diff --git a/src/handler.c b/src/handler.c
index d201107..86f8ef0 100644
--- a/src/handler.c
+++ b/src/handler.c
@@ -103,6 +103,11 @@ void wm_maprequest_handler(Wm *wm, XMapRequestEvent e)
 
     wm_layout(wm, c->m);
     wm_client_focus(wm, c);
+
+    if (wm->log_after_maprequest) {
+        wm_log_state(wm, "after wm_kb_spawn", WM_LOGFILENAME);
+        wm->log_after_maprequest = false;
+    }
 }
 
 void wm_motion_handler(Wm *wm, XMotionEvent e)
diff --git a/src/util.c b/src/util.c
index 7e25df8..4fbb962 100644
--- a/src/util.c
+++ b/src/util.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "util.h"
 #include "wm.h"
+#include <time.h>
 #include <json-c/json_object.h>
 #include <json-c/json_tokener.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
@@ -150,13 +151,50 @@ char* wm_treenode_to_str(TreeNode *node)
     json_object_object_add(jobj, "client", json_object_new_uint64((uint64_t)node->client));
     json_object_object_add(jobj, "id", json_object_new_uint64((uint64_t)node->id));
 
+    char *ret = strdup(json_object_to_json_string_ext(jobj, JSON_C_TO_STRING_PRETTY));
 
-    char *ret = strdup(json_object_to_json_string(jobj));
     json_object_put(jobj);
 
     return ret;
 }
 
+PtrArray wm_nonempty_workspaces_to_strptrarray(Wm *wm)
+{
+    PtrArray ret = wm_ptrarray_new();
+
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < wm->smon->wscount; i++) {
+        TreeNode *node = wm->smon->workspaces[i].tree;
+        if (!wm_treenode_is_empty(node) || (node->type == NODE_CLIENT && node->client))
+            wm_ptrarray_push(&ret, wm_treenode_to_str(wm->smon->workspaces[i].tree));
+    }
+
+    DEBUG_PRINT("%s returning %d\n", __func__, ret.size);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
+void wm_log_state(Wm *wm, const char *prefixstr, const char* logfile)
+{
+    RETURN_IF_NULL(prefixstr);
+    RETURN_IF_NULL(logfile);
+
+    PtrArray ws_str = wm_nonempty_workspaces_to_strptrarray(wm);
+    FILE* fptr = fopen(logfile, "a");
+    if (!fptr) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "wm: could not open log file %s\n", logfile);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (prefixstr) fprintf(fptr, "%lu %s\n", time(NULL), prefixstr);
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < ws_str.size; i++) {
+        fprintf(fptr, "%s\n", (char*)ws_str.ptrs[i]);
+        free(ws_str.ptrs[i]);
+    }
+
+    fclose(fptr);
+    wm_ptrarray_free(&ws_str);
+}
+
 void wm_treenode_print(TreeNode *node)
 {
     char *str = wm_treenode_to_str(node);
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
index 2acfac5..83fcac0 100644
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ TreeNode* wm_treenode_ptr_find_client_node(TreeNode *root, Client *client);
 PtrArray wm_treenode_find_client_nodes_ptr(TreeNode *root);
 TreeNode* wm_treenode_split_get_sibling(TreeNode *node);
 PtrArray wm_all_nodes_to_ptrarray(TreeNode *root);
+void wm_log_state(Wm *wm, const char *prefixstr, const char* logfile);
 
 ClientArray wm_clientarray_new();
 void wm_clientarray_push(ClientArray *arr, Client node);
diff --git a/src/wm.c b/src/wm.c
index bba2bcf..1ba7e5f 100644
--- a/src/wm.c
+++ b/src/wm.c
@@ -543,6 +543,8 @@ void wm_kb_spawn(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
     DEBUG_PRINT("args sl 0: %s\n", args->sl[0])
     DEBUG_PRINT("args count: %d\n", args->count)
 
+    WM_LOG_STATE_START(wm);
+
     if (args->sl[args->count-1] != NULL) {
         fprintf(stderr, "%s recieved non null-terminated args. Returning\n",
                 __func__);
@@ -556,6 +558,8 @@ void wm_kb_spawn(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
 
         exit(0);
     }
+
+    wm->log_after_maprequest = true;
 }
 
 void wm_kb_exit(Wm* wm, Arg *args)
@@ -565,26 +569,38 @@ void wm_kb_exit(Wm* wm, Arg *args)
 
 void wm_kb_kill(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
 {
+    WM_LOG_STATE_START(wm);
+
     Client *c;
 
     c = wm_client_get_focused(wm);
     RETURN_IF_NULL(c)
 
     wm_client_kill(wm, c);
+
+    WM_LOG_STATE_END(wm);
 }
 
 void wm_kb_switch_ws(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
 {
     RETURN_IF_NULL(args)
 
+    WM_LOG_STATE_START(wm);
+
     wm_switch_ws(wm, args->i);
+
+    WM_LOG_STATE_END(wm);
 }
 
 void wm_kb_move_client_ws(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
 {
     RETURN_IF_NULL(args)
 
+    WM_LOG_STATE_START(wm);
+
     wm_move_client_ws(wm, args->i);
+
+    WM_LOG_STATE_END(wm);
 }
 
 void wm_kb_focus_dir(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
@@ -592,9 +608,13 @@ void wm_kb_focus_dir(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
     Client *c;
     RETURN_IF_NULL(args)
 
+    WM_LOG_STATE_START(wm);
+
     c = wm_client_get_focused(wm);
 
     wm_client_focus_dir(wm, c, args->i);
+
+    WM_LOG_STATE_END(wm);
 }
 
 void wm_kb_move_dir(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
@@ -602,16 +622,24 @@ void wm_kb_move_dir(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
     Client *c;
     RETURN_IF_NULL(args)
 
+    WM_LOG_STATE_START(wm);
+
     c = wm_client_get_focused(wm);
 
     wm_client_swap_dir(wm, c, args->i);
+
+    WM_LOG_STATE_END(wm);
 }
 
 void wm_kb_switch_split_mode(Wm *wm, Arg *args)
 {
     RETURN_IF_NULL(args)
 
+    WM_LOG_STATE_START(wm);
+
     wm->smon->workspaces[wm->smon->selws].split = args->i;
+
+    WM_LOG_STATE_END(wm);
 }
 
 struct sockaddr wm_socket_init(Wm *wm)
diff --git a/src/wm.h b/src/wm.h
index d34bf97..fd7d75c 100644
--- a/src/wm.h
+++ b/src/wm.h
@@ -65,6 +65,18 @@ if (c == NULL)              \
 
 #define CURRENT_WS(wm) (wm)->smon->workspaces[(wm)->smon->selws]
 
+#define WM_LOGFILENAME "./log"
+
+#define WM_LOG_STATE_START(wm) do {             \
+    wm_log_state(wm, __func__, WM_LOGFILENAME); \
+} while (0);
+
+#define WM_LOG_STATE_END(wm) do {                   \
+    char __prefix[4096] = {0};                      \
+    snprintf(__prefix, 4096, "after %s", __func__); \
+    wm_log_state(wm, __prefix, WM_LOGFILENAME);     \
+} while (0);
+
 typedef struct Client Client;
 typedef struct Workspace Workspace;
 typedef struct Monitor Monitor;
@@ -124,6 +136,7 @@ struct Wm {
     // bool cfg_focus_on_motion;
     Config config;
 
+    bool log_after_maprequest;
     int socket_fd;
 };