A Need To Track And Measure Activities!

Yet another day has passed without knowing what I was busy with. I was very busy but the things that I wanted to complete are still outstanding. How come I am still not unable to complete the things that I have planned to do so even after one week? Something is not right. All the while, I have been very busy trying to pursue financial freedom as defined in the Rich Dad's series by Robert Kiyosaki but I do not seem to be able to achieve the kind of result that I have wanted.

When things do not go according to plan, the first thing that I will do is to take a break and reflect upon this issue. What have I done wrong that is not producing the results that I want? I have worked hard but the results are not producing income as expected. I keep thinking and thinking about what are the things that I have done wrongly. There are a lot of possibilities but I am not able to pin down exactly which activities. This is because I did not track and measure my activities.

Why is tracking and measuring of activities important?

Firstly, tracking of activities help me to know how I have spent my time. Based on the list of activities, I will be able to identify activities that are time wasters and serve no purpose.

For example, I like to watch television programs on the pretext that I need to relax. I may think that I have spent little time on entertainment. If I have tracked my activities, then I will know how much time per week I am gluing myself to the television box. If I see the figure is exceptionally higher than expected, then I will be aware of such a time wastage activity that I should cut down on.

Please note that I am not saying that there should not be any entertainment or relaxation. But I am trying to point out here any entertainment or relaxation should be moderate. It should be occupying most of my time.

Secondly, tracking and measuring of activities allows me to separate marketing activities from operational activities. Operational activities are important but they do not generate revenue. Marketing activities are the ones that generate income. Thus, it may make sense to outsource the operational activities where possible.

For example, writing and placing an advertisement with newspaper is considered to be a marketing activity. Answering queries via phone calls and emails are considered to be operation activities. Instead of answering all the queries, I may want to outsource all these queries to a third party so that I can focus on the marketing activity.

Thirdly, tracking and measuring of activities allows me to know which marketing activities are effective in income generating. For marketing activities that are not effective in income generating, I should drop them. Instead, I should focus on performing marketing activities that are effect in generating income.

For example, I have printed marketing flyers and poster to be given out. I have also advertised in the newspaper about the products and the services. As a result of my marketing activities, I am able to generate sales. But if I do not track and measure my marketing campaign, then I will not know whether my sales are a result of marketing flyers or newspapers advertisement.

Next, tracking and measuring of activities allows me to improve on an effective marketing activity.

For example, if I know that newspapers advertisement is effective, then I will be interested to increase the number of sales generated from the advertisement. To achieve that, there is a need for me to test advertisements with different headlines, colors, designs and so on. By tracking and measuring the activity, I will know whether there is an improvement in sales by varying the advertisement.

Other than for the above purposes, I feel that tracking and measuring of activities can be apply to different aspect of life.

For example, I can perform a series of activities to express my love to my loved one. I can tell her that I love her verbally. I can spend quality time with her. I can buy gifts to surprise her and so on. If I track and measure the results, I will know which activity is most effective to let her feels the most love.

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