Keeping a progress log, part II
Posted: July 5th, 2006 at 10:00am
Note: This was originally posted on the Sodaware Blog on November 17th, 2005.
In the last thrilling instalment, I briefly covered my progress log, a book which I use to keep track of how close I am to achieving my major goals, as well as my overall level of productivity.
In this entry I’ll be describing:
Creating my 90 day goals
As mentioned in my last entry, I have a total of 21 goals to achieve in 90 days, divided equally into seven categories. I got this idea from “The Power of Focus”, and I’ve found it helpful for making sure I have balance in my goals. I use the following categories:
- Financial – This covers how much money I want to earn and how much I want to save.
- Business – This concentrates on what I want to achieve with my business, and where I want it to be once the 90 days are up. If you don’t run your own business, this area would cover work instead, and may include goals for promotions, raises or important tasks you want to achieve.
- Fun – Sometimes it’s easy to forget the fun side of life, so I use this section to note any fun things I want to do, as well as how many days I want to take off work.
- Health – This makes sure I’m thinking about my exercise and diet plans.
- Relationships – This includes family and friends, as well as work relationships. It’s important to nurture your most important relationships, and to make time for the people in your life that matter.
- Contribution – I like to do my bit for others. My contribution goals tend to focus on my work with the Scout Association, as well as helping people on software development forums and producing material for when the rest of this website goes live.
- Personal – The last section contains any goals that don’t quite fit anywhere else.
I use mind-mapping to create goals for each area, and then decide on the time span for each goal. I may wish to achieve some in less than 90 days, and others may be longer term goals. It’s important to note that I usually have more than 21 goals at this point, so I pick the three most important goals from each category, and these become my 90 day goals. I keep a note of the other goals, and these will usually become integrated into my weekly goal setting session.
Tracking my progress
I use a modified version of “The Printable CEO” for my daily tracking, and although it doesn’t look as good as the original, it gets the job done. I keep the list of activities that are worth points on a seperate piece of card, which also acts as a bookmark. The list itself is modified from the original, and it now reflects my interests and line of work.
Even though I’ve only been using this part of my system for a few weeks, I’ve already spotted a few patterns. It’s a great way to identify which areas need improving, and also which days are least productive. So far Monday is my worst day, and Thursday my best. Curious.
The “b-Alert” system
I read about the “b-Alert” system in the book “The Power of Focus”, and I really liked it. It’s not particulary complex, and it only takes a few seconds to update it at the end of the day. The idea is to make sure you have balance in your daily activities (much like creating balance in your goals).
“b-Alert” stands for:
- Blueprint – This might consist of a few “to-do” items, or it might be something more complex. Either way, it’s good to have an idea of what you want to achieve during the day.
- Action – Action is the most important activity, hence the bold letter. Not action = no results.
- Learning – A daily dose of learning helps you increase your own knowledge, and stimulates your mind. You don’t need to devote hours of study in the library, and what you learn doesn’t have to be profound. Don’t limit yourself to a single source either. Books, journals, and magazinesare all good sources, but what about blogs, podcasts, audio tapes and even interviews?
- Exercise – It only takes thirty minutes a day. I always exercise for 20 minutes every morning, and although some days I really don’t want to, it’s made such an improvement to how I feel that I really wouldn’t want to give it up. As with learning, vary your sources of exercise. It doesn’t have to be a fourty minute session in the gym thrashing your biceps, it can be a nice walk or a bicycle ride.
- Relaxing – If you’ve worked hard, you deserve time to relax. Spend time with your loved ones, admire nature or have a nap! The break will do you good, and leave you feeling recharged and ready to face whatever challenges life decides to throw at you. Remember – you deserve the break, so don’t feel guilty for not working. If you work for yourself, this can sometimes be hard to do but it’s important that you don’t let yourself get burnt out.
- Thinking – A little reflection can go a long way. This is what I use the “What went right/wrong” sections in my progress book for.
My book has a grid for tracking this, and once I’ve worked on a particular section I circle the letter. At the end of the week it’s quite easy to see which areas aren’t getting the attention they need. You don’t need to work through the letters in order, you simply use them as a guide for planning your day.
Keeping a progress log
Posted: July 3rd, 2006 at 9:57am
Note: This was originally posted on the Sodaware Blog on November 14th, 2005.
I’ve been keeping a progress log since the end of August, and although it’s still far from perfect, it’s been a great help on my self improvement odyssey. Recently I’ve modified it slightly to use a version of “The Printable CEO”, and although I’ve not been using it for very long, I do feel like it’s made an improvement.
Even though I use computers most of the time, I prefer to keep my log on paper as it means I can review it when I’m not in my office. I also think it gives it some character, although that’s entirely down to personal preference. I also do everything by hand – no printing here. Perhaps “The Drawable CEO” would be a good name for it.
The basics
Using both sides of a single page for each week, I keep track of the following:
- Weekly goals
- My points monitor
- My “b-Alert” tracker
- What went right
- What went wrong
I added a transparent pocket to the inside of the book, which I keep my 90 day goals in. I have 21 goals, divided into seven sections. In part two I’ll explain these sections in more detail.
Each page starts with the date, and then the top three goals I wish to achieve for the week. I put checkboxes in front of each goal so I can tick them off when they’re complete. The original system had me setting three goals for each day, but I felt this crowded the page a little too much and also distracted me if I had goals from the previous day that I hadn’t completed.
Underneath this is my points tracker, and then underneath that is my “b-Alert” tracker. I took the b-Alert system from “The Power of Focus” (reviewed here). I also use the goal setting tips from the same book to make sure I’m covering the important aspects of my life. This will be covered in more detail in part two.
The back of the page is divided into two sections. The top two-thirds is “What went right”, where I note anything important that was achieved. Reading over this gives me a boost, and helps remind me of what I’ve achieved during the week.
The remaining third is “What went wrong”, which allows some analysis of where the week could have been improved. I deliberately kept it to a third to prevent myself from being overly critical, and also to focus myself on the major issues.
Where possible I use bullet points, as it makes it easier to scan for a quick overview. It’s useful to look over this during my weekly review, as it helps me find areas for improvement.
In part two, I’ll cover the trackers in detail, and also explain how I ensure I have balance in my goals.