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Self-Improvement

If You Didn't Track It, Did It Even Happen?

Ev Chapman
May 19, 2022
•
2 min read

I am the queen of unused trackers

A few days ago I threw out a tweet declaring tracking bankruptcy. It came as I looked at my Daily Page and realised that the tracker I set up to track my mood daily that I thought would be interesting, I had used a total of 2 times out of 50.

And it's not the first time I've failed at tracking my life.

I'm inspired by people who can keep up this kind of consistency. I can see the usefulness of it all. But I'm OK to admit that I'm probably never going to be one of those people who tracks every single thing in their life.

Here are a few lessons from one 'terrible tracking person' to another

Tracking for the sake of tracking doesn't work. It can't just be interesting - it has to be useful & meaningful to you.

You don't have to track forever. Decide what you want to learn & for how long you'll need to track. 30 days is a great start & having an end in sight is sometimes all we need to complete those boxes!

Ticking boxes doesn't work for everyone. Ticking boxes is boring, so find other ways to collect data. One time I tracked 100 days of ocean swims by taking a photo each day. Much more inspiring than ticking a box.

Automate where you can. The tracking part is boring, but having the data can be fun. So find ways to collect the data automatically.

When in doubt use pen & paper. Tools aren't always the answer, sometimes the easiest way to track anything is just crossing off a calendar.

And at the end of the day if you're still not getting any use out of tracking - declare bankruptcy like I did and just jump into the flow of life and enjoy the ride!

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