Tracking You Life Data

James Robinson • September 5, 2024

Ask better questions of yourself and take action through time tracking


A few years ago, I read Peter Drucker’s book, The Effective Executive.  There are so many lessons , but  there was one that resonated a lot: The Importance of  Time Tracking. Often we put events and tasks on our calendars, but life happens and sometimes we don’t get to all of them.


Curious about my real time usage, I downloaded the Boosted App. Boosted is a time tracker that helps you track projects and tasks, but is very adaptable. Personally, I use the Projects to define a general category, and the tasks to define the subcategories. 


For instance, under the category of “Work”,  I track time in meetings, time doing administrative work, time in classrooms, and time spent creating plans and strategy. 


Under Creativity, I track the subcategories of composing, editing, and reading. 


It’s super adaptable– it depends on your values and what you’re curious about. A snapshot of one of my reports is above.



As a result of this report, I noticed an immediate flag–you probably see it, too.


I wasn’t spending enough time with family and other people. 


I decided to take action. 


I signed up for a class so as to be social and to learn something new; we committed to going to church physically instead of listening online;  my wife and I are now committed to weekly hikes in Tennessee ; and I started attending a weekly men’s breakfast. 


In other words, the data gleaned from using the Boosted App  brought me a ton of value that I wouldn’t have otherwise.  The best part, I think it was free or a .99 cent download. 


Give it a try– you may be surprised by what you learn– especially if you are consciously designing a life you want to live. 


There are other tools I use, but this is one of the more powerful ones. Over the next few weeks I’ll share each of them and illustrate the value they bring me based on my values. For you,  MINING and SHINING IDEA LAB helps introverted leaders develop internal data tracking practices to help them make more conscious decisions when pursuing a goal. 


It looks different for everybody, but it’s 100% essential– especially for those who like to process information before they act. To signup for an Excavation Call, use this link or visit miningandshining.com.

A Swarm of Lemmings:Writers' Passive Suicide and the Crisis in K-12 Literacy – Implications for Western Civilization

By James Robinson • March 7, 2026
A swarm of lemmings continues their march to the proverbial sea, attracted by a temporary vision of sun and beauty, but ultimately distracted by that vision—thus, they fall off the cliff in a passive suicide. It wasn’t a conscious decision. Their deaths were the consequence of distraction alone. In this allegory, the lemmings are writers (and many in publishing) who ignore the erosion in elementary schools and K-12 education. Writers may create brilliant work, but if students graduate without the skills to engage deeply, our audience vanishes. From a cultural perspective, this is alarming—and the stakes extend to the health of Western civilization itself. In my day job, as Executive Director of a small non-profit, I oversee a pre-K program, a charter school, and our efforts to revitalize a publishing company re-dedicated to high-quality children's books, which we're strongly considering. These trends hit close to home: we're building foundations early because the data shows the stakes are high—not just for individuals, but for the shared knowledge, critical reasoning, and civic discourse that have sustained Western democratic traditions for centuries. Key trends: Average Grade Level of Books Sold Now vs. 1950: Decline Toward Grade 5–7 Bestsellers today often score 5th–7th grade on Flesch-Kincaid (many 4th–6th for broad appeal), with simpler sentences and vocabulary to match declining adult reading stamina. Mid-20th-century works frequently demanded more (closer to 7th–9th in analyses), reflecting a market shift toward accessibility amid falling literacy. Didactic vs. Non-Didactic vs. Classics: Effects on Brain Development Narrative-driven reading (non-didactic stories or classics) sustains broader brain activation—engaging language, empathy, memory, and connectivity regions more effectively than passive or overly didactic methods. Neuroscience shows immersive storytelling promotes neuroplasticity and deeper neural pathways, while fragmented/instructional approaches may limit sustained engagement and cognitive depth needed for complex literature. If Trends Continue: What Will Texts Look Like in the Future—4th Grade? Pleasure reading has plummeted ~40% over 20 years (daily readers from 28% peak in 2004 to 16% in 2023); adult literacy scores dropped sharply (many below 6th grade); NAEP reading scores remain at historic lows. Unchecked, popular texts could simplify to 4th-grade or lower: basic vocabulary, short sentences, reduced nuance—eroding space for sophisticated writing. These declines threaten more than literacy: they undermine the foundations of Western civilization. Deep reading fosters critical thinking, empathy, and shared cultural references essential to informed citizenship and democratic debate. As reading wanes, societies risk shallower discourse, greater susceptibility to manipulation, weakened civic engagement, and a fraying of the reflective reasoning that has driven progress, innovation, and self-governance in the West. This isn't inevitable. Writers and creators bring storytelling, imagination, and engagement that schools and early programs need most. Call to Action: Get involved in schools and early education. Ask kids about the books you remember reading when you were a kid– The Oddyssey, Of Mice and Men, Leaves of Grass. Advocate for narrative-rich curricula, or support initiatives like ours in pre-K and charter settings. Or send me an email, I'd love to chat. When we relaunch our website in the summer, we'll have some exciting news. We have a lot of work to do-- and we're all learning from it.

Venturing into the Courage Gap, #1

By James Robinson • February 21, 2026
Pushing and Pulling The "push" connotes aggression whereas the "pull" connotes invitation. The "push" is a criticism, and the "pull" is coffee and advice at a nice cafe selected just for the advisee. Both are needed in different measures, at different times and often towards the same ends. In 2024, I engaged in a sabbatical to step back, read, study, think, and reflect about schools and leading through the pandemic. It was a very prolific period. However, what made it prolific was the "push"-- spending days reviewing data and learning to criticize the sector I worked in. The Courage Gap Talks document those learnings, in the most lo-fi way. They're ugly, but they inform the work and solutions we're imlpementing at the park, where our goal is to "pull" folks into a transformative educational envioronment. Originally, they were called "Career-Suicide Notebooks", the original plan being to walk away from education all together. Instead, what I learned will inform my work for years. It's been said that Buddhist monks can see the world in a grain of rice. After being immersed in education for several years, I see the world in a school ecosystem. Thus, schools enter my creative work and the way I think about creativity enters my work in schools. The first video is called 33% and it looks at the proficiency scores of 4th grade students on the NAEP Assessment. Additionally, it looks at the broad economy that works to maintain the status quo.