If I could go back and change one thing to live the good life it’d be to make data collection and analysis a priority. I’m talking about analysing my life. I’m talking about habit tracking like its about to go out of fashion..

According to Pearson’s Law – when performance is measured, it improves; when performance is measured and reported, it improves exponentially.  

For 28 years, I didn’t track a single thing. The thought of collecting data about my habits and actions made me feel claustrophobic. Measurements felt like a self-imposed prison cells. I just wanted to be free and happy.

Like many things in life, often the things that bring us results are counter-intuitive. This is no different. Though habit tracking feels like it would be restrictive, it actually liberates you.

Though we think we love spontaneity and chaos, what we really love is habit and structure (you can learn more about how to make your habits stick here). If our worlds aren’t predictable, they are painful.

What Sparked My Habit Tracking?

I would have continued to track nothing if not for my job. As a growth marketer, I have to get down and dirty with the data to discover what’s really going on. I have to make breakfast in bed for that demanding data to get it to really open up. And I do this begrudgingly, as I’m not a naturally analytical guy. 

However, the insights I gained when I started measuring and analysing were profound, powerful, pertinent. The guess work was gone and all that was left were: 

Cold. 

Hard. 

Facts. 

The results chipped away at the begrudgery. The numbers were there all along and as soon as I acknowledged them, they worked with me, making everything I did more effective.   

I wondered if I could gain similar insights in my personal life by habit tracking. If I treated myself as though I were a product I was trying to hack growth for would my life get better or worse?

Only one way to find out!

To begin with, I started tracking how I spent every minute of the day. You must first collect and analyse data before you start thinking about what to change and how to change it.

Why? 

Because there are only so many hours in a day and only so much motivation in a man, there are only a small number of changes you can successfully action at any one time. Given this, it is essential to rank the possible changes in order of importance. Here is the formula I use to rank possible changes:

           (Impact+Ease+Enjoyment)/Time

With an acute awareness of your finances, what you eat, how much work you do, how much time you devote to maintaining and developing your relationships etc. you can see what changes are likely to be most impactful. 

What to Change First: Quick Wins 

I would advise starting with some quick wins. For me, a quick win was reducing phone screen time. I was averaging around 3 hours of screen time per day at the beginning of this experiment. 21 hours a week – that’s 18.75% of my time awake. This was a colossal waste of time. 

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