My 3KS Productivity Tracker Excel Sheet
I have been using this sheet for years. I don't start my mornings without updating this sheet.
If you've ever wondered how the most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, racked up 23 gold medals, it's not just talent - it's tracking. His coach revealed a simple 6-year Excel sheet that logged daily progress, turning habits into unstoppable momentum. We might not chase Olympic glory, but I challenge you: Use this sheet daily for the next 6 years. That's the exact grind I committed to - and it fueled my transformation from minimum-wage hustles to $17k/mo take-home as a BI-FinTech PM consultant, plus 40lbs of muscle.
Enter the 3KS Focus Tracker: A no-frills Excel tool that gamifies three keystone habits. Input three numbers daily, and watch the cascade of wins in productivity, health, and growth. It's the secret sauce behind my career leap and fitness forge - simple, visual, and brutally effective.
What Are Keystone Habits?
Keystone habits are consistent behaviors that trigger a chain reaction of positive results. They're the foundation for everything else. The 3KS tracks:
- Exercise Sets: Your gateway to flow state. Exercise raises baseline dopamine, the precursor to deep focus - making the next habit easier.
- Focus Hours: The core of productivity. Time in true flow (not counting breaks, pure output) drives results. Work counts only if you're locked in; add personal study too.
- Reading Minutes: Knowledge compounds. Track it, and you'll carve out time - zeros sting, but green checks build the streak. As the saying goes, you train what you track
These aren't random—they're sequenced: Exercise primes focus, focus fuels reading, reading sharpens everything.
How to Use the 3KS Tracker: 3 Inputs, Massive Output
Download the free sheet here (bundled with Free 10k/mo+ PM Job Board Contract Alert)
Here's the breakdown:
Daily Input (Start Your Day with Yesterday's Wins)
- Sets: Log exercise sets (e.g., 20 push-ups = 1 set). Cardio? Convert every 5 minutes to 2 sets - no extra tables needed.
- Focus Hours: Deep work only (e.g., 8 hours coding or PM planning). Phone timer for precision - pause for breaks.
- Reading Minutes: Non-fiction fuel (books, articles). Aim for 30+ to start.
Input takes 30 seconds. Weeks run Sunday-Saturday; months auto-sum. Zoom out for the year view.
Visual Vault: Tables, Graphs, and Scorecards
- Three Tables: One per habit - weekly columns (Sun-Sat), monthly rows (Jan-Dec). Weekly totals auto-sum at top.
- Conditional Formatting: Green for hits (e.g., 9 sets = green, 8 = yellow, 3 = red). Customize targets - mine's 11 minimum focus hours for green.
- Quarterly Graphs: Exercise sets by quarter, reading mins by quarter, focus hours by quarter.
- Weekly Focus Line: Dotted 2-week moving average - quick trend without bar-scan.
- Yearly Scorecard: Totals for workouts/study/reading + averages (sets/week, hours/week).
- All-Time Scorecard: Cumulative since start (e.g., 6,195 study hours = 23% to 10k mastery goal)
Pro Tip: Duplicate the sheet for your clean copy (right-click tab)—keeps my sample data intact for formatting reference.
My Grind with 3KS: From Hustle to $17k Freedom
The real lesson here is gamifying persistence. My Aerospace Engineering studies honed that - late nights uncovering systems where physics meets ingenuity. Mastery? Not genius - just relentless repetition. You don't ace it first try, but systematic hunt wins over progress by gut feel.
Fast-forward: 3KS tracked my pivot from $3,650/mo debt trap ($700 beater, 64 sq ft battle room) to $17k/mo BI-FinTech PM freedom (ocean penthouse, Porsche 718 GTS). 6,195 focus hours, 1,680 workouts, 590 reading hours - accretion of mundane acts.
This is my art canvas - freehand journal tables for brain activation, then Excel log.
Build the Habit: Phone Timer or Journal Ritual
Wake, pull yesterday's wins - input three numbers, hit save. Phone clock app for focus (play/pause running total). Or my fave: Productivity journal (freehand to-do + table - writing activates more brain than typing). Start here daily; digital sync optional. Zeros? They sting - use 'em as fuel. The reds are there forever.
The Cascade: Why 3KS Powers Your Pivot
Commit daily. Outwork the herd; your $10k+/mo AI-Proof freedom awaits.
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