Log Everything

Christian Crumlish

I'm starting to wonder if there's anything I shouldn't be logging. So much of my personal knowledge management problems (read: disorganization) involve forgetting, losing track of, and worrying about issues as they come up an afterward until they are resolved.

Sure, some things are private or proprietary. Not every log (blog, k-log, or any kind of log) needs to be published on the unsecured public Internet byways. Not everything needs to go out over TCP/IP. Not everything, for that matter needs to be entered into a computer or even written in a notebook, if you want ot take the thought to its conclusion.

But it seems to me that just about everything that passes through my computer (and a number of things that sit on post-its around my desk) should be logged somewhere. One big place or some small specific place. I need to keep track of what I just finished, what I didn't have time to get to, what new items have just occurred to me.

Every to do list grows and drifts (for me). Instead of fear of a growing list of shoulds, I'd rather relax knowing that nothing is being lost or forgot, and everything is findable when I need it, or when I make it a priority, or when external circumstances make it a priority.