Instructions:

• Take a pen and paper and write down what is bothering you at work. You can write about a past event or something that is currently going on. Write down the facts, but also your thoughts and feelings.

• Read through what you have written and take a few moments to think of the lessons you can learn from this situation. Once you can see the lesson of the situation, write down the insights. 

• After reflecting on the lessons learnt, take a moment to offer guidance or advice to your future self. Write down actionable suggestions or strategies based on the insights gained from this experience. This advice serves as a supportive note to help navigate similar situations more effectively if they happen again in the future.

Instead of blaming yourself and/or others or wondering why a certain situation is happening to you and putting yourself in a position of being hopeless, it is more constructive to look for lessons you can learn from an experience you do not like. Writing it down helps you have a record of the lessons. If you see that something keeps on repeating, you can add new information until you learn your lesson (e.g. if you are repeatedly not able to meet the deadlines because of poor time management, you can write down all the times it happened and see what you can change about it).

Advice: If you like this tool, you can take a small notebook and start writing down your lessons as they happen. In case you don’t like handwriting, you can also use your phone or laptop.