42goals.com

[rxninja]

Has anyone else here tried 42goals.com to track their workouts and progress? I started using the website in May as the result of a Lifehacker.com post about it and I've been really happy with it ever since. You can make all sorts of custom goals including boolean (yes/no) goals (did I work out today?), counter goals that add one unit every time you click on them (how many glasses of water did I drink today?), numeric goals (how many push-ups?), timed goals that run a stopwatch that gets recorded (how long was my workout?), and time goals that add a timestamp when you update them (what time did I wake up this morning?). You can also click next to your goals and instantly generate a number of really cool graphs to help you visualize your data.

It's a nifty website, not too many people have heard about it, it's incredibly useful, it's free, and I thought this would be a good community to share about it. I've found that awareness is the best motivator for changing behaviors, so it's certainly helped me out and maybe you'll get some mileage from it, too!

[CokeCanNinja]

I'm gonna have to try that out. Thank you.

[Alethea]

I actuaally used it pretty extensively for a while there, and very much liked it. Like anything, you get what you put into it. Only possible critisism is when you try to fill your 42 goals. Maybe it's just me, but I get a little overwhelmed and distracted when I try to focus on more then 4-5 things at once.

[CokeCanNinja]

Oh man, thank you so much. I made an account and love it. And that's after just a few hours!!!

[rxninja]

The way I use it, I have 7 simple once-a-day boolean goals, 4 counter goals, and 3 numeric goals. The boolean ones are easy and I can fill them out as I go or the next day, whenever I get a moment. The counter goals don't always apply (I don't need my inhaler often and I don't drink every day) and the numeric goals aren't 100% of the time either.

I don't really use it as a goal tracker most of the time, I guess. For me, it's really a biosocial metric tracker. I can use the graphs to look back at any period of time and see how my life has been going. I can see if there are large periods of time where I didn't go outside, if I need to cut back on drinking, or if my asthma has been statistically significant. With recent additions to the fitness regime, I can now see what my progress is like (and if I had a premium account, I would maintain a larger, fitness-only tab of workout goals).

I guess I just like data haha.

[Alethea]

Hah, they've changed it since I was there last, then.

I can definitely see the appeal!