Keeping a progress log, part II
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:
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.
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.
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.
The future…
That about wraps it up for now, but this system is constantly evolving. I’m quite happy with how it’s performing at the moment, but there’s always room for improvement. Don’t worry - I’ll keep you updated.
If you like this article, you’ll like my other site, philnewton.net. It’s dedicated to productivity, time management and other personal development tips.
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