Microsoft MyAnalytics: It’s like a Fitbit to measure the way you work

Not too long ago, one of my colleagues started using a screentime-tracking app on her iPhone. She was astonished to discover how much time she really spent on social media and messaging apps.

If you had similar insights on how your time at work is spent, what do you think you’d see?

This quick post is about a recent addition of the Office 365 suite: MyAnalytics.

This new app from Microsoft is like a Fitbit™ that measures the way you work. It gives you personalized private feedback on where you’re spending your time along with helpful tips and recommendations. For example:

This kind of information – on how much time you spend in meetings vs. focused work vs. unplugged and relaxed – plays a valuable part in developing an Intentionally Productive mindset.

I place a lot of emphasis on “It’s not about the tool” and “Tools can’t replace thinking,” and that’s all true – but this is a really cool tool because of the information it provides.

Like any tool, MyAnalytics won’t automatically make your work easier. That depends on what you do with what it tells you.

MyAnalytics will provide some semi-personalized recommendations; however, to get the most value from its information about your work habits, you need to think intentionally about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.

Go to MyAnalytics.Microsoft.com to get started.

Think intentionally about how you can turn these insights into action. I’m always available to help.

Are you using MyAnalytics? Do you find it useful or not? How do you think you can use this kind of information to become more Intentionally Productive?

David Allen and I talk about the ultimate productivity app

In late July, John Forrister interviewed David Allen and me for a few hours about the ultimate app for Getting Things Done (click here for my previous blog post about this). That interview was published this month as a two-part podcast.

The three of us discussed what would make for an ideal app, why it hasn’t happened yet, how close I got with eProductivity (which David designated as GTD Enabled), and what’s next.

What is the ultimate GTD app?

After 25 years of working with David, we still agree that the ultimate GTD solution is not the perfect app: it’s the solution you can make work for you. No matter how good a tool is, you can’t outsource your thinking to it.

Of course, a good tool can drastically lower the resistance you feel to your work and encourage an intentionally productive mindset. I’m still convinced that those things, much more than gee-whiz features, are what make a tool extraordinary. It remains true, however, that the best tool can only support your thinking, not replace it.

"The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."

I took this photo at the GTD Summit. Einstein was right (no surprise).

Links to the podcast

To listen to our conversation, click these links:

You can also find these episodes on Soundcloud and most podcast apps.

Feel free to contact me re: app design and system implementation

Since the release of this podcast, several people have asked me to consult with them on designing or implementing their own productivity systems. If I can be of service you, by all means contact me. I’ll be happy to talk about how I can help you.

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What do you think about what we discussed in the podcast? Do you agree that no tool can do your thinking for you? Let me know in the comments!