Keeping an Action Log for 1st person research

In my first post about First Person Action Research I mentioned the Action Log, and now I’m going to explain what I mean by that, and invite you to take the first action but first, here’s some context.

One of the most frequently occurring goals on 43things has always been “to stop wasting so much time on the internet” and one of the most talked about applications is the “Getting Things Done” ( GTD) system. This suggests that I’m certainly not alone in grappling with the problem of meaningful productivity amongst so much distraction and information overload.

I reflected quite easily that I had succumbed to the common affliction of spending too much time monitoring data and checking statistics, at the expense of creating new content, networking with contacts and making improvements to websites. There is some convincing behaviourist theory about the addictive nature of checking inboxes etc when the reward or gratification is irregular or sporadic. People at computers, especially when tired or feeling low can act like rats in a cage who keep on tap-tapping on that button just because every once in a while a piece of cheese rolls down the tube, especially when we can’t predict when it will happen. I blame the evil scientists for setting up an environment like that!

One drastic solution is to move the temptation further away. Get those shortcuts off the browser’s toolbar, remove applications from the dock or system tray. Make it harder to get to the addictive stuff. Now you might have already spotted the dilemma with that approach, which stems from the fact that the person doing the hiding is one and the same as the person doing the seeking!

Arising from circumstance, I came up with the idea of starting an Action Log. The idea is simply that I would jot down on a daily basis, a list of the actions taken. I have it in my mind that by actions, I mean visible external steps which are intended to have a positive effect, to add to the movement in the direction I’m headed. Publishing a blog post, joining a forum and posting an introduction, tweaking a theme or plugin to improve usability, uploading a picture, publishing a video, leaving a useful comment somewhere, these are all considered to be actions in this context, whereas doing google searches, reading RSS feeds (without responding), learning and observing are not considered to be actions. Incidentally, taking the step of beginning an Action Log is the critical action for cycle one of my own action inquiry.

The purpose of the Action Log is twofold. One of the problems with monitoring web activity is that it’s a complex adaptive system which is often opaque in its mechanisms. You might get a gentle rise in traffic over a couple of weeks, followed by a perplexing sharp dip. Was it because of something I did yesterday, last week, or last month, something unknown external change or a random coincidence? When the subjective inputs are small and widely spread it’s very easy to lose track ( ie forget ) what exactly has been done and when. So having a diarised record in the form of an Action Log should at least improve the chances of being able to detect the weak signals of a reproducible relationship between cause and effect, when there is one.

The second and probably more important purpose, is to act as an incentive to increase the number of actions taken, to begin to reverse the balance that had shifted too far in the direction of passivity. “What gets measured gets done” can be a harsh mantra, but this is a very soft implementation. It’s nothing like being forced to fill in a timesheet for example. And the great thing about it is that all you are doing is focussing on the little positive accomplishments that can be ticked off for each day. There’s no being beaten about the head with a long “To do list ” of things that still haven’t been done, just a simple record and celebration of those that have, so there’s a nod in the direction of appreciative enquiry.

For those already familiar with Action Research it’s important not to confuse the Action Log with a Learning Journal. This is not the place to document critical incidents, record insights and diarise about learning. The Action Log may well become an object for reflection later, but is not the place for lengthy narrative. It needs to be very easy to maintain, a matter of a few seconds really, just enough to jot down the small actions taken in a very few words. A record of concrete subjective interventions into the world, always action-orientated.

I keep my Action Log on an intranet wiki but you could use a text file, word document or a physical notepad. As long as it’s reasonably near to hand, dead easy to add to, and can’t get lost or deleted. A private area is necessary, you don’t want to be distracted by spending any time thinking about audience and publishing of this one. Just do it.

• Could your context benefit from setting up an Action Log?
• What are your goals?
• Understand what to record in the Log and what doesn’t belong there
• Decide where to keep the Action Log
• Spend no more than a minute or two updating it.
• Keep it up, at least daily

Anything you don’t understand please leave questions in the comments and do let me know how you’re getting on with this after a few weeks or so.

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Keeping an Action Log for 1st person research

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