Can I stick to writing weekly reports every day?

Buddy, you've hit the nail on the head with this question. Can you stick with it? The answer is: It's tough, but if you change your mindset, you can.

Don't treat weekly reports as a "task," something you do just to account for yourself to your boss. If you think that way, you'll definitely not be able to keep it up, because it's a pure energy drain, and nobody likes being monitored.

You need to see weekly reports as a "tool," a tool for yourself.

I've been a programmer for nearly 10 years, led small teams, and even started a business. Let me share my perspective with you:

1. Change Your Mindset: Weekly Reports Aren't for "Reporting," They're for "Reviewing and Reflecting"

What your boss sees is the result: They just want to know what you did this week, if you slacked off, and what the progress is.
What you see is the process: Which bug did I get stuck on this week? Why did it take so long? Oh, it turns out I didn't fully grasp the underlying logic. I estimated 3 days for this new feature, but it took 5 – where did I misestimate? How can I improve next week? Which point did I repeatedly argue with the product manager about this week, wasting time?

See, when you think about it this way, a weekly report isn't just a mundane log; it's your personal growth record and a guide to avoid pitfalls. For entrepreneurs, it's even more like your weekly "navigation log" for adjusting direction.

2. Reduce the Cost: Don't Expect to Write It All on Friday Afternoon

Your brain isn't a hard drive; by Friday afternoon, you won't remember what you did on Monday morning. I guarantee you'll rack your brain and still not get it all down.

The correct approach is: Spend 5 minutes daily recording, and 15 minutes on Friday organizing.

Before leaving work each day: Open a notepad (a simple .txt file is fine), a memo app, Notion, or anything convenient, and just write three lines:
- What did I do today? (e.g., Completed development and testing of the user login API)
- What problems did I encounter? (e.g., The JWT refresh mechanism was a bit tricky; I looked up documentation)
- Any thoughts? (e.g., I feel the current database design for this project might lead to performance bottlenecks later on)
On Friday afternoon: Copy and paste these daily "materials," slightly refine the language, and turn them into a structured weekly report. Isn't this a hundred times easier than recalling everything from scratch?

3. Find a Template: Let Your Brain Do Multiple Choice, Not Open-Ended Questions

It's too tiring to start from scratch every time, thinking "What should I write?" Just stick to a simple template and mindlessly fill it in. For example:

This Week's Achievements/Results: Completed tasks A, B, and C, each bringing specific effects (e.g., A improved page load speed by 10%).
Problems Encountered & Reflections: Encountered problem D; how I solved it, or what I tried but couldn't solve and need help with. From this, I learned E.
Next Week's Plan: Intend to do F and G, with estimated time required.

For IT engineers, it's best to add "Technical Highlights/Learning Insights of the Week." Even if it's just learning a Vim shortcut or a SQL optimization technique, write it down – that's your accumulation.

To summarize:

Don't treat writing weekly reports as a test of willpower. People are inherently lazy, and fighting against human nature with willpower is a losing battle.

What you need to do is turn it into a habit that is beneficial to you, effortless, and follows a fixed routine. Just like you habitually brush your teeth every day, not for someone else to check, but for your own comfort.

Stick with it, and in half a year, when you look back at these weekly reports, you'll discover a clear path of personal growth, and you'll thank your present self for consistently documenting.