Final thoughts

Generally, people in professions who perform “project-based” work often present case-studies highlighting that work in their professional portfolios.

It’s a useful way to show what you did, the results you achieved, and, of course, what you learned along the way.

It’s easy enough to define the first two. The latter—“what you learned,” or even “what you’d do differently next time,” is often hard to flesh out.

That’s because given the burden of time, you’re far too removed from the nuts and bolts of the operation to visualize, let alone comprehend, what you learned.

It’s hard to glean insights in hindsight; easier to pick up what you learned as you figure it out.

This is why keeping a record (say, a diary for every project, or even just a daily journal) can be so beneficial. By keeping tabs on your decisions as you make them (documenting things like what you knew then, or the challenges and constraints you had to work around, at the time), you can be better able to reflect on why you did what you did when you did it.

Short of having a time-machine, this is a fantastic way to reflect on what you’d actually do next time in the same situation. And, an even better way to track your progress and see how much you’ve grown.

When it comes to learning from our mistakes, recall is vastly overrated. It’s better to learn (and record what you now know) in the moment—which is to say, today.