Pragmatic Productivity

Photo by Alex wong on Unsplash

Data.

It’s the Romy to my Michelle. It’s the Mama Rose behind my not-so-dainty June. It’s the Bette Midler under my…well, you get the idea. Data is dope as ferrrck. And anyone who thinks otherwise is likely navigating an uncharted river in the Amazon without their own personal Bear Grylls and a tactical production crew.

I’m sure you will note that I am a person who has spent her entire career as an artist. The arts are awesome, too. But I wouldn’t have been so successful if I wouldn’t also have been able to run you a solid regression analysis of why any ballet company, at any point, may or may not have been turning a profit.

In short, data is awesome. And why you might ask, is data so splen-dilly-iciously fantasmical? Well, I’ll tell you in three words:

It’s not subjective.

In a world where practically everything is susceptible to fact verification (and for good reason), collecting your own data can mean the difference between optimal personal and professional success and a lifelong sentence of indefinite and stagnant mediocrity.

Whether you want to build a crocheted elbow brace store on Etsy or you want to build a tech company that you will catapult to IPO in less than five years, tracking data will always boost your productivity. Even if your goal is to do more kind things for your spouse, I promise data tracking will provide clarity in your productive pursuit of your goal. Like I said, data is awesome.

So, how exactly, does one collect and use this magical data to create a more pragmatically productive existence?

I’m so glad you asked. Here are three ways to get started using data to double your daily productivity.

Choose your ruler

Before you start to collect data, you need to know what you want. Do you want more sales or more reach? More revenue or more visibility? Healthier body or more adventurous life?

I happen to believe we can all have all of the things we want. But not all at the same time. We can have our cake and our raclette fondue too, but when we try to shove them both into our mouth at the same time, it ruins the experience. Same thing in life. We don’t just have to choose one thing in life, but I believe we should choose to pursue one thing at a time. Otherwise, we dilute our focus.

So, what do you want to do…first? What is more time-sensitive? What accomplishments will give you a leg up on the other things on your lifetime to-do list? What do you feel most drawn to complete in the next few years? That, my friends, is your productivity ruler

Maybe you want to start a blog, write a book, start a company, find a partner, grow your quarterly sales to seven figures. Whatever it is, I encourage you to choose one of these things and make it your goal for the next year or so.

Then, tell everyone about it. You never know who has a sister’s cousin who can help you conquer the world. And the more people you tell, the more accountability you create for yourself.

When you have chosen your weapon of mass productivity, much like entering into a new round of Call of Duty, you’re ready for a battle for success.

Unit of measure

This is where that magical data starts to come in. Productivity rulers come in many different flavors. Do you want a yardstick or is it more beneficial to measure centimeters? Are you measuring miles or inches? Again, data Is awesome, but you need to know how you’re measuring it.

Let’s say, for instance, that you want to grow your small business. That’s awesome. Now, what is your unit of measure for whether you grow or not? What if you gain 100,000 new subscribers to your company’s newsletter in the next three quarters but your sales only go up 2%? Is that growing or not? What if your sales go up 23% but you don’t gain any new customers? Is that growing?

The point is that the same goal can be measured in different ways. You might think that you failed in accomplishing your fitness goal if you don’t lose weight. But, what if you gained a lot of strength? What if your endurance skyrocketed?

Your unit of measure depends a lot on your end goal. I can’t tell you what your unit of measure should be. I can only let you know that you really need to spend some quality time thinking about it. Because we all focus on what we measure. And your unit of measurement is your yardstick for success.

Long-term data tracking

Now it’s time to track that beautiful data. This might be the time where many of you toggle over to the most recent

article (I LOVE !) Before you do, I urge you to stick with me here. Tracking data long-term is the best thing you can do for your productivity.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard something akin to, I don’t know where the time goes. How is it already a new year? Have you ever meant to do something like call a friend or finally make that doctor’s appointment and you just didn’t do it? For months? Or years? That’s why tracking data is the bomb diggety.

Now that you know what you want and how you’re measuring it, it is simple (relatively) to create a way to track how fast you’re moving toward your goal.

My favorite way to input my data is on a simple spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel). I place time on one axis (one month, one week, or one day per cell depending on what and how I’m keeping track) and I put my ruler and unit of measure on the other axis (words written, customers called, dollars sold, calories burned, etc).

Then, I enter data accordingly. It’s also simple just to delegate a notebook for productivity data tracking and enter your daily accomplishments (according to your ruler and unit of measure) into the notebook.

The point is that if you can measure your progress, you can improve and appreciate it. Then, plan to look back at your information on a regular basis. Maybe you look back every Sunday night. Or maybe at the end of every month. If you don’t feel you’re doing as well as you think you could have been doing, you can ramp up your efforts. If things are going well, you can congratulate yourself and keep up the good work.

But, if you don’t have the data, you can’t make educated adjustments to your activities. And you can’t turbocharge your productivity. Because if you don’t have a starting point and a destination location, your GPS is useless.

Final thoughts

It may seem like a silly thing to track how many kind things you do for your partner, how many words you write per day, or how many dollars you spend on coffee, but if you have decided that this is an important metric to your long-term productivity and overall success, nothing is remotely silly.

When you choose what you want to measure and how you are measuring it, you can collect data that will help you accomplish practically anything you want to accomplish. Like I said, data is awesome. But, only if you have the discipline and foresight to collect it.

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