The Workfied Field Notes

Writing on getting credit for the work.

Performance, promotion, recognition and proximity bias — the research and the practical playbook behind doing great work and being seen for it.

★ Featured · Brag docs

Brag document template (free): the one you'll actually keep

The structure is the easy part. The real question is upkeep — what decides whether you walk into your review with a year of evidence or a blank page. Plus the free template.

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Workfied Team
6 min read
Managers

What is people management? Skills and how to do it well

The definition, the core skills it takes, and how to do it well — plus the honest part about carrying a whole team's cases that nobody warns new managers about.

Workfied Team · 10 min read
Career

What is a corporate job?

The definition, examples and job titles, how to get one — and the one thing about corporate work nobody warns you about.

Workfied Team · 10 min read
Promotion

How to get promoted at work: impact, not activity

The case for impact over activity, why you shouldn't have to be the loudest — and how to build the evidence. Backed by Harvard, Yale and Stanford.

Workfied Team · 8 min read
Self review

Self review examples that read as impact

Before/after examples that turn a task list into impact — written for the people who find self-promotion genuinely uncomfortable.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Brag docs

Brag document for software engineers

Record what you shipped and what it changed — latency, reliability, incidents and the glue work no ticket captures.

Workfied Team · 7 min read
Promotion

How to prove your impact at work

Keep dated, specific evidence of what changed because of your work — so quiet, excellent work competes on substance, not volume.

Workfied Team · 7 min read
Self-advocacy

How to advocate for yourself at work

Healthy self-advocacy, backed by Harvard and Yale — be seen for your work without becoming someone you're not.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Brag docs

Brag document examples: before & after

Real examples showing a task rewritten as impact — the exact reframe that wins reviews and promotions.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Promotion

Promotion packet example: what committees want

A rubric-style packet — opening scope statement, initiatives, glue work and advocates — and when to start writing it.

Workfied Team · 7 min read
Self review

Self review examples for software engineers

Engineer self-review lines in real impact language — latency, reliability, incidents, mentoring — ready to adapt.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Performance review

Performance reviews, explained

The corporate review from start to finish — process, annual vs mid-year, self-assessment, calibration, and how to prepare.

Workfied Team · 11 min read
Self review

How to write a self review

Turn each task into impact, recover the whole year, and beat the recency bias quietly shaping your rating.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Self review

Year-end review examples

A full year of impact in your own words — plus the real challenge: remembering January by December.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Self review

Self evaluation examples for work

Impact-framed examples for any role — adaptable lines you can make your own without overselling.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Promotion

How to ask for a promotion

Evidence, not bravado — the early conversation and the simple script, for people who'd rather not perform confidence.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
1:1s

1-on-1 meeting template

Turn a vague check-in into a running record of your trajectory — delivered work, blockers, growth.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
1:1s

1:1 questions to ask your manager

The questions that surface your impact and your path — so the meeting builds your career, not just clears status.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Track your work

How to track your accomplishments at work

Capture in the moment, the build-itself way — so you never face the abandoned spreadsheet again.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Salary

How to ask for a raise — with evidence

Documented impact leads to better outcomes. Make the conversation about your contribution, not your needs.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Brag docs

Brag document for designers

Outcomes over output. Capture adoption, conversion, drop-off reduced, and the research that changed a roadmap — not a Figma-file tour.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Brag docs

What is a brag document?

The definition, where it came from (Julia Evans), why it works — and why most get abandoned, plus the fix.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Brag docs

How to keep a brag document

The #1 reason brag docs die is upkeep. How to keep one effortlessly so it's full when review season arrives.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Brag docs

Brag document for product managers

Outcomes, not output. Capture the launches, the metrics they moved, and the influence committees actually reward.

Workfied Team · 7 min read
Remote work

How to get promoted as a remote worker

Proximity bias is real and measured — but it narrows with objective evidence. What to document, what to stop, how to prioritize.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Self review

Self review examples for designers

Research that changed direction, systems that sped teams up, flows that moved a metric — influence, not a pile of screenshots.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Self review

Annual review self assessment examples

Four buckets mapped to your level's criteria, backed by a year of evidence — so recency bias can't shrink your year.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Promotion

Staff engineer promotion

A job change, not a title bump — impact beyond your team. Judgment, technical direction, and lifting other engineers.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Promotion

How to write a promotion justification

A case file mapped to the rubric, built from accumulated evidence — not a plea. What to include, what to cut, how to prioritize.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Promotion

How do designers get promoted

Move up on user and business impact, research influence, and system leverage — not volume of screens. From a designer founder.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Promotion

Senior engineer promotion criteria

Senior vs mid is autonomy and scope, not output — owning ambiguous problems end to end. What to evidence, what to cut.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Managers

Questions to ask in a 1:1 as a manager

Surface what's shipped, stuck, and wanted — then remember it next time. A private memory, never surveillance of your team.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Managing up

Weekly update email template to manager

Impact-framed, under a minute to read — the cheapest defense against recency bias, and a paper trail for review time.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
1:1s

How to prepare for a 1:1 with your manager

Five minutes, three things: wins, one blocker, one growth item. Evidence beats vibes — and turns a check-in into a career talk.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Managers

Manager 1:1 notes template

Your private memory of each report — commitments, concerns, follow-ups. Never a tracking or surveillance tool.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Remote work

Proximity bias in remote work

The measurable cost of being out of sight — 31% less likely to be promoted — and the documentation fix that narrows it.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Remote work

How to stay visible working remotely

Visibility from evidence, not face time — make your impact legible without the always-online theater.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Career moves

How to update your resume after a layoff

Turn the work you actually did into impact bullets, fast — calm and practical, not a foggy-year excavation.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Performance

Recency bias in performance reviews

Why managers weigh your last few weeks over your whole year — and why a dated, year-long record rebalances it.

Workfied Team · 6 min read
Salary

How to negotiate a raise with evidence

Documented impact plus market data shifts the talk from your needs to your contribution — the ground you want.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Brag docs

Automatic brag document

The one that builds itself from quick notes — so it's full and current when you need it, never the blank doc you meant to keep.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Track your work

Best way to track work accomplishments

An honest comparison — spreadsheets, notes apps, journals, effortless capture — and what actually lasts past month three.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Brag docs

Brag document app

Private, and builds itself. The two things that matter most — privacy and staying current — and why no company integrations is the line.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Brag docs

Brag document Notion template alternative

Why manual templates go stale — and the real alternative: not a prettier template, but removing the manual step entirely.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Manifesto

Why we built Workfied

Advocacy, not surveillance. The founder's case: built for you, never your company — and the line we will not cross.

Workfied Team · 5 min read
Managers

New manager tips: staying on top when you're drowning

Who you owe what, who you haven't checked in with — a private second brain for the overwhelmed new manager, never surveillance of your team.

Workfied Team · 6 min read

The research and playbook on getting credit for your work — brag docs, self reviews, promotions, 1:1s, remote visibility, and salary.