How I Measure My Productivity in the Age of AI
Every day I work, and some days I feel fulfilled while some days I don’t. I’m always wondering what makes a day feel productive and fulfilling.
But what metrics should I measure?
Is it the number of hours I spend working?
I’ve noticed that hours don’t really matter. Some days I spend a lot of hours working, but I’m distracted most of the time. Simply counting hours isn’t satisfying. It doesn’t really measure what I’ve done.
Long hours with deep focus can feel very gratifying. It feels like, “Wow, this was a good day.” But I have a restaurant schedule, and I’m usually tired before and after work, so I have limited time available.
How do I get the best out of those few hours?
How do I measure my productivity, and what do I make sure I get done in a day?
Over time, I’ve found a few things that matter more to me than simply counting hours.
1. Cognitive Effort
When I work for 90 minutes or two hours, I like to ask myself:
To what degree did the work make me think?
Did it require me to reason, make decisions, compare trade-offs, ask questions, and solve problems?
I like this measure because it tells me that I engaged critically with my work. I wasn’t just following instructions blindly. I was guiding decisions and actively thinking.
Any work that doesn’t require much cognitive effort often leaves me feeling like I was just playing around. I finish and ask myself, “What did I even do?”
It feels like I spent time touching the work without really engaging with it.
What feels satisfying is being able to say:
“I considered this trade-off.”
“I thought about that option.”
“I asked questions to clarify things.”
“I made decisions.”
Those are signs that I was thinking.
2. New Information or Skills Learned
The second measure is learning.
To what extent did I learn something new?
I like this measure because it makes me feel smarter.
For example, recently I learned how to create a staging server on Heroku and set up a staging-to-production pipeline. That’s new knowledge I didn’t have before.
There’s something satisfying about being able to do something today that you couldn’t do yesterday.
I remember the first time I learned CSS Flexbox. I learned how alignment worked, how flex-wrap worked, when to use rows and columns, and how to position elements on a page.
I spent hours moving things around and experimenting.
It felt great.
I remember thinking, “Oh wow, I can actually do this now.”
Learning creates that feeling. It makes you feel like you’ve expanded your capabilities.
So after working, I like to ask:
Did I learn something new today?
And if I did, how significant was it?
3. Progress
The third measure is progress.
To what extent did I move closer to completing something?
You don’t want to keep working without getting anywhere.
At least for me, I like working on projects, goals, research, courses, and other long-term endeavors.
I want to feel like I’m moving toward a finish line.
If I’m building a project, I want to feel like I’m closer to the point where I can say, “This project is done.”
If I’m taking a course, I want to feel like I’m progressing through it.
Progress matters because eventually things need to get finished.
Now, I don’t think progress should always be the most important measure. It depends on what you’re doing.
If you’re under a tight deadline, progress might matter a lot.
If you’re exploring a new field and learning deeply, then learning might matter more than progress.
But regardless of the situation, making progress is usually a good sign that your effort is leading somewhere.
4. Publicity
The final measure is publicity.
I know that sounds unusual.
Some people might immediately ask, “Why should my work have to be public?”
I understand that reaction.
I’m not saying publicity should be the main reason you work. I’m also not saying every little thing needs to be shared online.
But I do think that if you’re doing good work, it shouldn’t remain hidden forever.
Publicity can take many forms.
You could update your CV with a new skill you’ve learned.
You could write a blog post about something you discovered.
You could add a completed project to your portfolio.
You could update your GitHub profile.
You could write a LinkedIn post.
The point isn’t attention.
The point is creating opportunities.
If you’re skilled at something but nobody can see evidence of it, opportunities become harder to find.
At the very least, your CV should reflect what you’ve learned.
Your portfolio should reflect what you’ve built.
Your GitHub should reflect what you’ve worked on.
You have to put your work out there in some form.
Whether it’s for credibility, opportunities, or simply documenting your growth, I think some level of publicity matters.
There Is No Single Metric
The interesting thing is that each of these measures matters differently depending on the kind of work you’re doing.
If you’re making important decisions or solving difficult problems, cognitive effort may be the most important measure.
If you’re new to a field, learning may matter the most.
If you’re refactoring code or working through a backlog, progress may become the priority.
And if you’re building a career, publicity becomes increasingly important.
There isn’t one definitive measure of productivity.
You decide what matters most for the work you’re doing.
Personally, I try to balance all four:
- Cognitive effort
- Learning
- Progress
- Publicity
When I look back on a day and see that I’ve thought deeply, learned something new, moved something forward, and documented or shared some of that work, I usually feel like I’ve had a productive day.
And in the age of AI, where many tasks can be delegated and a lot of work that once had to be done manually can now be done much faster, I think it becomes increasingly important to understand the metrics by which you measure your productivity. If AI can help you complete a task in minutes instead of hours, then simply counting hours worked becomes a less meaningful measure. What matters more is the thinking you did, what you learned, the progress you made, and how you turned that work into opportunities.