Analyzing Data

In a recent post about getting my act together, i talked about organizing my activities around three areas - my needs, my relationship options, and the resulting sustainable context of my career. Since then, I've created a rolling dashboard, if you will, that shows all the items in each area that I want to be doing each day (it's quite a large amount!):


ME: Whitening
Solid Work Out
Meditation
Flossing / brushing
half gal water
Juicing
one sweet food
Low Fats
Posture exercises
Leave No Messes
Plan / execute home project
research / manage budget
Fully Present
Organize Day / week (dinners + below)
Blogging/ self coaching
30 min or less of tv
ME: Average

Relationships: FB'ing
Being friendly
Make plans for weekend; post 8pm
empathize with my audience
QT with kids
QT with my wife
Contact family
Relationships: Average

Career: Contact Db updated; backed up
Networking = master mind building
Intel-gathering / research for marketing tactics+trends; team leadership)
meeting + communicating expectations in career plan
Clue into what folks want prior to mtgs / calls (time avail; objectives; follow up)
Career: Average

Total Average

As you can see, I've created scores, or averages for each category and for the total activities. Those averages are compiled from a binary input as to whether or not I have completed the related activity for the day. So, this morning, I whitened my teeth, so I placed a "1" under the 3/7 column. Tomorrow, if I dont do any whitening, I'll need to place a "0". (My teeth are very yellow after years of neglect, FYI).

The formulas average out all the 1's and 0's on a category, activity, and daily basis, and as a result, I now have several days' of data to look at.

Here are some initial observations:

1. Efficiency is a highly important value. there is no way I'll be able to do all these tasks all the time, if I don't multitask. Whitening, for example, can be done while I sleep. Planning out dinners and social activities can be done as a QT activity with my wife and/or the kids. And, being friendly can and should be just a normal part of being outside my house - but, it's a useful prompt to actually get out of the house.
2. There is clear evidence already that I was virtually ignoring myself, which greatly contributed to my low self-esteem. My averages for the "ME" category were in the 12% range; sad proof that I simply put work above all else. 
3. There are some tasks in each category that are continually overlooked, such as eating low-fat foods, having QT with my wife, and connecting with the needs of my audience before plunging into a long-winded diatribe on whatever topic on which I may be fixated. 
4. It's working. This systematic approach to my new priorities are helping me focus on, well, my priorities in a way I've never been able to. As well, I'm learning some valuable decision-making tactics which are a positive reflection of Burns' Feeling Well list of cognitive errors list. 
5. It's hard. Everything on that list is a 'must have' (perhaps not on a daily basis, but nonetheless they're important), but the practice of taking on so many new habits and perspectives is a real challenge. 
6. It's rewarding. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to press the "1" key and how concerned I am when I press the "0" key. That level of accountability and positive reinforcement is really great. I love seeing my averages quickly rise from the aformentioned 12% to an average of 50% in all categories (the "ME" grouping is closer to 60%).

In terms of more tactical observations, their are some critical issues that are present: for example, I consistently place time for populating my Db and 'being present' at the bottom of the list. Other things, like organizing the following day/week are also quite low. It's an issue. It's an issue because it actually creates space to be a lot more flighty and indulgent in my fantasies. And, the more I "imbibe" as it were, the more of a separation from reality I create. Looking at theses early trends, one could argue that we are seeing the very beginnings of a pattern that I've repeated for some time.  I crash due to being oblivious; I become immobilized with guilt and grief; I get some space from things; I recognize a new trend/path to follow; I blindly follow that path - thinking that I'm actually not repeating history. But, that's exactly what I've been doing all along.

In sum, this was a really good move and my continued practice and optimization of this system will only turn me into the type of person others truly admire - and most importantly, the type of person I'll greatly respect.