Effort based scoring was introduced with version 9 of List: Daily Checklist. This scoring system replaces the Priority based system in prior releases but is backwards compatible.
The idea is that not all actions are created equal. Which is to say some actions take more time, or effort to complete that others. For example, going to the gym takes more effort than making your bed. After all, going to the gym involves getting dressed, traveling to the gym, working your butt off, then coming back home. Making your bed is easy by comparison.
So, why should these two actions have the same weight towards your daily score? This is where effort based scoring comes in. You now have the option to assign a weight from 1 to 10 to your actions. You can also assign weights to several actions at once using Multi-select in the context menu.
A weight of 1 designates the action as easy, quick, or requires little effort. A weight of 10 designates the action is hard, takes a long time, or requires considerable effort.
Effort based weights are enabled from the Settings screen under Statistical > Effort / Priority Weighting. Here you can enable or disable the weighting system. There is also an option to assigned weights based on priority. This emulates the previous priority based weighting system. If you would like to understand how the score is computed read on.
How The Effort Based Score is Calculated
Let’s start with sample list:
As mentioned above effort is measured from 1 to 10. 1 represents a low effort whereas 10 represents a high effort. This list contains three actions with weights of 2, 5 and 8. Here is a breakdown of the percent worth of each action:
The action “Take multivitamins” has an effort of 2 and a percent worth of 13%.
“Do yoga stretch” has an effort of 5 and a percent worth of 33%.
“Run for as least 2 miles” has an effort of 8 and 53% is its percent worth.
First we determine the total available points for the actions presented. The total is:
2 + 5 + 8 = 15
Knowing that the total is 15 we can now compute each action’s percent worth as follows:
“Take multivitamins” – (2 / 15) X 100 = 13.33333%
“Do yoga stretch” – (5 / 15) X 100 = 33.3333%
“Run for as least 2 miles” – (8 / 15) X 100 = 53.3333%
The sum of these results totals 100%.
Lastly, notice that the “Take multivitamins” action is numerical with a target of 5. The score for this action is given proportional to the amount completed. So, if only 3 vitamins where taken the score for this action would be 8%:
3 / 5 = 0.6 – 3 of the 5 pills were taken
2 X 0.6 = 1.2 – The effort of 2 times the partial score
(1.2 / 15) X 100 = 8% – Taking 3 of the 5 pills results in 8% of the 13% being awarded so far.
Conclusion
Effort based scoring gives more granularity to your actions that should result in harder actions giving a larger percent boost to your score. This should help with your motivation to get your harder actions completed each day. Please, let us know if your find the system useful. And, as always let us know what questions or suggestion you have.
Thank you for using List: Daily Checklist!
To your continued success,
Terry