Have you ever sat down to write your self-review and drawn a total blank on your achievements over the past year? If so, you're not alone. In the fast-paced world of software development, even seasoned engineers struggle to remember all their contributions when it matters most. This is precisely why every engineer should keep a brag document.
By the end, you'll see how this simple habit can become a powerful tool for your professional growth. Let's dive in.
What is a Brag Document?
A brag document (sometimes called a "hype document" or "list of stuff I did") is a personal record where you document your accomplishments, skills, and milestones in your career. Despite the tongue-in-cheek name, it's not about obnoxiously boasting to others. Instead, think of it as a running log or diary of your professional achievements, a living document you update over time with things you're proud of at work.
A brag document is a simple list or journal of your big and small wins. Landed a significant feature before the deadline? Solved a pesky bug that was blocking the team for days? Helped a colleague understand a complex system design? Add it to your brag document. It's a bit like version control for your career; you keep track of each "commit" (achievement) so you don't lose track of your progress. Over months and years, this document becomes a detailed story of how much you've grown and contributed as a developer.
Why the funny name? The term "brag" might feel uncomfortable, but don't worry; you don't need to show this document off publicly (unless you want to). It's primarily for your reference (and sometimes to share privately during performance reviews or job interviews). Many find that maintaining a brag document reduces the need to brag because your work will speak for itself when you have the facts on hand.
Why Keep a Brag Document?
If you're already swarmed with tasks and entangled in problem-solving, you may wonder why you should introduce another document into your routine. The truth is that maintaining a brag document can significantly benefit your career. Let's break down why you should keep a brag document in the first place:
- Never forget your wins:
Software projects move quickly, and it's easy to forget dozens of little victories. A brag document ensures you never lose track of your contributions. That tricky performance issue you fixed back in March or the refactoring you led last summer will be recorded. No more wracking your brain to remember what you've done; it's all in your log. - Better performance reviews: When (bi) annual, or quarterly review time comes, a brag document is a lifesaver. You'll have a ready list of accomplishments to discuss in your self-evaluation and with your manager. Instead of scrambling to recall projects and impact, you can confidently highlight specific examples "In Q2, optimized the database queries, reducing load times by 40%").
This concrete evidence makes it easier for your manager to recognize your value. Why make your manager play detective? Help them help you by providing the data upfront. - Stronger case for promotions and raises: A well-maintained brag document helps you build a strong case for promotion or a raise. It's hard to argue with a factual list of achieved goals, completed projects, and positive outcomes you've accumulated. You'll be able to clearly demonstrate how you've gone above and beyond your role. If I might pragmatically put it, "If you don't record your achievements, you can't leverage them." Being your own advocate is much easier when you have evidence of your impact in hand.
- Combat imposter syndrome: Many software engineers quietly struggle with imposter syndrome, feeling like they haven't accomplished enough. Reviewing your brag document can give you a reality check and confidence boost. It's immensely rewarding to see a timeline of problems you've solved and goals you've met. That running list of achievements reminds you that you are continuously learning and adding value. In tough moments, it's like your personal highlight reel to prove to yourself you do know what you're doing.
- Identify strengths and interests: Over time, patterns in your brag document reveal what you're best at and what you enjoy most. For example, you might notice many entries about mentoring juniors or optimizing performance. This insight can guide your career development, showing you where to focus or what specialty to pursue. It's like refactoring your career path with actual data about what you excel at.
- Easier resume updates and interviews: When it comes time to update your CV or LinkedIn profile or prepare for job interviews, your brag document is a goldmine. All your key projects and achievements are already recorded. You can quickly transfer the highlights to your resume, complete with concrete details and metrics. Plus, for behavioral interview questions like "Tell me about a challenge you overcame," you can just look at your brag sheet and recall your success stories. No more scrambling to remember accomplishments when opportunity knocks.
- Assisting new managers in understanding your contributions: For instance, if you get a new manager or transition to a different team, sharing your brag document with examples of your achievements can efficiently inform your new lead about your contributions. They'll appreciate a concise briefing of your contributions so far. This way, nothing important falls through the cracks during a transition, and you establish yourself as a proactive, impact-oriented team member from the get-go.
Real-world example:
Let's consider the case of two software engineers, Alice and Bob, to highlight the difference that maintaining a brag document can make in their professional journeys. Both had productive years, but only Alice kept a brag document. When performance review season arrives, Alice opens her document and immediately recalls all the apps she optimized and the team initiatives she led. She writes a detailed self-review with specific outcomes and metrics. On the other hand, Bob spends hours staring at a blank form, trying to remember what he did in April. He ends up with a generic summary ("I worked on some front-end features...”) because memories have faded.
The result? Alice's manager enthusiastically advocates for her promotion (backed by evidence of her achievements), while Bob's contributions, however valuable, remain vague and get less spotlight. The difference isn't in their talent; it's in how well they documented their success.
Simply put, a brag document helps ensure your work gets recognized and rewarded. It's a straightforward habit that can prevent your efforts from being overlooked in the shuffle of a busy development cycle.
How to Maintain a Brag Document (Practical Tips)
Now that we've covered the "why," let's talk about how to maintain a brag document. The good news is that it doesn't need to be complicated or time-consuming. We'll approach it with a clear and pragmatic process. Here are some practical tips to help you create and keep up your brag document:
1. Start simple, start now: The best way to begin is to start writing. Don't worry about finding the perfect format or tool right away. Open a blank document (or notebook) and jot down a few recent accomplishments you're proud of. Getting started is often the most challenging part, so do it now; you can continually refine the document later. It could look something as simple as:
## March 2024
- Optimized database queries, reducing API response times by 40%.
- Helped onboard a new teammate by walking them through our architecture.
- Fixed a major bug in our caching system, preventing intermittent downtime.
...
Remember, this is for your eyes (and maybe your manager's), so it doesn't need to be a Pulitzer-winning narrative, just an honest list of things you did.
2. Pick a tool that works for you: Maintaining consistency is easier if you choose a medium you're comfortable with. The best tools for writing a brag document are the ones you'll use regularly. Some developers love the simplicity of a Google Doc or a Markdown file in a Git repository, while others prefer a spreadsheet or a notes app like Notion/OneNote. You might even use a project management tool or a personal wiki. (See the next section for a rundown of great tools.) Whatever you choose, make sure it's easily accessible (on your work computer, personal laptop, or phone), so you have no excuses to update it. If you're a pen-and-paper person, a dedicated physical notebook works, too; just be sure you can find past entries when you need them.
3. Log entries regularly: Consistency is key to maintaining a brag document over time. Treat it as a routine part of your workflow. You can add achievements as they happen. I recommend you do this so you capture details while fresh or set aside time at regular intervals to update your list. I find it helpful to schedule a short weekly or biweekly reminder on their calendar. For example, every Friday afternoon, take 10 minutes to reflect on the week and add anything noteworthy:
## Feb 14 2024
- Fixed memory leak in payment service (impact: reduced crash rate by 95%).
- Helped QA automate test cases, speeding up the release cycle.
- Fixed a major bug in our caching system, preventing intermittent downtime.
...
Frequent updates mean you'll always have recent data and won't face a mountain of recall work later. Find a cadence that suits you, whether it's daily journaling or a quick monthly recap.
4. Include key details (but keep it concise): For each entry in your brag document, note down enough information to make sense to future you (or anyone you share it with). At a minimum, record what you did, why it was important, and the result or impact. Adding a date or timeframe can also provide context (e.g., Q1 2025). You might write something like:
"Jan 2025—Optimized image loading on the homepage, cutting page load time by 30%, which improved conversion rates."
5. Keep entries short: A few sentences or bullet points are fine. The goal is to capture the essence of the accomplishment. If it's a major project, you can write a brief paragraph or use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to succinctly describe it. The STAR framework can help ensure you highlight the impact: For example,
"Led migration to new CI/CD pipeline (Action) when build times were slowing down releases (Situation).
*Automated testing and deployments (Task), resulting in 2x faster releases with 50% fewer deployment errors (Result)."
Use the format that clearly showcases the achievement.
6. Capture big and small wins: Don't fall into the trap of only recording huge projects or milestones. Yes, you should note the big deals like that successful product launch or significant refactoring but also include smaller achievements and everyday wins. Did you mentor a new hire? Resolve a long-standing bug? Receive kudos from a stakeholder for a helpful code review. These items demonstrate your continuous contributions and often highlight teamwork, leadership, or initiative on top of your regular duties. Over time, the small stuff can add up to a compelling picture of your reliability and growth.
Plus, when review time comes, those more minor points can round out your story and remind management that you contribute in many ways beyond just headline projects.
7. Review and refine periodically: Every few months, take a moment to read through your brag document. You might be surprised at how much you've accomplished! This periodic review serves a few purposes: it reinforces your sense of progress which is significant for morale, helps you spot any gaps (maybe you notice you haven't done as much in a certain area you wanted to improve), and prepares you for any impromptu career conversations.
While reviewing, you can also tidy up entries, correct typos, clarify wording, or merge related points. If you know you'll eventually share it with your manager or use it in a performance review, you can start shaping the narrative now. Consider grouping entries by theme or project if that makes it more digestible.
However, don't over-engineer it; the most important thing is that the content is there. Formatting and polishing can happen when needed.
8. Back it up: Since this document will become an important personal record, make sure you keep backups if it's stored digitally. If you use a cloud service (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.), you're covered. If it's on your hard drive, consider syncing it to the cloud or emailing a copy to yourself periodically. If it's a paper notebook, maybe photograph or scan pages once in a while. The last thing you want is to lose a year's worth of achievements due to a lost file or coffee spill!
By following these steps, how to maintain a brag document becomes a manageable task rather than a chore. Take it from me: I ended up enjoying the process once it became a habit because it feels rewarding to catalogue successes. The key is to integrate it into your routine and keep it simple. Focus on implementing the simplest solution that works effectively. A plain list in a doc you update regularly beats a fancy template you never touch.
Best Tools for Writing a Brag Document
The "best" tool is truly the one you find easiest to use and maintain. Here are some popular options developers use for writing a brag document:
1. Text documents (Word, Google Docs, etc.): A basic Word doc or Google Doc is a straightforward choice. Create a running document or table where you add new entries over time. Google Docs has the advantage of being accessible from anywhere and automatically saved. You can also use Markdown in a plain .md file if you prefer a lightweight format (perhaps in a GitHub gist or a private repo for version control, treating your brag log like code).
2. Spreadsheets: Some people love using Excel or Google Sheets as a structured log. You can have columns for Date, Accomplishment, Impact, Category, etc. A spreadsheet makes it easy to sort or filter entries (for example, you could filter to see all entries related to "performance improvements" or all from last quarter). If you're very metrics-focused, this can help tabulate results (like the sum of cost savings from your improvements).
3. Note-taking apps: Apps like Evernote, OneNote, Notion, or Obsidian are excellent for ongoing notes and can sync across devices. You might dedicate a notebook or page to your brag document. Notion, for instance, can let you create a database with properties (dates, tags for projects or skills, etc.) and nice formatting.
4. Email or calendar system: This might sound unusual, but a quick way to capture accomplishments is to email yourself a note whenever something worth bragging about happens and keep those in a folder. Alternatively, some developers block time on their calendar (say, 15 minutes on Friday) as a "Brag Doc update." The calendar event description can hold bullet points of that week's achievements. Later, you compile these into a single document. Use whatever workflow integrates well with your day.
5. Physical notebook or journal: If you enjoy writing by hand, keep a dedicated journal for your accomplishments. Jot down notes and dates of things you're proud of. The act of writing can reinforce memory, and you might find it satisfying to flip through pages of achievements. Just remember you'll need to manually scan through when extracting info for reviews and consider digitizing it eventually for safekeeping.
6. Templates and specialized tools: If you prefer a bit more guidance, you can find brag document templates online (for example, some career coaches or engineers share their brag doc formats). There are also productivity tools and habit-tracking apps that you could repurpose to log accomplishments. Even a to-do list app can work: mark items done and tag them as accomplishments. The tool is less important than your consistency in using it.
💡 Tips
Clipping emails or feedback you received and dropping them into your brag file for reference is also a good way to add more entries to your accomplishment log.
If you find yourself spending a lot of time fiddling with the format, switch to something simpler.
Using your brag document for performance reviews
Maintaining a brag document is half the battle; now, you must put it to work. So, how do you use a brag document for performance reviews effectively?
Craft strong self-evaluations: If your company asks you to write a self-review or complete a self-assessment, your brag document is your cheat sheet. Go through it and pick the most impactful items from the review period.
Then, in your self-evaluation, you can reference those specific accomplishments with clarity and confidence. Instead of saying "I think I did well on Project X," you can say, "Completed Project X three weeks ahead of schedule, resulting in a 15% boost in conversion rates for our product." The level of detail and concrete results you provide will make your self-review far more compelling. Essentially, you're pulling from a year's worth of evidence to tell a concise story of your contributions.
Equip your manager with facts: Managers often oversee many people and projects, so even a great manager might not remember every achievement of yours, especially the quieter, behind-the-scenes wins. By sharing key accomplishments from your brag document, you simplify your manager's task when preparing your performance review or supporting you in calibration meetings. Some engineers will send their manager a one-pager summary of key accomplishments before the review meeting. Others incorporate brag document snippets into the official forms if there's a section for "accomplishments." Choose a handful of items that align with your goals or your team's objectives to remind your manager of your value. Think of it as supplying them with ammunition to give you the best review possible. Often, managers appreciate this because it saves them time and ensures nothing great about your year is overlooked.
Discuss your growth trajectory: A performance review isn't just about listing wins; it's also about discussing growth, challenges, and goals. As you review your brag document, note themes or areas of improvement. Perhaps you tackled more backend tasks this year or took on leadership roles in team meetings. Bring this up during the review: "Looking at my accomplishments, I've gravitated toward backend optimization projects and enjoyed them. In the next year, I'd like to expand that skill set further..." Using your brag log this way shows self-awareness and initiative.
Leverage it for promotions: When aiming for a promotion, you often need to prove you've been operating at the next level. Your brag document is crucial here. You can map your accomplishments to the promotion criteria or job expectations of the higher role. For example, if moving to a more senior role requires mentorship and system design, you can pull instances from your list where you mentored colleagues or designed significant features. Consider preparing a special version of your brag document organized by the skill areas or company values that promotions are evaluated against. This makes it blatantly clear that you've already been doing the job you want. During the promotion review process, being able to say, "Over the last year, I've led three major projects to completion, mentored two junior devs (who both ramped up fast under my guidance), and driven an initiative that improved site reliability by 30%," backed by your records, is incredibly powerful.
Share with peer reviewers (when appropriate): Some organizations include peer feedback in evaluations or 360-degree reviews. You can tactfully share your brag document (or a subset of it) with colleagues giving feedback. This isn't about telling them what to write but rather refreshing their memory of things you worked on together. For instance, "Hey, since we're doing peer reviews, I compiled a list of projects I worked on this year. In case it's useful, here it is!" Often, peers are thankful for the reminder; it makes their job easier, just like it does for managers. It also ensures your peer feedback touches on the important highlights.
Prepare for salary discussions: When it's time to talk raises or renegotiate your salary, come armed with your brag document. It provides concrete justification for why you deserve a raise. You can underscore how your contributions impacted the company's bottom line, improved team efficiency, or delivered value to customers. Negotiations are much stronger when backed by data and specific examples rather than generic statements. Essentially, your brag document helps you quantify and qualify your worth to the organization.
Always remember that the contents of your brag document, when shared, should communicate your impact clearly and ensure you get credit for your work. It's not about arrogance; it's about accurate representation—no more guessing games.
Ready to Start Your Own Brag Document?
By now, it should be clear that a little bit of record-keeping can go a long way in your career. Maintaining a brag document is a simple, pragmatic habit that pays enormous dividends when it comes to recognition, confidence, and career growth. It helps you think about your work in terms of impact and outcomes, a trait any great engineer or team lead values.
The best part is you can start right away. Why not begin your brag document today? It doesn't need to be elaborate. Open your favourite tool (or grab a notebook) and write down one thing you did this week that made a difference, no matter how small.
Got it down? Great! You've just taken the first step. Keep it up for a few weeks, and you'll already have a substantial list. Stick with it for a year, and you'll have a detailed story of your professional journey and a ready-made cheat sheet for any promotion or review that comes your way.
Here's a reworked version of your closing:
Remember, "what gets measured gets improved." So give yourself permission to document your wins. Happy bragging—your career journey deserves to be celebrated!