Measure pipeline health by processing days in the last 30…

When This Fires

• During monthly system health reviews when evaluating whether your PKM system is "working"
• When you feel your system should be providing more value despite having many notes
• When comparing your practice to others' — focus on execution days, not note count
• Complements Track daily completion (yes/no) not tool configuration… (daily tracking) with the monthly health evaluation framework

Common Failure Mode

Measuring inputs instead of execution: "I added 100 notes this month!" But adding notes is capturing, not processing. If you added 100 notes but processed (transformed, linked, applied) on only 8 days, your pipeline is accumulating raw material without producing refined output. The metric should track processing days, not capture volume.

The Protocol

(1) At the end of each month, count how many days you completed at least one processing session (triage, review, synthesis, or retrieval). (2) Score: 28-30 days → excellent, system is compounding well. 20-27 days → adequate, look for the pattern in missed days and address structural barriers. 10-19 days → struggling, simplify the system (When pipeline maintenance costs more than the pipeline…) until daily execution is achievable. Under 10 → system has effectively failed as a daily practice. Reset with Start processing habits tiny's minimal version. (3) Do not count capture-only days: passively saving articles or bookmarking pages isn't processing. Processing requires active transformation, routing, or retrieval. (4) Use this metric as your primary health indicator. All other metrics (note count, link density, tool features) are secondary and only meaningful if execution days are at 28+. (5) If your score declines over consecutive months, the system needs simplification, not more features.