I have lived in my not-home-country for 15 years. That means I spend a lot of time doing visa paperwork. So much time...

I never saved the documentation, the transcripts, the travel history, those extra passport photos, even the last completed application. You'd think I have a system, but nope. I'd just kind of power through near the deadline, miserably swimming in paper.

When I finished the process I was always so relieved to escape the worm hole, and to never think about it again.

And if I did have the thought that it might be helpful to document what I'd done for next time around, I'd say meh... not right now. I've earned the right to stop thinking about this.

In my second residency application in the UK I hit a breaking point. I was so irritated at myself for making future me get zero help from current me. But this time was different: I had a moment of empathy for my future self. I became a documentation obsessive.

For that monstrous application, I made screenshots, spreadsheets, folder structures, naming conventions, step by step lists, email tags, labeled folders, post-it notes.

At first I felt like a Roomba stuck in a kitchen crevice. And then I felt catharsis.

Fast forward two years... To my third UK application.

OH MY. The appreciation and self-love I got when I sat down to do that thing again. It wasn't just the documentation that was helpful. I also remembered everything so much better because I took the time to capture what I did.

And the things I didn’t remember?

They were mostly there. Or refreshed by seeing notes and documents.

Now whenever I do something that hits a bar of complexity or annoyingness that I suspect I’ll have to do again, I write notes on how I did it, I make a folder with screenshots, and usually I write a little readme to my future self.

What does this have to do with effective remote work? Everything.

But first we have to stop saying, not right now.

When you just finished something annoying or difficult or complex, stop memory-holing the experience. Take a beat.

Make some notes about what you did, what you want your future self to have at hand when you have to do this again. Or better yet, if you want to make it easy for a colleague to jump in and easily get up to speed on something rather than waste their time starting from square one.

Right after you finish is the best and easiest moment to do it well, even if it's the time we least want to think about it!

So if you’re up to the task, and you finish something this week that was tough, quiet your ‘not right now’ voice.

Document how you did it and what you'd want to know or remember for next time.

You’ll thank yourself later.