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How to Measure a Great Summer and Why You Shouldn’t

Now that we’re past Labor Day, you won’t be hearing “How’s your summer?” anymore. Sorry. We’re moving full steam ahead into the past tense now.    So, prep your answer: Did you have a great summer? You have a few options. Try “Yes, thanks. How was yours?” Share a random anecdote about something that happened. Offer a scientifically appropriate response based on measurable data. You’ve been hearing that we should all be measuring what matters, keeping track of stats rather than relying on anecdotes. We talk about customer experience metrics, employee engagement scores — but can we do the same for summer?   Define your terms Let’s be scientific about this. When’s summer?   K12 summer: The whole time school is closed. Astronomical summer: From summer solstice to autumnal equinox — that’s June 21 to September 23, 2019. Common summer: Memorial Day to Labor Day Marketing summer: From spring break to back-to-school    Goals much? It’s tricky to measure or analyze if you don’t have anything to measure against. Maybe you dove into summer with a hope of swimming every day. Maybe you dreamed of sleeping more. While setting goals might go against the carefree summer stereotype, they would definitely help with the measurement side of things.   Wait — are you saying that you didn’t sit down and map out SMART goals for your summer? Okay, maybe it’s too late for this summer, but what about the next?   For example, to start with: I’ll visit the farmers market […]