Specialized tools like reconfigured

What matters is finding a system that works for you and is easy to use. When I say easy to use, I mean it's easy to write down your thought before it evaporates.

Organization Strategies

While you could organize by date, most engineers find organizing by topic more effective:

• Create files or sections for different technologies (Swift, C#, etc.)
• Keep error-specific notes for tricky issues
• Link related concepts together when possible

Date-based organization makes sense at first, but as Caleb noted: "If on day one I was dealing with observable, and then day two I moved on to a different problem with like, a different error. And then on day three, I was working with observable again...those notes are a lot better if they're all kind of close together."

Caleb specifically likes to use indented bullet lists for questions/answers, making up a tree:

• Main Question
  • Sub-Question 1
    • Answer to Sub-Question
  • Sub-Question 2
    • Deadend, no answer
  • Answer to main question

The idea of the question tree is simple: the answer to you main question usually requires answers to sub-questions. So you follow the path down and build out the main answer based on the findings from your sub-questions.

When to Write

The best moment to document is when you're actively solving a problem. Try making it a habit to:

1. Start by writing down the problem clearly
2. Note your approach and investigation steps
3. Document the solution once you find it

The key is writing things down before they leave your attention. As Caleb explains: "Whenever I have a question, I'll go to my engineering journal first... note that down, and then I'll go find the solution, make sure I put that in my engineering journal and then kind of continue on my coding experience."

Searching and Retrieval

The value of your journal depends on being able to find information when you need it. Consider:

• Using clear, searchable keywords in your notes
• Adding tags or categories to entries
• Linking related concepts together

Caleb's approach is pragmatic: "A lot of times you'll see the error you'll be tracking in your console. And so you search some of those keywords in Obsidian."

The Engineering Journal Mindset

At its core, an engineering journal is about optimization - not just of your code, but of your learning process. As Caleb put it: "All good engineers try to optimize, right. So optimization of finding the solution to the problem faster when you know you've already figured it out. Not redoing the effort needed to figure out the solution."

This isn't just about avoiding repeated work; it's about building a personal knowledge base that compounds over time, making you progressively more effective.

Getting Over the Starting Hurdle

If you're not already keeping an engineering journal, starting might feel like yet another task on your already full plate. But consider this: every hour you invest in maintaining your journal will save you many more hours down the road.

As Caleb reflected on why he started: "I'd see a problem, and I'd tell myself I've seen that before. And so I'd have to go do the same Google search and replicate all of the effort that I'd put towards searching it. When they suggested it and phrased it in a way that was like, this is to help reduce that kind of like duplicated effort, it just clicked and made sense."

Your Second Brain for Engineering

Think of your engineering journal as your second brain - a reliable system that remembers what your biological memory might forget. It's not just a productivity hack; it's a career investment that grows more valuable with every entry.

The best part? It's entirely personal. Your journal evolves to match your unique challenges, interests, and growth areas. No one else needs to understand your notes or approve your format - this is about making your future work easier.

Ready to Start Your Engineering Journal?

Getting started is simple:

1. Choose a tool you can write in. Ideally with a search function.
2. Create a basic structure for your notes e.g around topics.
3. Commit to documenting one problem and solution once a day.
4. Build the habit over time

Remember, the perfect journal is the one you actually use. Start simple, and let your system evolve as you discover what works best for you.

Don't worry about formatting or aesthetics. Let is be as ugly as you need - as long as YOU are able to understand it.

Helpful Resources

• The Pragmatic Programmer - The book that popularized the engineering journal concept
• Obsidian - A popular knowledge base that works on local Markdown files
• Cornell Note-Taking System - A structured approach to note-taking that can be adapted for engineering journals
• Building a Second Brain - A methodology for organizing your digital notes

Shameless Plug:

reconfigured is a notetaking journal built for quick capture of work related thoughts, ideas and musings. Notes are linked around a topic (we call it a quest), and the embedded AI is tuned to understand your journal, make your thoughts easily reaccessible.