How to Measure Progress With a ✓, an !, a ~, an X, and a —
At any given time, we can hazard a guess about our progress towards a goal — maybe even a pretty good guess. But if we don’t thoughtfully measure our progress, we’re left exposed to mental models and cognitive bias.
Humans are biased beasts, especially when it comes to ourselves. Our cognitive limitations impede our ability to draw valid conclusions regarding our productivity.
Unless we collect objective information regarding the differences between our intentions and reality, we will continuously make the same mistakes. And worse, we may not even realize we’re making mistakes at all.
Even more important, if we don’t measure progress, we miss the opportunity to improve our efficacy by making informed, strategic adjustments.
By measuring progress, we can be more certain we’re hiking the right path, and more certain we’ll get to the summit before the sun sets.
Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.
— Lao Tzu
How to Measure Progress
Measuring progress need not be complicated. You can, if you want, 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.
Or you can do what I do and take a qualitative approach.
Hold on. 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.
Advantages of ‘Qualitative Self’-ing
- 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? And why?
- We can record our thoughts, not just our actions.
- Because of #1 and #2, if we identify a pattern, we can dig deep and find out the root cause of it.
- Because of #3, mental models can be challenged. As a result, we will perceive the world more accurately and thus be more effective within it.
My Simple Method of ‘Qualitative Self’-ing and Why It Works
My method has two components that work together:
- I journal daily. (On most days, that is. Life gets complicated.)
- I track my most important goals and habits… but not with complicated metrics. Instead, I use 5 symbols (described below) that represent whether my intentions matched reality.
This is why it works:
When tracking is simple, I’m much more likely to stick with it.
Quantifying everything feels like work. For me, it is not a sustainable approach. A couple weeks, maybe a couple months, but at some point I’m not going to want to open that spreadsheet up.
When tracking reveals something worth exploring, a journal is a space-time machine.
My penmanship isn’t great, but it’s better (and less biased) than my memory.
I can compare experiences — not just numbers — across time, revealing all sorts of truths about myself.
Not just patchwork facts. Actionable truths. I can learn-by-doing.
Comparing my Intentions and Realities
Towards the back of my journal, I dedicate a few pages each to a few important goals I’m working towards and habits I’m trying to keep.
Down the left side of the left page is the date followed in the next column by the intention (e.g., “Run 2 Miles”) and then the reality (e.g., “Ran 1 mile.”)
In the fourth column is the meat and potatoes of the feedback loop — not numbers with decimal points, just a few different symbols.
Here’s how I track:
- a checkmark (✓) if I met my intention;
- an exclamation point (!) if I exceeded it;
- a tilde (~) if I did something, but not to the extent intended;
- an ugly X if I did nothing; or
- a dash ( — ) if there was no intention (e.g., the weekend or family plans.)
On the right page, I make “meta” observations and speculations.
Here is a picture:
Finding and Analyzing Patterns
From the symbols, patterns emerge. Some will be interesting but unimportant, others easily explained. But a few will require and be worthy of more investigation.
This is where daily journaling comes in handy. By rereading entries from particular days, I learn the context surrounding my intentions and realities. Perhaps there was a personal crisis that explains a lot of “X”s, or maybe paralyzing anxiety was to blame. Whatever the culprit, it’s usually there if I look for it.
In so doing, I unite two versions of myself: the person I thought I would be and the person I actually was. When they meet, a lot can be learned.
These two questions guide analysis of my progress:
Are my intentions matching reality on a relatively consistent basis?
If not, is it because of a problem with my intentions, implementation, both, or neither?
Based on the answers, I decide whether or not to make strategic adjustments, and what the adjustments will be.
The Point of it All: Making Strategic Adjustments
I try to think simply and not go down a rabbit-hole of over-analysis. The jaunt might result in a better decision, but that’s not guaranteed, and I don’t have time for that anyways.
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. — Theodore Roosevelt
This is how I think about it:
If the problem is implementation, I think about how to make it more effective.
If the problem is with my intentions, I make them more or less ambitious, and consider whether I ought to re-prioritize my various goals and habits.
If the problem is neither (maybe a personal emergency popped up), then I shrug and move on with my life.
That’s all there is to it.
If you are interested, I have a longer piece on how I use journaling to align my long term goals and short term actions.
