summarize how you are feeling about your progress in this course

Why is progress important?

Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during a workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work. And the more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run. Whether they are trying to solve a major scientific mystery or simply produce a high-quality product or service, everyday progress—even a small win—can make all the difference in how they feel and perform.

What does it feel like to be overwhelmed?

A pervasive sense of overwhelm is common these days. We feel like we have too many things to do, and not enough time to do them. We work tirelessly but rarely feel like we’re accomplishing anything of import. What’s wrong?

How long did Teresa Amabile study?

In a fascinating study, Harvard researcher Teresa Amabile tracked emotions, motivations and perceptions of 238 knowledge workers over the course of 4 months, ultimately collecting over 12,000 diary entries. The results were unequivocal:

What is the good news about small wins?

These big wins are great—but they are relatively rare. The good news is that even small wins can boost inner work life tremendously.

Why do we rarely know how long it will take to map new territory?

When you’re doing new things, mapping new territory, you rarely know how long the journey is going to take, because no one’s made the journey before. A concept that we can distill down to the phrase: Everything takes longer than you think it will.

What is the dopamine hit that we get when we complete a task?

This manifests as something called completion bias, a happy-making hit of dopamine that we get whenever we recognize a task as complete. And because we are hard-wired to crave completion, there are few things that keep us more engaged at work — and in life — than feeling a sense of progress.

Can you create a roadmap for progress?

Of course, you needn’t create a roadmap this complex or neurotic to feel a sense of progress. The core idea here is thinking about how you can break projects down into smaller tasks, track metrics that have real meaning, and document your progress as you go.