Measure to Control - I

2022-06-20

You might have heard the statements by Tom DeMarco:

“You cannot control what you cannot measure.”
“You can’t manage what you can’t control, and you can’t control what you don’t measure.”

You cannot control a system or manage a resource if you cannot measure it. This concept applies to different fields, from automatic system control to weight loss/gain. If you want to design an automatic water pump that ensures your water tank is full, how can you know when to start pumping or stop pumping water if you cannot measure the water in the target tank? Obviously, the system will be broken unless you devise some way to measure water in the target container. Similarly, if you are on a diet for weight gain or loss, how can you tell that your diet is working if you cannot measure yourself periodically?

Let’s apply the same concept to work and productivity. In physics, we have the concept of force and work: *Work = Force * Distance*

In other words, if your force led to no target displacement, work would be zero. The same thing applies when you want to get a task done; just sitting at your laptop does not mean you are getting work done. Many people get busy sitting in front of their computer screens for long hours; this does not mean you are necessarily working. If you feel at the end of your “work day” that you didn’t get any serious work done, you might realize that distracting tasks have eaten up most of your time near your computer. My solution: find a way to measure it.

The short answer is to use the Pomodoro Technique. The idea is to work for 25 minutes, i.e. a Pomodoro, then take a break for 5 minutes; moreover, take a more extended break once you have worked for four sessions. This way, at the end of your day, you will know whether you have worked for 10 hours or only 6 hours with 4 wasted.

I have used a couple of apps on my phone and enjoyed both of them.

Note: I have bought the “pro” version of both apps. I currently prefer the latter because I can use it offline and have no privacy concerns due to third-party libraries in the former.