If I'm running a self improvement project, I'd better have some measures on what counts as improvement. Even though actually improving is nice and all, there has to be a way to notice it and track it, to keep motivated.

As I'm focusing more on softer developments (better sleep, clarity, general awesomeness) instead of stuff that can be put more easily in numbers (number of pull-ups, weight, amount of hours I can work without stopping), I'll have to be more creative about measurements. I might get into the former later, but at this point it's more about enlightenment and fuzzy stuff.

Still, there are some pretty easy ones.

Stuff I want to measure

• Brushing up my Swedish - read couple of similar books in Swedish at the beginning and the end of practising Swedish with Anki. Considering the first two Harry Potters for this, actually. There's probably some level tests on the Internet too, which I'll try to find and see if there's some improvement.
• Cleanliness of apartment - this will be one major practical thing I'm going to hack. Cleanliness of apartment will very directly affect my spouse's happiness, which will probably affect mine. I'm thinking daily spreadsheet, with checkboxes for different areas.
• Measuring alertness levels - if I'm going to touch sleeping at all, I've better measure alertness and sleepiness very constantly. I'm especially oblivious to this sort of changes without some sort of organized way to measure them. Obvious choice for this is a Google spreadsheet with pre-determined scale.
• Qualitatively measure englightenment - write regular updates on practicing meditation and possible effects it might have. Consider the whole picture at the checkpoints.

The links to the spreadsheets will also be available on the Bio page of this blog.

Stuff I won't measure

• Happiness - I see no point. It's supposedly very constant and I'm generally always happy anyways, so I haven't planned spending time on this.
• Sport-related achievements - I won't try to reach any physical achievements. If I plan to add some physical objectives later, the measuring system will probably be pretty obvious.

Any obvious ones I have missed? What should I track? Once I get more into Quantified Self, there will naturally be tons of detailed tracking, but what about tracking the whole project?