Madeline
In order to achieve the many things I want to achieve, I have kept a To Do list in Excel sheets for over two years. But this is not your everyday To Do list. This list is very methodical and has evolved over the time I have kept it.
OKRs in the Traditional Sense
OKRs were the brain animal of Andy Grove, the CEO of Intel, at the time. The idea is that you have objectives, the “O” in OKR. This objective is what you want to achieve. The key results, the “KR in OKRs”, are the metrics you use to achieve these objectives. This methodology is intended to be goal-setting in a collaborative environment. Everyone knows what they need to achieve and why.
My Objectives
For me, my objectives are priorities for my well-being. Basically, things I want to help with self-improvement. I have organized my objectives based on the things I want more to the things I want less, this helps with prioritization. My objectives, in order are:
- Work
- School & Writing
- Body
- Other
Each of my key results roll up to one of these categories and contribute to the achievement of getting to where I want to go. They are not goals in themselves, but areas I would like to improve upon. Other ideas may be:
- Family
- A hobby like cooking, knitting, or learning a new language
- Productivity
- Self Branding
My Key Results
Key results are measurable. For example, I drive my “Work” objective, the key results are based on tasks completed in the Asana board I keep for myself. I also break these down into smaller bite sized pieces. I then are more likely to work on a project and get credit for multiple tasks on my key results. This is good project management practice… and I also feel more accomplished with what I get done over a single day of work.
Key results are in my control. For example, in my “Body” objective, one of my key results is not “weight”. Instead I have things like “number of weight workouts” and “number of steps”. These types of goals keep me in line with progress rather than beating myself up for something I did do work on.
Key results can only be progressed upon. For example, in my “School” objective, it is tempting to use a grade as a key result. But this can go up and down. The bigger question is, what can I do to affect my grade? I can finish tasks that contribute to my grade, such as studying a module or finish code for a requirement on a product. This also keeps this as something that is in my control. As long as I finish these tasks, I am more likely to get a good grade.
Time Range
At work, these are usually done on a quarterly basis, but for my personal growth, I do them on a weekly basis. I have also considered changing it to a monthly or yearly goal. But I feel as though procrastination is likely to set in. With a weekly goal, I know that come Monday, I better start on my goal or I will fall behind the rest of the week. I have also set benchmarks for each day to help keep me on track.
Final Thoughts
With a little bit of creativity, the OKR methodology can easily be used for productivity and self-improvement. To get where I am now, I did not start with the OKR methodology but drew parallels after years of using it. Regardless of whether you start with the OKR methodology or your own method and drawing your parallels can help with productivity and a sense of accomplishment.
