This is important because now you can start looking for correlations in your data. For my example I'm showing how a little league pitcher might use PowerUp to throw more strikes.
Imagine you're learning the mechanics of how to throw a pitch. You've got 2-3 grips to throw a "fastball", a "changeup" and a "curveball". You're also testing a few different wind ups called "normal", "fast" and "slow". You also track the result of the pitch "strike" or "ball"
After throwing 400 pitches and recording data you can start to add filters to look for correlations between the wind up, the type of pitch and the result. Maybe you find that you throw the most strikes with the fastball and the normal wind up and the most balls with the curveball and the slow wind up.
If you happen to be a little league pitcher, you can use this data to continually adjust your mechanics to throw more strikes. Or, maybe you have other uses in mind. Let us know how you use data filters and we'd be happy to feature your grid in our blog. [email protected]
When I set up a grid I'm not thinking about how to box my project into a Grid. I think about the micro tasks associated with a project, define my Grid around that and treat the completion of the Grid as a simple milestone.
You are free to use your Grids however you want. They are designed to be a tool, not a framework. But if you are like me and see Grids as milestones then you might want a better way to tie things together and look at your ongoing stats over time rather than having these siloed projects.
We are doing a few things to make that a reality.
We're going to release an API so you can take your data and do whatever you want with it. If you're a developer you'll be able to create apps and visualizations for other PowerUp'ers to use.
We're building a system where you'll be able to define a Grid template and see your aggregate stats across all Grids defined in the template.
This is kind of a fun thing but now you can see your total number of PowerUps from your Grid dashboard.
Last night we launched v1 of data filtering for PowerUp. We're incredibly excited about how this could help quantified self folks track and solve a lot of interesting problems.
In the following example I'll show how data filtering on PowerUp could be used for writers trying to optimize their work flow to get more out of their time.
1) Set up your data in the grid editor
In this example I've decided to track 2 important data points associated with the writing process. The first is how creative I feel on a scale from 1-10 and the second is my WPM over a 10 min writing session. I think 10 mins is a good chunk of time to track but I probably wouldn't want to be interrupted for data entry every 10 mins so I'd probably complete an entire session first then go in and enter data.
2) Entering data in your grid
To enter data, click on a PowerUp in your grid and you'll see a form containing the data points you defined during grid editing. You'll notice how I have 3 tasks that are all the same 10 min work unit. This is to separate my writing sessions into morning(aqua), afternoon (blue) and night (red).
Note: we currently have a bug in the system so if nothing happens after clicking a PowerUp, refresh and try again. This should be fixed today.
3) Filter your grid based on a variety of criteria
First I want to see all the writing sessions where my creativity was over 6. In this example I might make 2 interesting hypotheses.
I'm most creative in the afternoons.
The more I write the more creative I feel.
Then I filtered by all the PowerUps where my WPM was over 40 and it tells a different story. It appear that while I feel more productive in the afternoons, I actually produce more in the mornings and evenings.
This amount of data is probably not significant enough to make a real conclusion that might alter your writing habits but it helps you develop theories that can be tested over time. The more you know, the better you'll be at altering behavior to achieve a desired result.
If you were to track this grid over a longer period of time and the results hold up then maybe you come to the conclusion that evenings are better for idea generation and mornings/nights are better for cranking out work.
Then maybe you want to look at your work from a qualitative perspective. Maybe less work output in the evening is a good thing because the quality is worth the trade off. So in this case maybe you add data to track the specific pages written. Then later you go back and blindly self rate the quality and see if there is a correlation.
In the example above, you're working on a goal to lose weight. The tasks might be to workout and eat right. So you'd like to be able to periodically weigh yourself and input that data into the next PowerUp.
Note: You won't need to add your weight into every PowerUp. If you don't add a number we'll assume nothing has changed since the last entry.
The mood might also be an interesting data point to track. We'll be able to infer relationships between your weight and your mood and over time we should be able to tell you the weight you're most happy at. This might not be your lowest weight. Maybe you start at 200lbs and you drop to 160lbs and your mood dramatically improves but then getting to 140lbs is so much work that it starts to take a toll and you can make an informed decision that 160lbs is your ideal weight.
There are a lot of ways you might want to incorporate data into your grids. Leave a comment to tell us how you'd like to use data so we can take that into consideration.
Collaboration is going to be a big part of PowerUp in the near future. Last week we launched collaborative grid, now we're giving you a small icon to let you know who's online. Next we're going to work on giving you better tools to interact with your friends.
It happens to all of us but it can be changed, if you look at your ultimate goal as a process of small tasks that you are going to work on during a specific period of time. PowerUp helps you achieve your ultimate goals. It is an app that can be used by anyone that is looking to really make some changes and learn about themselves in the process.
It helps break down your goal with tasks. Once you complete a task such as run 10 minutes, you get rewarded with a square on your PowerUp grid. Once your grid fills up you are rewarded a PowerUp badge that you can show off to your friends through various social media sites. Sharing your accomplishments to friends helps you stay motivated and positive for your next goal.
Why is PowerUp so important to use in order to achieve your fitness goals? As a Membership Consultant at a gym, I had to ask three very important questions:
What are your fitness goals?
Why do you want to achieve these goals?
How long do you think it will take to accomplish these goals?
The majority of the people want to lose weight and they know it will take some time but they just don't know how to start. Most people want to do it because they want to feel strong or healthy but they just need a little push or a big push. Laying out a set plan is crucial for people to succeed in their weight lose goals.
a href="http://powerup.io">PowerUp Grids will help you stay on track on a daily basis so you don't feel defeated. It will help push you and let others know what you are trying to accomplish.
I've been an athlete most of my life & I worked in the fitness industry for almost 2 years. I know how important it is to set small goals in order to reach your ultimate goal. I believe in the concept & I know this will help a lot of people achieve their goals.
Power Up is a fun interactive tool that rewards the little things. Every sit up and push up counts. Seeing that I get to tick away at my goal and get fun rewards really keeps me on point.
Blogging is incredibly rewarding on many levels. It forces you to learn more about a topic that’s important to you. It solicits ideas from people you don’t know with perspectives that you might not have considered. It makes you a better communicator. Mostly good things.
PowerUp is constantly exploring new design ideas. For this theme I’ve gone with a darker layout with bright buttons. I’ve also introduced teal to go with the red and blue rather than black, blue red. This combination livens things up a bit.
