Monthly reports seem like a boring subject, right? Any of us who have had to write them have wondered if anyone else ever reads them with the same effort they take in writing. But here’s the thing, you can make your reports so interesting and valuable that you’ll look forward to writing them.

Here’s how: write them for yourself. Capture the stories of your accomplishments. Keep a running library of what you did, how you fought to make it happen, and how it turned out. Get the details, the numbers, and the skills you used, and keep it short. Then mail it to the person who should care the most–no, not your boss, but your home email address.

I wish I’d done this more regularly over the past few years. I’m in the midst of finding a new job and having a library of accomplishments at my fingertips would have saved me a lot of time in poring through monthly reports and annual reviews in order to pull together the stories and the backup.

Busy people are often so focused on what they need to achieve today or this week for their job, that they forget that part of their responsibilities to themselves is to keep themselves marketable. One way to do this is to keep track of achievements.

So, sure, do what you need to do for your boss. But write a report for yourself first!