Monday 18 May 2015

Accountability - All in the Wrist: Adventures with the FitBit

Hello!


Let's check in with my burndown chart, what have I done so far? What's left to do?


Looking at the board there is definitely a hell of a lot on green on there with only two blue boxes remaining. Those of the meditation app - of which I am currently working through and the writing blog posts, of which I've maintained during the sprint.

That being said I believe I hope to call this sprint a success, a large part of that has been down to being active. I'm not the most active agile Timelord so introducing a FitBit Charge HR has helped nudge me into being more active in my daily routine. The nudge it provides by being constantly on my wrist and tracking my movements has indeed encouraged me to move more.

I have not missed one day of the DVD workout this sprint despite only saying I would only attempt 5 out of 7 days a week. I have walked to and from work most days (2 miles or so each way). I walk around the city centre during my lunch break and on my recent day off from work I walked to the MetroCentre and back, a distance of 8 miles or so.

What has maintained my interest? Self development of course has it's part, as does wanting to improve my overall fitness, but one of the driving factors is the use of my FitBit which accurately (more-or-less) tracks my movements and heart rate. Gamifying my movements and progress using charts, basic analysis and badge rewards pushes me to improve. I rarely drop below suggested the 10,000 steps a day often hitting north of 13,000 on an average weekday.

When sitting on the couch with my partner on a lazy Sunday afternoon I was coerced to work out realising my step count and 'active minutes' were low. Using the FitBit as a natural nudge has improved my mindset and made me more active in daily life, but this is just using only myself as motivation, it gets even better with friends.

It's safe to say FitBit fever has struck our offices with much of our team logging on and comparing our step counts. The interface on the app allows users to compare their progress atgainst their friends and cheer them on. The dashboard is bright, bold and accessible showing clear progression and also allows direct comparison. However what has gripped the team recently are the competitions, despite being a simple 'how many steps can you do' contest, however the simple mechanism is captivating with a game of cat and mouse played throughout the team each week. Currently we're on our third week of competition and although I have not came first as of yet I have logged this impressive statistic.


100,000 steps in a week! Boom!

Without the FitBit it would be unlikely that I would surpass that number but the nudge of the device has encouraged me to push myself.

Many of these changes implemented in this sprint are to help me change my lifestyle generally, I believe by maintaining the habit of wearing the FitBit will help serve me and ensure activity and accountability.

Cheers for reading!
The Slightly-more-active Agile Timelord

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