Felker OKR Scores — February 2021
After such a bad year, how do I make this one better? New Years Resolutions are often written to set yourself up for the next year, and I knew I had to make better resolutions given the limitations of the world around me. Last year I had resolutions like ‘travel more’ and ‘see more concerts’. Lol.
This year I want to write more blogs, and this blog in particular is about my resolutions for this year. At many tech companies we use a technique called OKRs, Objectives and Key Results. Unlike fuzzy resolutions like “go to the gym more”, defining objective metrics to reach like “go to the gym once a week, or 52 times” can let you measure and track these resolutions better.
I have broken up by resolutions into three broad objectives: Invest in Hobbies, Engage in My Community, and Develop My Career Path.
After a month, how well am I doing in each of these?
Invest in Hobbies — 0.22
As I spend all day indoors, investing in my hobbies is important to waiting out this long metaphorical winter.
This quarter I plan to publish my fifth book in the “Legion of Supervillains” dark fantasy series. I wrote it as part of last National Novel Writing Month. A year ago I wrote and published the fourth in the series. I have all the copy of my draft complete, but I have not edited it or prepared the publication. I get a score of 0.
This quarter I aim to publish four stories on my science-fiction anthology Substack. In doing so I can invest in my hobby of fiction writing outside of the usual constraints of having a singular series and only writing in November. I have written one, so I get a score of 0.25.
In addition to fiction writing, I’ve been working on a regular feature for the Pokémon fan site PokéJungle. My column covers the design origins of the new Pokémon. I plan on writing five articles this quarter and I’ve so far written three. I get a score of 0.6.
Digital well-being has become more important over time, especially as everything is online now. I have found a certain amount of anxiety in the growing queues of content, so I want to get to fewer than 10 news articles to read, fewer than 10 videos to watch, and fewer than 10 podcasts to listen to. So far I’ve achieved none of those, so I get a score of 0.
In addition to digital content, I do want to work my way through my growing list of books to read, so I set a goal of reading ten books this quarter. So far I have read five, so I get a score of 0.5.
Not just consuming content I also want to create content. I plan on publishing 24 TikTok sketches on my TikTok account, which is about two a week. I have a bunch of new ideas, but have not published any yet. I get a score of 0.
My hobbies do extend beyond just digital things. I have been developing my skills as a cook in a time when my office does not provide cooking. Beyond things I know how to do, I want to expand and cook four new things. So far I’ve made crepes. I get a score of 0.25.
Engage in My Community — 0.15
Being part of a community used to be much easier, but now you need to be far more deliberate about it. It’s too easy to just isolate yourself from the world without anyone noticing. Engaging, being part of the community, is something at the top of my mind.
The professional society IEEE gives me the opportunity to network and learn new things, and the Young Professional group lets me engage with a local community of people like me. I hope to join or plan three IEEE events this quarter. So far I have not, so I get a score of 0.
I also need to spend time with my friends. Planning online events requires more effort than just dropping in, but is just as important. I want to spend time with friends ten times. I’ve done this twice so far, so I get a score of 0.2.
Beyond these existing communities I want to find new ones that I can join. I’ve joined a book club, though I am also seeking additional opportunities. I want to attend six virtual events. I’ve done one so far, so I get a score of 0.17.
Another goal is to make charitable donations, to ensure that the communities remain stable especially in a period of instability. I have a score of 0.32 here.
Develop My Career Path — 0.57
Working at Google was basically my dream job and I achieved it. This has been great, but I’ve been thinking about the next five years and what I want to do next with my career. Here, I am planning on how to get to where I want to go in the next five years.
One thing that I have been doing in going to school to get a Master’s degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering. Even though classes are online, I have been learning about advanced topics like fiber optics and blockchain which can prepare me for wherever I may take my career. This quarter I planned to start my next class, which I did. I have a score of 1.
Part of my degree includes writing a thesis. While I have a very fuzzy idea of what I want, I really haven’t spent the time to sit down and develop clarity around that idea. I do need to do that. I need to develop my Master’s thesis. I’m procrastinating on this a bit, so I have a score of 0.
Beyond just classes, I have developed some experience and have been working on side projects outside of work that I have let fall by the wayside. As part of my blogging effort, I aim to write five technical blog posts on these topics. While I’ve got a list of topics, I have not written any yet. I have a score of 0.
The objective scores are weighted by individual priorities. Some goals like writing sci-fi stories are a bit more important to me than publishing a few TikToks. Weighing everything, my current overall score is 0.35. As this is based on just the first month, I seem to be doing pretty well.
These are preliminary scores, as the goals are set for the quarter. By the start of April I will publish the final scores and analyze at that point how well I did and how I can do better.
