Introducing Goals on Gyroscope
Don’t just view your stats—change them! 📈
We’re excited to announce a big feature that Mahdi and I have been working on for the last couple months, as the newest addition to Gyroscope Pro.
Gyroscope combines all of your data to help you understand and share it. It is fun to look at what you’ve done, but the top reason most people track things like sleep, steps, productivity is to try and improve them.
Now that tool finally exists!
It just takes a couple clicks to start a goal for the week. Everything is powered by what you did last week, so the only thing you need to decide is what you want to achieve…
Let’s say you want to try to meditate more this week. Meditation is something that has many beneficial effects (and we’re now tracking with iOS10 mindfulness sessions) but is hard to remember to do consistently.
If you’re just starting out, you may be prompted to do just 10 minutes a day. If you’ve already been doing that for a while, then it will give you the options to double up or just repeat what you did last week.
Another example of a goal is to run a longer distance or more frequently. Running is another example of a healthy activity, but none of that research helps you if you don’t remember to do it yourself.
You can choose to create just one goal for the week and focus on getting it done, or max it out with three separate ones. For example, you may want to make sure you work out regularly but also get enough sleep to recover. Or try to get a lot of work done but also meditate daily or go cycling so you don’t get burned out.
Goals can be started from both the website and the iPhone app.
For each goal, you’ll be able to see your progress throughout the week.
What we do differently
Goals have been a feature in many apps, but they often don’t end up working. When we started building goals on Gyroscope, we thought about what usually failed in those old systems—and how we would make sure to prevent that on Gyroscope. There are a few things we do differently that we think will make these goals much more effective in your life.
Easy and achievable weekly goals
Oftentimes goals end up being long-term monthly or yearly things, but those end up being too ambitious and hard to stay excited about. While losing 20 pounds or running 1,000 miles may seem exciting at first, it’s really hard to stay on track, especially after a few weeks or when something goes wrong.
We wanted Gyroscope goals to be fun and bite-sized projects that you can quickly accomplish and celebrate, and then move on to something else or try something even harder. If you fail, it’s not a big deal—just try again next week.
Based on your own average
Instead of just suggesting everyone reach the same magic number—like you need to get 10,000 steps, or should get to 10% bodyfat—you just need to make incremental improvements from wherever you were last week. You’re competing against yourself rather than some average person.
If you normally do 2,000 steps, then even getting 2,500 every day will be a big accomplishment. Meanwhile, for other people 30,000 might be a typical day and 40,000 is the stretch goal. Each goal is tailor made for you, and rated as easy, medium or hard.
Positive feedback loops
Since we’re passively tracking all of this data, and it continuously updates throughout the day, we are able to keep track of how you’re doing and make sure you don’t fall behind. As more data comes in, we use that to help you get closer to your goal by sending you useful tips and reminders.
Stay aware of your progress
Awareness is one of the biggest missing factors in staying on top of your goals. We all have busy lives and it is easy to forget extra things like meditating or to go for an extra workout.
In the past, you could set a goal once (often at the beginning of the year), and then forget about it for months. Not anymore.
See it on all platforms
See your goals everywhere—in the app, in your notifications, on the Gyroscope website, and in the Chrome extension when you use your computer. Whatever the theme of your week is, we’ll keep you constantly reminded that your goals are a priority and show you whether you’re on track or falling behind.
The arrow at the top of the bar shows how far along the week is, and you can easily compare that to how far along you are in your goal.
Show off your progress
Instead of just being a solitary activity, we make it easy to share your goals and show off your progress. Competing with people and getting encouragement from your friends can often be the difference between success and failure.
For many people, sharing the final goal card in the weekly report will be a big motivator in staying on track throughout the week. Set a goal now and you’ll see your results next Monday in your weekly report.
Chrome Extension
The Chrome extension now has a new theme available to remind you of your goal progress every time you open a new tab.
Set your extension to the Goals theme if you want an extra reminder to stay on track.
Goals end every Monday, so you get your results in the weekly report.
See your goals on Gyroscope to get started!
Goals are the newest feature of Gyroscope Pro, which now includes many tools to help you automatically track and improve everything about your life.
Gyroscope Pro is only $7 a month and you can cancel at any time. If you’re excited about improving your health and staying fit for 2017, you can save $14 a year with the annual subscription.
