But what about those measures?  Well the problem is that either you get very complex and specific to the job with the not-entirely-useful metrics like number of articles written or lines of code written.  Or you step back and look at the evidence of effective and productive work.  Combining my thoughts with those from Matt's article you have things like:

• Time spent on activities directly related to your objectives and those of the company.


• Previously-read mail in the inbox (awaiting some action).  Ideally, kept to a minimum


• Amount of incoming / outgoing email.  There is no specific number here, but I think the flow of email indicates something.  Too much flow and you are spending all your time reading and responding - there is probably a better way to spend your time.


• Similarly, outside of email, there is time spent looking for things: files, information, people.  Can you organize your own information in ways that make sense for you?  Can you work with the company to provide better access to information that is otherwise hard to get?


• Time spent on interruptions: colleagues, phone calls, IM's, etc.  This should also be kept to a reasonable minimum.  Learn how to tune out that co-worker who always talks over the cubes.