Addictions come in many flavors: smoking, drinking, drugs, reading, exercising, email, watching tv, news. Yes, I did say reading, exercising, email, watching tv and news can be addictions. There are probably a few others we don’t typically associate with the word “addiction”. I believe doing too much of any one thing is an addiction, if that thing negatively affects you or your surroundings. That’s my opinion. But, we commonly misconstrue the idea of an addiction to be smoking, drinking, drugs, etc. This is related to what I’ve heard people refer to as having life balance. But, regardless, I’m not qualified or smart enough to bore you with the social ramifications of “addiction” and what a true “addiction” is or is not.

Actually, I’m writing to solicit your help in what I consider my most recent addiction: personal measure and monitoring. I’m going to ask for your feedback on tracking tools you use to monitor individual accomplishments or events.

But first, a little background-

Let me say right from the beginning: my latest addiction is focused on tracking myself and not comparing myself to other people. It’s about measuring and monitoring myself and only myself. I’m competitive, but this is not about other people.

I wrote a post a while back about the impossibility of determining if an event, project, task, etc. was successful if there were not pre-determined expectations going in to it. I mean, how do you honestly know if you don’t have a measurement? Sure, on an emotion level, it’s easy to determine if the event was pleasant or not. But, I’m talking about using benchmarks to measure and monitor. This way we can go beyond the emotional level in order to determine success along the way and after the fact.

Besides, you can use this data to grow on the next occasion.

As a participant in communities, groups and teams, we use all kinds of tools to measure and monitor, but I’m curious about what tools people are using to track themselves individually? You know, some people use Quicken or Wesabe to track personal finances. Some people use online logs to track their runs before a marathon. You might track golf rounds, geocache findings or honey hole fishing spots.

With these examples, hopefully you have a reference to what I’m talking about. The following are my paraphernalia for personal measure and monitor:

Measure and Monitor Sleep with Sleeptracker PRO

I’m what you might consider an early riser; 5am most days. I originally purchased the Sleeptracker because of the vibrating alarm. I thought my family would appreciate not having their sleep interrupted from my alarm. It also allows you to set an awake time “window” which I thought sounded pretty cool. (it is) But lately, I’ve been using the Sleeptracker to measure and monitor my sleep. It allows me to easily record data about things that might have affected my sleep the night before: things like temperature, big meal, whether I had a scotch or two, stress, etc. I’m starting to notice patterns which are interesting to me.

Measure and Monitor Tasks with GTD/Vitalist

By now, I imagine you’ve heard of Getting Things Done. GTD. I’ve been a believer and follower for about 2 years now. I started out using Yahoo Notepad with @ in front of folders and then moved to Google Docs. I even tried the Outlook plugin for a bit, but due to a variety of circumstances (reads: I use multiple devices, operating systems, access points and the idea of synchronization doesn’t seem DRY to me), I dropped it pretty quickly.

I tried Remember the Milk, but found Vitalist easier to use for GTD. Also, recently I’ve started to use the Jott Link to record to Vitalist from my mobile phone. Really handy!

Measure and Monitor Heart Rate with Polar

I measure and monitor my heart rate during runs using an old Polar S150. I’m actually looking to improve this initiative though. I purchased the S150 when I ran a marathon a gazillion years ago. At the time, I also used a free, online, ahem, crappy run log. I’d like to be able to use one device to measure and monitor heart rate and distance. This SmartSync Heart Rate Logger with PC Download gizmo seems like a good candidate to try. Anyhow, I benefit from being able to measure and monitor my body using a tool during exercise rather than rely on my mental attitude towards the particular workout.

Measure and Monitor Thoughts with FreeMind

Ok, I’m fairly certain on not being capable of improving my thoughts. Which means, I’m sure to continue to have bad ideas along with the occasional good ones. In any case, mind maps are a beneficial way to organize my thoughts. I’ve been using FreeMind.

Measure and Monitor Music Listening with Last.Fm

Frankly speaking, I don’t have the social network I did in college and high school anymore. At that time, it was easy to find new music due to the amount of exposure. Those days are gone. Gone, but not forgotten! Anyhow, where was I? The Last.fm recommendation engine is fantastic. By monitoring (scrobbling) my listening habits, I am able to receive recommendations for new music. Well done, Last.Fm. Must admit, I had a difficult time switching from Pandora, but I’m glad I did.

Conclusion

The measure and monitor of sleep, tasks, heart rate, thoughts, music are beneficial to me in a variety of ways. In short, it’s a positive thing so far. However, I am trying to be cognizant of what I believe is my latest addiction. Also, just realized I’m probably a dork with this kind of addiction. Not the first time! Anyhow, help me go a bit further? What tools are you using for personal measure and monitor?