The First Week of Data
What to do when the record arrives, in an order that produces findings rather than a spreadsheet nobody reads. 3 min
Reading a record
Read the entries as a narrative before summing anything. Totals give proportions; sequences give causes.
6 notes · about 19 min in total
Categories You Will Regret
The category scheme decides what the data can tell you, is almost always chosen too early, and is where most personal tracking becomes unusable. 3 min
Averages Hide the Problem
The summary that time tracking tools produce by default is the one least likely to show you anything actionable. 4 min
What a Week Actually Looks Like
The shape most people's records turn out to have, and why the gap between it and the imagined week is the point of the exercise. 3 min
Comparing Yourself to Yourself
The only valid comparison in personal time data, and why every external benchmark in this subject is worse than useless. 3 min
When the Data Says Nothing
A record that produces no finding is a common and legitimate outcome. What it usually means, and what to do instead of tracking harder. 3 min