Why Every Woman Should Keep a ‘Brag List’

What causes the stubborn gap between men’s and women’s advancement at work? Is it that women are socialized to be less comfortable tooting their own horn, unconscious bias causing women’s contributions to be less valued than men’s, imposter syndrome, flat-out sexism?

This question is the subject of dozens upon dozens of fascinating studies, but while the experts sort out the cause (or combination of causes) for this sorry state of affairs, it’s possible that no matter the roots of the problem, there is one practical solution women can start using to counteract it right now.

It’s called a “brag list,” and while the idea itself is gender neutral, when I stumbled upon a description of it on the blog of software developer Julia Evans, I instantly thought, “This is career gold for women in particular!”

Your brain is a terrible way to keep track of your accomplishments.

Evans lays out the idea behind the brag list in great detail and even offers a template to help readers get started, but the idea itself is dead simple.

“One thing I’m always struck by when it comes to performance review time is a feeling of ‘Wait. What did I do in the past six months?’” Evans relates.