Micro-journaling has helped me gather quantifiable insights about my day-to-day life and allowed me to focus on my personal growth. Here's how π
About 200 days ago, I came across a mobile application called 'Daylio' (@hellodaylio), and decided to give it a shot.
At that time, I didn't think much about it as I was unsure if:
- I'm going to form a habit of using it,
- I would get much value out of it.
Upon downloading, the most crucial step was finding the right time for daily notification to fill it in β 23:55 in my case.
Even though I didn't give much thought about timing, this ended up being a huge win, as it assured forming a habit (#3 making it easy @JamesClear).
Fast-forward 200+ days, let's start off messages Daylio wants me to know about:
- My best day is Sunday,
- My longest 'happy-day streak' was 44 days,
- My mood was the most stable in September, while it was the best in December.
Now let's break that down π
Why might my best day of the week be Sunday? If you would ask me, I would immediately say that it should have been Saturday. Curious to learn more, I started digging into data.
Surprisingly, there is one correlation that is true 100% of the time (according to data collected during the past 200 days) β all of my 'best days' also have the label 'good sleep', while ALL of my 'meh' and 'bad' days have the label 'bad sleep'.
The fact that I'm not proud of is that I sleep at most 5.5h/day (usually between 4 and 5 hours) during work days.
I compensate for it by sleeping in during weekends. Those are the days that I almost always rate with 'good sleep'.
The reason why I sleep so little is simple to me β the day is way too short.
I want to get more done. I want to learn more.
But this is how I've been functioning for years, and it is something I'm aware of.
What I wasn't so aware of, is that it certainly affects my mood.
Let's also talk about mood over the months. Daylio says that my mood has been the most stable in September, and the best in December.
Now, why is that?
In September, I changed my workplace.
I became a part of an entirely new team. It was a positive change. I was motivated.
Most of my time, I was either analyzing the state of processes & practices, or thinking about what could be improved. What could I do to make an impact?
In December however, holidays were knocking at the door. Christmas spirit was present everywhere around me, and the festive atmosphere made me feel cheerful.
But most of those conclusions could be drawn based on common sense, even without using any tool, right?
Let me get into more quantifiable data
- On average, I have 'Gaming' activity 11 times a month. This increases my mood by +5% compared to not having this activity.
- On average, I watch TV/Movies 12.5 times a month. This increases my mood by +4% compared to not having this activity.
- On average, I have very bad sleep 8 times a month. Usually, on Thursdays and Fridays (probably due to feeling way too exhausted by short sleep until those days).
- On average, I have good sleep 6 times a month, almost always on Saturdays and Sundays.
We can see a pattern here.
What I wish I've done differently π
When starting to track my daily habits & activities, I didn't have any expectations or goals for it, nor did I have any previous experience with such practices.
Therefore, I went with the default settings & tracking.
Now, that I've gathered enough insights, seen good and bad practices, I'm able to prepare better for the next year.
As pretty much everyone, I myself have goals for the year 2023 π
.
But this time (compared to 2022), I know how to, and which activities and data to track.
Here is how I plan to do it π
1. Track the stress levels
As a person who tends to stress a lot, I want to be able to draw conclusions on what mostly causes it.
2. Track social activities
- Spending quality time with family & partner
- Meeting a friend/group of friends
- Going to a party
3. Tracking growth habits
- Listening to podcasts,
- Reading a book or an article,
- Practicing writing,
- Studying a course.
4. Tracking wellness
- Weightlifting,
- Cardio,
- Stretching,
- Self-Reflection.
5. Hobby habits
- Movies / TV,
- Gaming,
- Pleasure Driving,
- Practicing drawing, miniature assembly and miniature painting (frequency),
- Drone piloting.
6. Finally, I plan to continue tracking my sleep (based purely on the subjective feeling of tiredness)
Hopefully, gathering those insights will help me focus on things that matter the most, leverage those that are working out, and improve those that aren't.
This time around, I will have much greater segmentation, more focused answers, while maintaining the curiosity about the everyday data and patterns that made me start tracking and micro-journaling in the first place.
Until the next analysis,
Cheers!