How Do You Measure Progress?

There are many different ways to measure your progress as you sharpen your time management skills and improve productivity. A very simple way is to really think about how you're doing when (or shortly after) people ask, "How's it going?" Different ways seem to be appropriate at different times and at different stages of human development. I'll present some methods that I've found so far. As the Douglasses say, "Whatever methods you use to evaluate your progress, the important thing is to evaluate it regularly." (Manage Your Time, Manage Your Work, Manage Yourself, p. 269)

Two Wings on a Bird--Two Questions

Birds need two wings to fly--they can't fly with one wing. One is not more important than the other; they're simply both necessary. Similarly, it seems that to measure progress in life, we need to periodically consider two questions. One question is, "Am I doing the right thing?" A second one is, "Am I doing things right?"

Another way of stating the first question was provided by time management guru Alan Lakein: "What is the best use of my time right now?" (How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life, by Alan Lakein. Signet, New York, 1973, p. 96) Most of us have numerous tasks and objectives that we wish to accomplish. Among all these things, what is best to do right now? Occasionally asking this question is very important. This conventional time management (CTM) question helps us clarify what to do. Perhaps we haven't really thought much about what we're doing, and it would be better to do something else now. It seems that we think about this question implicitly anyway--why not make it explicit? Of course we will have some uncertainty and confusion unless we have determined our goals, prioritized the tasks necessary to reach our goals, and set up a schedule (see conventional time management workshop).

Another way of stating the second question is, "Am I timelessly involved in what I'm doing?" (See Excerpts from Results in No Time and Linear vs. Timeless Views.) This inner time management (ITM) question helps us clarify how to do things. It asks whether we are doing things in the optimal, timeless way. People report that in peak experiences of all kinds, there is no sense of time flowing in a way that feels out of control. So it's helpful to ask "Randall's question" periodically: "Am I timelessly involved in what I'm doing?" If not, if we're not totally involved, or if we feel time passing in a way that has even a slight bit of pressure or anxiety, there's room for improvement in both productivity and well-being. The time management guide addresses various tasks, habits, and time-wasting perceptions and feelings like anxiety, deadline pressure, and the simple feeling of time passing. If you can identify what is between you and a timeless way of being and doing, check the guide--the obstacle might be there. Click on the appropriate link(s) and you should find some exercises to do to move toward the center of the whirlwind of your activity.

Most conventional time management seminars cannot resolve our problems with time because they don't touch the limits built into the linear time paradigm (LT) that usually underlies CTM. (See Two Paradigms: Performance & Well-Being Depend on the Paradigm of Time.) "While with these [CTM] methods you may alleviate some time pressures temporarily, because your state of being is not affected, you never generate any deep or lasting changes in how you view and interact with time. . . . Ultimately you return to your old ways, and with new frustration." (Hunt and Hait) Lasting, substantial control and use of time, to increase health, productivity, and creativity, is possible only if we understand time, our attitudes toward it, and how it works--and this is not usually taught in CTM seminars. Rather than CTM's focus on what we want to do, inner time management (ITM) gives methods to optimize the moment-by-moment way we relate to, or the extent to which we are involved in, our current activity. By finding the peaceful, yet most productive 'zone' at the center of our whirlwind of activities, we can transform our feelings of time flowing--including overwhelm, time pressure, anxiety, and boredom. For people in all but the most routine jobs, learning and consistently using both CTM and ITM methods is both valuable and necessary in order to continually improve our lives both personally and professionally. By combining ITM practices with CTM, we can not only avoid the mindless drivenness that readily accompanies CTM with its usual focus on results, but also open up new levels of performance and fulfillment that are simply unavailable with CTM alone. For an introduction to some of the principles of ITM, see Mastering Time 101.

Other Measures

Another measure of progress is provided by the Mastering Time Inventory. This checks attitudes, principles, and practices essential to mastering time.

For some people it is extremely helpful to use a journal occasionally thoughout the day, or just at the beginning or end of the day, in order to record what's happening with regard to increasing productivity and well-being. Often people find that bringing a bit more attention to what's happening by writing things down--whatever comes to mind--allows helpful insight to form, bringing clarity to whatever can improve your situation. "Making regular journal entries is a way to record your discoveries and see your progress in the adventure of training the mind and bringing awareness to work." (p. xviii, Mastering Successful Work (MSW), by Tarthang Tulku)

Measuring Awareness, Concentration, Energy

"Awareness, concentration, and energy . . . . The more we use them, the more effective they become. . . . there is no limit to how much we can achieve." (p. 53, MSW)

"One way to support disciplined work and a specific discipline in itself--is to practice using awareness, concentration, and energy as a yardstick to measure our work and assess whether we are heading toward success or failure. The standards and measurements we apply in our work apply equally well in our personal life, and can also be used to assess the success or failure of organizations, educational systems, and even national and international policy-making." (p. 120)

"We could think of awareness as the driver, concentration as the vehicle, and energy as the fuel that gets us where we want to go. Using these three resources together, we can define our work clearly, direct attention as needed, set targets, and move steadily to meet our goals, shaping our intention and intelligence toward a diamond-like intensity.

"As we gain familiarity with the interplay of aware-ness, concentration, and energy, we will find that different combinations are suitable for different types of work. By observing and experimenting to see which are the best combinations for particular tasks, we can begin to learn more about their interconnections and make subtle adjustments that make us more effective. For example, while some kinds of work require a narrow focus, others need a broad perspective, and some call for a combination of both. Writing in a quiet environment, we can focus purely on the ideas and words before us; doing welding several stories up, we need to develop a broader kind of concentration.

"Again, some jobs require soft energy and some need intense energy. To control powerful machinery like a jackhammer, energy must be both stable and powerful. Mental work or graphic design also calls for stable energy, but with a softer intensity. Similarly, when we make an initial plan for a project, a good sketch may be all that is needed to start the creative process. When it is time to refine the plan, however, we need a very precise and cutting awareness that carefully delineates each detail in sequence." (pp. 49-50)

"At times the interplay among these three resources can become unbalanced in quite specific ways. If awareness does not choose a goal toward which energy can be directed, energy becomes inconsistent, chaotic, and confused, and eventually turns toward dullness. Energy without concentration is scattered and restless: Instead of being productive, it feeds on dissatisfaction and tends toward extremes of emotionality and ultimately collapse. Without energy, awareness and concentration are quickly depleted; if they do continue to operate, we fall into daydreams or pleasant but essentially meaningless images." (p. 123)

"It is possible to identify imbalances in the interplay of awareness, concentration, and energy in individuals, in a single project at work, and in the rise and fall of corporations; perhaps we can even see such imbalances at work in the fortunes of whole nations and civilizations. The more we look in these ways, the more we realize that the interplay of these three resources helps shape our human destinies." (p. 124)

"Exercise 36: Observing ACE

A good beginning practice for tracing awareness, concentration and energy in operation is to take notes every day on how these factors show up in your experience. Note the effect of the weather, your working conditions, the specific demands of the job you are currently doing, your physical and mental condition, your diet, your emotions, what you sense and experience, your situation at home, and so on.

Observe those around you as well, looking for patterns. For example, young people readily manifest energy, those in their middle years are more likely to be focused and concentrated, and those who are older are more able to awaken awareness.

Another factor to evaluate is hoxv the kind of work being done affects and draws on awareness, concentration, and energy. In some kinds of work the failure to develop certain kinds of concentration can actually be dangerous; in others a different quality of concentration, more akin to awareness, must operate if there are to be any worthwhile results. Artists and musicians need an awareness linked to sensitivity, while a successful stockbroker needs the kind of awareness that focuses on details and broad-scale trends alike, successfully balancing both. It might also be possible to discover different patterns within different ethnic or cultural groups." (p. 126)

"Exercise 37: Chart of Self-Discovery

This practice makes use of awareness, concentration, and energy as a yardstick to assess how you are working and how you could improve your discipline. The basic exercise is to chart the rise and fall of each factor throughout the day."

Make a simple chart to record your measurements. Put 'awareness', 'concentration', 'energy', 'productivity', and 'satisfaction' on the vertical axis. Use copies of the chart "to track awareness, concentration, and energy for a month, assigning each factor a value between one (the lowest) and ten (the highest). By tracking yourself regularly you will begin to see more clearly how variations are connected both to the nature of the work and to the level of accomplishment and satisfaction. Making entries three times a day is recommended: in the early morning, at midday, and at the end of the afternoon. If you wish, you could add a fourth checkpoint in the late evening. At each checkpoint, be alert for negative judgments or feelings of guilt that discourage further efforts. Cultivate a light and pleasurable involvement that supports interest in the measurement process. In this way you will protect your focus on the work, encouraging awareness to fully engage the flow of concentration.

In addition to charting each factor separately, note their interplay. A rule of thumb for spotting imbalances is that the factor operating at the lowest level needs to be functioning at least half as effectively as the highest factor. For example, if concentration is at 8, energy and awareness must be at 4 or higher; otherwise, distortions will arise, and the factor operating at higher levels will begin to deteriorate.

In this interplay, concentration should be considered the central factor. Thus, if you average the three factors, the average should be weighted toward concentration. Try a ratio of 2:1:1 to start with, and see whether this conforms to your experience. Here is another rule of thumb: a weighted average between 5 and 7 should produce good results. . . .

In assigning numerical values to the quality of awareness, concentration, and energy in operation, you will have to develop your own standards for measurement, for at present we lack the shared experience that would allow us to develop a more objective approach. In any case, it is your own experience and your own patterns that count. By conducting this kind of detailed inquiry, you will develop data and knowledge concerning your own capabilities and patterns, learn how to develop your own resources more fully, and prepare yourself to take on bigger challenges and opportunities." (pp. 127-9)

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