Essay 3: What to measure

Time

The first and most obvious measurable dimension is time, because it is universal to all tasks and activities, and we can always measure it, but just because you can measure something doesn’t mean you should, and spending more time on some task or activity is—obviously—not the goal and not a reliable independent variable.

(By independent variable, I just mean the variable that you have more control of and that you believe will move the dependent variable—which is the variable you actually want to change. For example, caloric intake is an independent variable, and body weight is a dependent variable. Of course it gets more complicated, because actually controlling your caloric intake isn’t easy—so independent variables [the way I’m using the term] can have their own independent variables. These terms, by the way, are similar to leading and lagging indicators.)

So why should you measure time? There are a few reasons:

  1. Even though more is not always better, some is required:
    There must be a minimum investment for significant tasks. For example, I know I will need to spend at least thirty minutes to finish drafting this essay. Putting in the time is the minimum investment. So, if the draft isn’t produced, that’s the time invested is the first place to look.

  2. Attention leads to concentration:
    Any meaningful, creative work is going to require concentration, and concentration takes some time to cultivate. (Task switching isn’t free and Deep Work is real.) You have to pay attention to something long enough for your mind to develop concentration—otherwise you’re still distracted, and the output will be mediocre.

  3. If you’re not getting the outcomes that you want, you should look at how much time you’re spending:
    Even without setting an objective of spending some amount of time doing something, you should measure the amount of time spent on it, and if you aren’t getting the outcome that you want, that is one variable to consider moving.

  4. Sessions / Cycles:
    Spending means meeting a set of criteria. Time spent doesn’t mean minutes elapsed. It means minute elapsed under a set of standard conditions. Those conditions are defined in Sessions.

Sessions

A session is a defined period of time spent in a defined set of conditions. A simple example is:

  1. No spoken distractions (no Youtube video on in the background).

  2. No checking Twitter.

  3. Sitting at desk.

  4. Thinking about the task at hand.

Measuring Sessions is another way of measuring time. If you know what a Pomodoro is, you know what I’m talking about here, except the 25 minute constraint is arbitrary. Maybe you should do an hour session. Maybe a three hour session. You need to experiment and find what works for you.

Relative Outputs

Counting outputs is a big and complicated topic, but if you are doing anything, there is an output, and you should at least consider counting it. I say relative outputs because the actual quantity is often not what’s important. I will give a few examples.

When I am reading and feel distracted, I will skim the rest of the chapter and count how many paragraphs are in it. Most of the time, this motivates me to get through the chapter.

When I am writing, I count paragraphs because a paragraph represents one idea. I don’t count sentences unless I am having trouble writing a paragraph, then I write sentences as drafts. I know that if the paragraph isn’t coming, if I write twenty sentences that are authentic, even if they aren’t good, then I will have something to work with. Then I can delete all but a couple of those sentences.

If I establish some standards (even if they are highly subjective), I can count final outputs, as well—for example, sentences that I actually believe belong in the paragraph and are good. Again, if I am having trouble producing the number of these that I want, then I should consider increasing another variable (like draft sentences, time spent, or the standards for what I count as a session).

When I am washing dishes, I always organize them a bit first and count them. I find that a source of my anxiety is an undefined quantity of work. When I quantify it, I feel more relaxed.

Always reflect on what you are counting and why. Just like with measuring time, it can be a distraction if you do it wrong. If you are not getting the final results that you want, reflect on what you are measuring and why. But know that every kind of work you will ever do can be improved by increasing some kind of iterative process. That is the fundamental nature of the world.

Improvements

Depending on your workflow, counting improvements can be a useful supplement to counting outputs. Maybe you write one hundred draft sentences on odd days, and you revise (improve) them on even days.

It is too easy to set an intention of improving something later, and in the mean time keep producing unfinished outputs. In my career, I have seen many projects that were completed with the intention of transitioning them into a continuous improvement phase, but that phase never happened. If you are being productive but encountering a lot of resistance or are not achieving your end goals, consider intentionally counting improvements.

Steps

In some processes, it may seem inaccurate to count the iterated occurrence as an output—for example, walking or running (literal steps) or preparing a meal. In these cases, count the steps involved in the process.

Again, counting relative steps can often be useful. I knew a long distance runner who described their routine of coaxing themselves along one block at a time. They would “just one more block” their way to running miles, and they did it every day. I also knew a bodybuilder who tricked himself into going to the gym on most days by only committing to showing up and doing his favorite exercise. He did not commit to doing the full workout, but he almost always did. For him, the number was always 1 (show up; do one set), but he ended up doing more.

Obstacles , Problems, Contradictions

The difference between an obstacle and a step is relative and subjective. We intuitively know that certain kinds of behaviors are steps and others countermeasures against obstacles. For example: if you are making a recipe, the fact that the egg is not yet cracked is not an obstacle. Cracking the egg is a step. The fact that the water is not boiling is not an obstacle. Waiting for the water to boil is a step.

However, any step is a potential obstacle, and if you are not accomplishing your goals, it may be that you are not doing adequate obstacle identification.

Weights

Any occurrence that can be measured can always be weighted, typically in terms of value or importance. For example, you can evaluate the quality of each sentence that you write (for example, from 1 to 10). This can be a corrective if you find that you are chasing a number but are not accomplishing your goal.

Somewhat tangentially, something that I weigh commonly is the argument for or against some decision. I don’t write Pro/Con lists when making a decision, I write “Arguments For” and “Arguments Against” lists, and I put a weight on each argument. The option that has the greatest total weight usually wins. If my intuition does not match the actual weight, then I need to reflect and ask why there’s the discrepancy.