Tracking my progress, step by step

I’ve had some questions from folks about how to use the log pages I created. Here’s how I do it, with some sample info filled in the way I fill it in. I created four different forms, filled out with sample details, like I do. You’re welcome to use these as templates for your own self-therapy/rehab.

Again, the way you do this — if you do it at all — is totally up to you. But this is how I do it:

1. I start out the day, recording how much sleep I got, and listing the things I want to get done, as well as when I want to do them — as shown in the attached Morning Log Sample. A lot of times, I’ll list out things I plan to do, the night before — e.g., when I intend to get up and go through my morning routine, etc. I tend to write down even the smallest activities, if they are significant. I list things like the steps of my morning routine and standard-issue activities which are the bread-and-butter of my daily ritual, no matter how “basic” get included, if they are important for me.
2. As my day progresses, I keep track of what I’m doing, and how I’m doing it. Like in the attached Noontime Log Sample. It might seem like a lot of work, but really, when you’re actively managing your time and you must keep to a schedule, it’s not optional. And when you incorporate it into your daily life, it’s really not that much effort.
3. Later in the day, I’ll fill in more information, like in the attached Afternoon Log Sample. Keep in mind that this day’s info is a Sunday — a light day for me. If it were a weekday, I would have a lot more detail and a lot more stuff listed to do.
4. At the end of the day, I’ll fill in my daily journal, like in the attached Evening Log Sample. I use a highlighter to mark the things I’ve gotten right, and the things I messed up. It’s important for me to distinguish between the things that turned out differently because I messed up (shown in red) and the things that turned out differently just because priorities changed or I did things a little differently (shown in orange). I also do my “360 feedback” journaling. I don’t write a whole lot, but I do spend some time examining my day and thinking about what went right and what went wrong. I really try to focus on what I did right, since there are days when those experiences are rare, and I need as much positive reinforcement as I can get. But I also really think about the things that went wrong, keeping in mind what I will do differently next time.

Again, it might seem like a lot of work, but when you incorporate this practice into your daily routine, it becomes a way of life.

“An unexamined life is not worth living,” someone once said.

That sounds depressing, so I prefer to say, “An unexamined life leads to much more difficult living.”

Truly, the price of taking the time to examine my activities and follow up on them is well worth the value I receive in return. It’s when I don’t do my daily tracking and logging and self-assessments, that I get into trouble.

Oh, one last thing — if I have a long series of unfinished tasks and things I messed up, over and over and over again over the course of days and weeks, I pay special attention to that and make a priority of learning about it. Over the extended term, I look at my log pages and I watch for patterns. If I see that I am failing regularly to get certain things done, I explore that and then do research on it. And if I look long and hard enough and am focused enough on it, I can often find info that helps me deal with the issues, and overcome them.

For example, I have a fairly long list of action items I am responsible for following through with at work, but I haven’t been able to start a number of them, for lack of motivation (and difficulty with initiation).  So, I did some research on motivation and initiation problems, and I learned that I may have issues with my cingulate gyrus, so I’m paying more attention to my initiatory abilities and doing some exercises to improve how that part of my brain is engaged.

It can be a bit daunting to do this every single day — and the stack of papers I’ve got showing what all I’ve tracked is a little overwhelming. But unless I track myself and take a look at what I’m doing on a regular basis, I don’t have the chance to do a course correction, and can I end up stuck in a bad groove that just drags me down.

So, I track myself. And it helps.

It might just help you, too.