I don’t want my life anywhere near an Excel spreadsheet: Being a Qualitative Self-er in a Quantitative World

Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.

— Abigail Adams

To improve something, the saying goes, you must measure it. It’s true for all sorts of things, not least of which is ourselves.

Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.

— Lao Tzu

However, doing so requires a feedback mechanism other than our memories. Memories are inherently unreliable and subject to bias.

So, what to do?

One way: You can go full throttle and become a “quantified self-er” and quantify everything in an Excel spreadsheet: steps taken per day/week/month year; sales made per quarter compared to the same quarter last year; calories consumed this Christmas versus the last.

This approach does not work for me, but I know it works for others.

Instead, I use a more qualitative approach.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative

What’s “quantified,” “qualitative,” and what’s the difference?

The concepts come from the social sciences. There are two broad (and often overlapping) groupings of research methods: quantitative (e.g., statistical analyses) and qualitative (e.g., interviews.)

Put crudely: Quantitative studies primarily measure with numbers. Qualitative studies measure with words, thoughts, and ideas.

Each approach brings benefits:

Quantitative work requires less interpretation and is farther-removed from the biases of the researcher. Quantitative work also tends to be more generalizable to other scenarios.

Qualitative studies, on the other hand, are better able to incorporate context and nuance, and can generate new theories.

6 Advantages of Qualitative (vs. Quantitative) Self-ing

1. Selves are, by definition, unique. Our lives are nuanced and filled with context. If we just track the steps we take per day, we’re losing out on the vital questions such as: Where was I walking to?
2. We can record thoughts and actions, not just the latter.
3. Because of #1 and #2, if we identify a pattern, we can dig deep and find out the root cause of it.
4. Because of #3, mental models can be challenged.
5. Because of #3 and #4, emotional intelligence can be improved.

Okay. How does one become a qualitative self-er?

There are lots of ways. Here’s what I do: Journaling combined with some simple tracking. Words, thoughts, and ideas.

Here’s the thinking behind my preference:

1. When tracking is simple, I’m much more likely to stick with it.

2. When tracking reveals something worth exploring, a journal is a space-time machine into my head at that particular time.

3. I can compare experiences — not just numbers — across time, revealing all sorts of truths about myself. Not just patchwork facts about myself — actionable truths.

Finding the Good Stuff

A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance.

— Don Juan

I’ll conclude with some prompts, but honestly, some of my best insights come from random tangents inspired by the sound of a bird or the taste of bad coffee. Still, prompts are helpful when you’re not really caring about the birds or taste buds. Here are a few that I find effective:

Performance Analysis: Journal before you do some task, then journal afterwards, then compare expectations and outcome. This gives you an opportunity to make important insights.

Whatever comes to mind: By giving yourself no expectations other than a number of pages written or minutes spent writing, you end up in interesting places. Even if you don’t unearth fundamental truths or make powerful insights, you get the wheels moving; you put your inner self in a tangible form where it can be analyzed and dissected.

Describing difficult emotions: According to research, it takes only a few journaling sessions for someone to benefit therapeutically. In the long term, if we accumulate different entries dealing with the same stuff, we can glean patterns, and perhaps solutions.

Targeted, Critical Self-Analysis: What did I do right? What did I do wrong? What could I do better? What’s holding me back? What’s pushing me forward? How can I be a better X?

Mining for anxiety: We all experience anxiety and the source is not always obvious. And even when it seems obvious, our cognitive biases might be hiding the true source from us. One way to dig out the source is to spill your guts. As you write, things will come to the surface. Done over a few sessions, this can be powerful. Done over a long period of time, this can be very powerful.

Describing experiences: The most popular use of journals. Entries often start “Today, I…” Entries can range from comments on world events to ho-hum stories about going to the grocery store. While single entries may not result in epiphanies, if considered collectively, ho-hum can become ah-ha.

Go ‘Live on the Scene’: This is something I’ve done recently that works well. When I’m in a particular situation that is typical (e.g., a reoccurring interruption to my workflow or a difficult emotion), I flip open my journal and record things as they happen. The next time the same situation occurs, I can apply what I learned before.

There it is: Qualitative, not quantitative, self-ing.

If you enjoyed this, please Recommend to others. You can read more on this topic at productivityjournals.com and in my book, Long Term Person, Short Term World.