Continued Professional Development. Lifelong Learning. Ongoing education. Continuous Improvement. Personal Development. Career Advancement. Skills Enhancement. Professional Growth.

These words are synonymous with the same key theme. It presents a defining question: How can I be better? And the core theme of this question is change.

You may be thinking, “Well, I don’t ask myself that every day”. However, what you may find is that you ask the question, just in a different way. Since the core theme is change, you may ask yourself questions like:

  • How do I and how can I influence and contribute to positive change?
  • How do I and how can I ensure I am delivering the best products for my target audience?
  • How do I and how can I equip myself with the necessary skills to contribute, lead and action this change?
  • What do I currently do and what can I do to get where I need to be?

If any of these questions ring a bell, stick around, strap in and have a read as I’ve got a lot to say on this topic…

What About ‘Future You’?

My answer to this question: I keep a personal/professional development log.

It allows me to remain accountable for MY learning, outside of the learning that takes place for business reasons. I created this so that I could keep myself accountable to the things I have achieved and involved myself in.

You may find that your organisation has something similar. This may come in the form of goals, individual development plans, or succession plans. Now don’t get me wrong, these are great! These are an organisations formal way of streamlining professional development and aligning it with the objectives of the organisation you work for.

But what about you? The you that exists outside of work? The you that involves themselves in extracurricular personal and professional development activities? The you that wants that development or progression or both?

Important caveat: Do not be mistaken. Development and progression are not mutually exclusive. You can be searching for development, but not progression and vice versa or you can be looking for both. It is important to distinguish this so you can organise yourself accordingly for what you want to achieve.

The key difference between this is prioritising what YOU want rather than what your organisation wants. This doesn’t mean casting your business needs aside, it means bringing your wants and needs to the forefront and creating a dedicated space to log, manage and inspire you to achieve them.

The General Gist

What can you include in this log? This is the brilliant thing; it can include any learning you like. This includes even the smallest things. It could be an informal-formal 1:1 conversation with a colleague in another department, with the intention to further understand a procedure, process or aid systems thinking. It can also be formalised learning such as training courses, eLearning, mentoring sessions, masterclasses, or delivery. It depends on what you think has benefitted you or you’ve simply taken part in.

The point: Make your log something worth completing, not something you dread looking at!

It is as simple as starting with a blank document (could be through word, docs, or notes). No fuss needed with spreadsheets, software’s, or algorithms. Just something easy, readily accessible and (most probably) available at work or home.

Handy Tips

I’m going to talk to you about the things that have made a difference for me and the key themes which have encouraged proactiveness and accountability.

Please remember that these are the things that have worked for me and may not be the best option for you.

  1. Simplicity is key
  2. Purposeful titles
  3. Colour coding
  4. Weekly reminders
  5. Content is key
  6. Personalisation

Simplicity Is Key

Through a clear and concise layout, you make it easy for yourself. You’re more likely to avoid this log if you find it overly complex or unclear. This is integral for avoiding procrastination and making this document something you look forward to completing.

Headings: This includes the overarching document name and the name on the document itself. For example, ‘CPD Log’, ‘Professional Development Record’ or ‘Continued Professional Development Log’ etc. This is simple, but effective as you want to avoid using a forgettable name that slips your mind. Personally, I use the name ‘The Log’, because it feels more dramatic and sounds like a movie title. When I see the document name, it makes me chuckle and instantly I’m having a more positive experience and associating that to my development.

Font: Keep it simple – I prefer to use a standard Arial size 12, which is what I prefer for all my documents. However, you may find that Calibri or Aptos suits you better. You may wish to branch out and use a font like Informal Roman or High Tower Text, but the important thing is to make it easy for yourself to read.

Table size: I started mine using a very simple 4 x 4 (column x rows) table, which grows in length as you complete more professional development activities. Since I created it in March 2025, it currently sits at 4 x 50 table.

Storage: This one usually slips the mind. You may want to consider putting it somewhere easily accessible and in sight such as on your desktop. If not, opt for separating it from your abundance of files on your laptop. I would encourage you to make a folder – that way you can store your log and any other documents relating to the learning you have taken part in i.e. certificates, handy information, and links, too.

Key: Traditionally the key can be added on the top of bottom of the document. I always opt for the top of the document, so it is suitably placed and the first thing I’m drawn too. The colour coded format, which is covered next, also helps with this. However, I also see the value in having it at the top and bottom of the document as a quick reminder, especially as your log/record grows in length.

Colour Coding

For many visual learners, this seems like a no-brainer. However, the important thing here is intentional colour coding. What this doesn’t mean is creating colour coded categories that align with the type of learning activity it is, such as ‘face-to-face’, ‘eLearning’ or ‘blended’. This is less about the visual hierarchy and more about using colours to highlight actions, tasks, advice, links, or next steps. For me it’s: Task (yellow), Completed action/task (green), Advice (pink), and Information/Links (red). These are bright, prominent, and easily identifiable colours which work for me and have good contrast. You may opt for other colours such as primary ones. The key here is ensuring that the use of colour coded format is purposeful and you use colours you like which draw your attention.

Purposeful Titles

Another important part of this log is that it engages your critical thinking, introspection and maximises impact. You can keep it simple while titling your columns with prompts which encourage you to engage critically about the learning you have taken part in. Please see below for titles/prompts:

  • Column title 1: Date learning took place

  • Column title 2: What type of learning took pace? Online, face to face, blended? Conversation, debate, session, or discussion? Who else was involved?

  • Column title 3: Why are you taking part in this learning? What was the purpose of getting involved? – This is where you are recognising what your expectations are. It can be helpful to fill columns 1,2 and 3 prior to the learning taking place, but this is not essential.

  • Column title 4: What did you learn? What was the outcome? How does this impact you? Met expectations? Any remaining questions? Any information, links, tasks of advice that you are going to take forward?

Weekly Reminders

A key part of keeping a development log is that you remain accountable. It’s easy for you to unconsciously treat it like another word document, the file that gets lost in your OneDrive or get lost among your copious amounts of business related work.

I counteract this by setting a weekly reminder on my calendar for every Friday afternoon from 11:00 – 11:30. I did this to provide consistent allocated time for reviewing the log, updating any tasks and because the learning activities are dated, it gives me an opportunity to see if I’ve been consistent or I’m losing my momentum in my personal/professional development log.

You know your schedule better than I do so have a look at where you have a 15 - 30 minute gap and can spend some time on your own log. To reemphasise, this is not the same as a log which is linked to goals or business objectives, it is something that YOU create for yourself and want to engage in for your development and/or progression. This is for your eyes only, not your colleagues or your managers.

Content Is Key

I encourage you to fill this log with as much information as possible. I encourage you to take a first person narrative to really explain what you have learnt or your expectations are. This part is where your learning and reflection takes place. I wish I could add a screenshot of how full my log is, I fill it with copious amounts of information and treat it like a journal. Lets break it down as per our key: Task (yellow), Completed action/task (green), Advice (pink), and Information/Links (red). Outside of this key, you can summarise the information normally in the table. Lets look at this in more detail.

Information/links

Here is where you want to be signposting future you to resources. I’ve added below a few bits of information/links that I have found across my learning which may prove useful and can provide a bit of context as to what could be inputted here.

1.  What Does Overstimulation Sound Like To Someone With Autism? (PLEASE WATCH THIS WITH HEADPHONES ON) (From course on Neurodiversity in Public Service)

2. “Differences Are Not Deficits” (Judy Singer) (From course on Neurodiversity in Public Service)

3.  Gender Decoder – Free tool to see if your job description is strongly coded for one gender or another, based on this paper -

Task

When thinking about the task, it is pinpointing the next steps. What have you taken away from your learning and what are your plans to do next. For instance, do you need to get in contact with a particular person or team? Do you have any questions you need to intentionally think about answering? Do you need to create, send or look into anything further? These are the kind of things you need to think about when assigning yourself a task as the outcome of the learning that has taken place.

Completed action/task

This is where the accountability sets in. You’ve assigned yourself a task, you’ve colour coded it appropriately and so now you need to input when you have completed it. Here you want to outline whether you have actioned the task. Thinking about that colour coding, you want to be seeing (in my case), lots of yellow and green! You can also add text to this i.e. Email sent, awaiting response from XYZ and highlight it in your allocated colour.

Advice

This is where you are going to be looking into the tips, tricks or advice you’ve learnt or been given. This can also cross over into the aforementioned information/links. However, what you want to be focusing on here is what specific advice you’ve picked up. For instance:

  1. Live session on ‘Hacks for Working with Spreadsheets’ (type of learning/column 2) --> Tip #1 – Layout control by using fixed position on page, use square wrap text and avoid dragging images (advice)
  2. Informal chat with John Smith from Governance and Strategy (type of learning/column 2) --> To build confidence writing applications, you could try writing a personal statement for a job that you wouldn’t necessarily go for to see how you find extrapolating your transferable skills. This will help you highlight the value of the skills you have and highlight any skills gaps (advice)

Personalisation

I encourage you to take inspiration from my tips, but ensure that your log incorporates your learning style, needs, and personality. It will not stick otherwise so have fun with it! There are so many ways you could have fun with it such as:

  • Adding page borders
  • Changing page colour
  • Using pictures to visualise your learning within the rows - for instance, I inserted a picture of the 9-Box Talent Grid after speaking with a colleague from the Professional Development team
  • Change the design in the ‘Table Design’ tab by colour or shading
  • Add page numbers or WordArt where you see fit

And so much more..

In Practice

One way this could be utilised in practise is through application writing.

The Log signposts me to what I have achieved, reinforces my skills and helps me identify any gaps. For instance, when I first started this log, I identified that I wanted to understand the bigger picture in my organisation more, outside of my immediate team. From this, I began to do a series of around 20, 30 minute informal discussions with colleagues from diverse teams, grades, backgrounds, ages and overall experiences. This has played a major role in bridging that skills and awareness gap. Practically, this aids the evidence I reference when writing applications for jobs which bring professional development to the forefront. Moreover, when writing applications, behaviours, examples and thinking about your strengths, you can look back at The Log and use it to help formulate them.

Closing remarks

I wrote this article in response to a comment I made in Career Development and the conversation that followed. You can find the question that started it all here: Apolitical - What’s one habit that’s helped you grow in your role over time?

I hope this has provided some clarity, tips and tricks going forward. If you have any questions, please leave a comment and feel free to send this article to someone who may find this article useful!

If you would like to have an informal chat, this would also count as something you could put on your log!