Metric Magic !
Not so long ago I had a boss (please notice that I said boss, not LEADER) who was a fanatic about metrics! How many hours were worked, how many cases were closed, how many convictions were made, how many unsuccessful prosecutions happened, how many this, how many that.........ad nauseum.
He is perhaps one of the worst people I have worked for in my career(s). I have now decided that it was NOT the metrics, it was the fact that he was a narcissistic sociopath. And I say that with love in my heart!
But he had the metrics part RIGHT! On my new path in Wealthy Affiliate and my new personal growth path I have embraced, well maybe even become obsessed with metrics. The are two aspects to using metrics in order to gain momentum in our lives. The first is setting goals. The second is measuring (or if you prefer - tracking) progress toward those aims. My favorite quote which reflects the importance of targets (aka knowing where you are going) is from Alice in Wonderland.
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat
The second part of this process is equally important. How is our journey going? Are we making progress? How do we know? Drum roll please (drum roll sound if you would Rick) .. METRICS. Measuring progress can be fun but is not always so. If you want to make it fun, there are some interim rewards to be gained. Somewhat like putting checkmarks on a “to do” list or “checklist.” You have a feeling of accomplishment.
I use several methods to track my progress on personal, family, health, business and spiritual goals. I use the TOGGL app to keep a daily journal which I can print at the end of the day or week to see where my time was “spent” down to the second. BTW - Tracking seconds is not my idea; it came with the app! It gives a start and finish time (by hour of the day) length of time and a description of what I did. It was quite unnerving to find out how much time I “waste.” Oh, and taking a nap is NOT wasting time, I just want to throw that into the mix.
To keep track of my health goals I use a FitBit (any tracker will do for the most part). On the Fitbit desktop, I keep track of calories, (to include sugars, carbs, fats, etc.) as well as heart rate, steps, exercise routines and other quantifiables.
An app called Coach.me monitors my progress toward personal and professional goals and helps me to set priorities. I gleaned this little jewel from the book Mind Hacking by Sir John Hargrave. I have mentioned this book before, and it has been a very helpful tool indeed. I noticed that MS Word just said I reached 504 words (tracking? – way cool), so I need to wrap this up.
The point of this diatribe. Do diatribes require points? Well, anyway, the point is that at least for me, a critical part of my “improvement process” is as the cat said, knowing where I want to get to, and finding out if I am making progress.
I hope everyone has a wonderful and enjoyable weekend.
Steve
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I measure progress, in my way, Steve. I know where I'd like to be, and I work towards it. :)
Thanks Steve, love the Alice In Wonderland quote. It is my favourite and I use to use it when I facilitated Planing Sessions. Yes Metrics are important, but we should be careful that it does not consume the whole process. I prefer to monitor the Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
Thanks Steve.
Query: How "safe" are the apps you use? In terms of managing your bio-data, logins, etc. ? Only from reliable source(s).
I had done a lot of research on that issue before I downloaded the apps and considered them all to be safe. I use Dashlane for logins to all of my accounts, so I feel very comfortable that the information is protected as well as it can be.
Hope this helps!
Have a great weekend, Subra
Steve
Wow! That is a lot of tracking. How much time does it take to do all that tracking? Just curious as I am a list person, especially when I am overwhelmed. I too use the fitbit and love it. Wondering if the Toggl would help keep me on track with everything else. Thank you for a great post as always. Gives me something else to think about.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Thanks very much Linda. I had to turn the Toggl journaling experience into a habit. But now it is like doing Yoga. I cannot stop doing it because it has become a part of my life. Since it can be done on a smartphone, tablet or laptop and it will sync across all of them, it is not hard once you get used to it and it does not take that much time. You can go back in AFTER a period has passed and put in an entry if you forget. It took a little experiment to figure out how to do this, but it does work. Now I can look at my day and know where every minute went. It was and still is an eye opener, but it gives me the opportunity to make changes because I now KNOW FOR SURE what I was doing. No more guessing or even estimating.
Hope this helps. Thanks for taking the time to read and make comments. VERY much appreciated!
Hope you have a great weekend also!
Stev
I've always been on the employee side of the desk. So things like metrics never really occurred to me. But, I know if I'm to run a successful business, I have to track things like cashflow, time spent on content creation, social engagement, WA training etc... It's kind of a tough transition in mindsets, but one that is well worth the effort.
I agree, John. But May I disagree with you always being on the employee side of the desk. As a husband and father of three children........you ARE on the other side of the desk 24/7/365.
Thanks my friend!
WHEW!!! That was a mouthful.....but a tasteful one! Initially, I cringe at anything that reeks of structure. Of course, without it, life would just be chaotic, I'm just sharing my initial reaction. I may take a look at TOGGL; I've heard it said that people often think they do more than what they actually do, seeing it on paper leaves no room for guessing. Thanks for the tips Steve!
I share your aversion to structure Veronica. And I hate "Brules" (Pardon my language - BullShit Rules). But this tracking has done what you indicated; it showed me I am NOT doing as much as I thought I was doing. The clock doesn't lie!
Thanks for taking the time my friend and for the great comments.
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Great advice Steve, many thanks :)
My pleasure my dear friend. I have found it helpful. Hope all is well with you and your family.
All the best,
Steve
All is good Steve, hope all is well with you and yours too :)