Did you know that taking fifteen minutes to reflect and write about your day’s work can actually improve your job performance and entire career by nearly 23%? A recent study from Harvard Business School tested the theory on daily written contemplation and found that the control group actually did better on an assessment given. There was enhanced performance and overall success considerably.

According to associate professor of operations at University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flager Business School Brad Staats, the actual action of writing things down tends to be more helpful than inner musing. This is because the act of writing tends to compel obedience for us to stay alert. In the study, physically documenting what happened in their day actually forced people to process their happenings, discover patterns, and connect dealings.

Staats said that the experiment did not request employees to focus on positive or negative reflections. “What we wanted was for them to reflect more on whatever they thought was most important from the day,” he explains. “The positive/negative point is a great question, but not one we looked at here. In other research, Francesca and I have explored how individuals struggle to learn from failure, but when they accept internal responsibility for their actions then they learn from failure.”

According to career coach George A. Boyd, reflection actually helps you to hold on to information for a lot longer than you normally would. This is because it kicks something into gear called deep processing. The researchers who administered and supported with the study were actually stunned by the effects they saw in employee production and performance.

The main importance when it comes to developing a habit for daily reflection is consistency. It is definitely a path to become a better employee and a more productive person, but it can be hard to maintain the routine. Staats warns, “In talking to people, one of the real challenges with reflection is finding the discipline to maintain it. That means people need to find ways to continue the practice – whether that is blocking your calendar, finding an accountability partner who might also reflect at the same time, or something else that works for you.” Regardless of how you decide to stick with the daily writing habit, it is absolutely something everyone should adapt into their lives!