Beyond Productivity Porn: The Metrics That Actually Matter
Forget inbox zero and pomodoros. These are the only productivity metrics you need to track for sustained high performance.
The productivity industry is full of vanity metrics: email count, hours worked, tasks completed. These numbers feel good but rarely correlate with actual achievement. Let's talk about the metrics that actually predict success.
The Problems with Traditional Metrics
Inbox zero feels productive, but did you advance your most important project? You worked 60 hours this week, but did you make meaningful progress on your key results?
Traditional productivity metrics measure activity, not progress. In "The 4 Disciplines of Execution", the authors distinguish between lag measures (results) and lead measures (predictive behaviors).
Busyness is not progress. If you can't connect your activity to a specific objective, you're optimizing for the wrong thing.
Velocity: Your True Progress Rate
Velocity measures how fast you're moving toward your goals. It's not about how busy you are—it's about how much distance you're covering toward your objectives.
"It's not about how busy you are, it's about how productive you are." — Peter Drucker
KeyResults calculates velocity by tracking your key result completion rate over time. This isn't about checking off tasks—it's about measurable progress toward defined outcomes. A week where you complete 20 small tasks but make no progress on key results has low velocity.
Understanding Tom's Velocity Problem
Tom was completing 50+ tasks per week but felt stuck. He checked his KeyResults velocity metrics and discovered the issue:
- Task completion rate: 85% (looks great!)
- Key result progress: 12% (barely moving)
- Most completed tasks: Administrative, not goal-aligned
The diagnosis: Tom was confusing activity with progress. He restructured his task list to ensure 60% of tasks directly connected to key results. His velocity doubled in two weeks.
Momentum: The Compounding Force
Momentum measures consistency. Are you making progress every week, or are you feast-and-famine? High momentum means you're building habits and systems that compound over time.
A small amount of progress every day beats a massive effort once a month. Momentum comes from consistency, not intensity.
KeyResults' momentum score tracks your consistency across multiple dimensions: Are you completing weekly reviews? Are you maintaining active goals? Are you updating progress regularly? The 3P Framework helps maintain momentum by requiring weekly reflection.
Health Score: The System Overview
Your health score combines velocity, momentum, completion rates, and consistency into a single metric. It's like your credit score—a quick snapshot of your overall productivity health.
In KeyResults, your health score is prominently displayed on your dashboard. It answers the question: "Is my productivity system working?" A declining health score is an early warning signal—you can course-correct before you've drifted too far off track.
Check your health score weekly during your review. If it's trending down, investigate: Are you taking on too much? Are your goals misaligned? Are you skipping reviews?
Leading vs. Lagging Indicators
Lagging indicators tell you what happened. Leading indicators predict what will happen. Goal completion is a lagging indicator. Weekly review consistency is a leading indicator.
| Lagging Indicators | Leading Indicators | |-------------------|-------------------| | Goal completion | Weekly review streak | | Revenue achieved | Daily highlight completion | | Weight lost | Workout consistency | | Book finished | Pages read per day |
Focus your energy on leading indicators—the activities you can control today that predict tomorrow's results.
The Leading Indicator Shift
Lisa was frustrated that she kept missing her quarterly goals. She was focused entirely on lagging indicators—the end results.
She shifted to tracking leading indicators in KeyResults:
- Weekly review completion (target: 100%)
- Daily highlight completion (target: 80%)
- Key result updates (target: weekly)
Within a quarter, her goal completion rate went from 40% to 75%. The goals didn't change—her system for reaching them did.
Build leading indicators into your system with recurring tasks. A daily "Set daily highlight" task and a weekly "Complete weekly review" task create the consistency that drives results.
The Metric Diet
You don't need to track everything. In fact, tracking too much creates its own overhead. Focus on these three:
- Velocity: Am I moving toward my goals?
- Momentum: Am I consistent?
- Health Score: Is my system working?
Everything else is noise.
Track Your Velocity
See your productivity trends and momentum with health metrics