Personal Science - Some Numbers
I started out telling a story, of what I've been searching for and moving towards, and how I came to these numbers, and why I think they're important.
But that post got too long. So I'll talk about the numbers first, and then post an explanation/backstory. (Bad sign, huh? - skipping the foreplay).
Short version is this: I realized that whatever I started tracking, slowly got better over time. Amount of weights I could lift, when working out? Slowwly crept up. Time that it took me to run 5 kilometers? I could see it improve, and pretty fast, when I started tracking it. How about weight? Yeah, that too! Now of course, it was because of the diet & exercise program I started, but it was really cool to watch.
I don't know about you, but I've heard and read this a hundred times - whatever you measure, tends to improve. But hearing it is one thing, seeing it at work on your own hide is quite another!
So then I was rubbing my hands greedily, and thinking, well what else can I track (and hopefully watch it improve)? I drew up a long list, but eventually narrowed it down to these core numbers:
1) Number of units of focused work per day. (One unit being a a pomodoro, 25 mins of super-focused work ignoring other distractions, from the Pomodoro Technique. I track the overall number I can do per day, a sum of work from day job, freelancing, personal projects, and work for Cat).
2) Word count. (Number of words I write per day - since I don't write fiction, this means blog posts. I do think this is a key number, even for me).
3) Number of times we have sex (per week. And no, I don't want to argue about what the definition of one unit of sex is - this is not usually a point of confusion, with my partner).
4) Amount of time I spend with my wife (per day. This one is somewhat less clear than others, definition-wise. I want to track quality, non-distracted time. But does eating dinner and watching tv together count? I think so. Anyways, this bears more thinking about).
I struggled with adding this one for a long time, since I wasn't sure if it was a core stat or a modifier to the ones above (but ultimately, decided to track it as a core stat):
5) Reading time (per day, in units of 20 mins (which is coincidentally the time on the ferry from island to town). Magazines and print books only, Kindle counts.)
Since I was already tracking these, I'll add 'em in there, as generic physical ability indicators (I don't think they're core, though):
6) Physical stats: body weight, max bench press weight, 5km running time.
My main suspicion/hypothesis is this: improving these numbers will help me move towards the kind of life that I want. They aren't sufficient, but I think they're helpful or even necessary. (Other hypotheses: that I can improve them at all, and that tracking them will help improve them. And that Cat is not going to think I'm lame and divorce me).
I've been tracking these numbers for about two weeks right now. (How am I doing on them? Uh.. nothing to be proud of. Shhh. I have an excusereason, though - it's crazy deadline crunch-time at work for me, these last two weeks (and before that, for Cat)). We'll see how it goes, in the coming months.
Also! The whole point of tracking these, is that it allows me to do a slow kind of personal science. I can now ask questions and perform experiments on myself, to see how various things affect the core numbers.
Would getting more sleep help improve the numbers? Or would getting less sleep be better, and hence give me more time in the day? I don't know, let's find out. How about drinking more coffee? Less coffee? Would taking up meditation help my focus, and by how much? Does working at home make me more productive than at the office? How about at a coffee shop? If I write first thing after I get up, will that up my word count for the day? Would shifting my sleep schedule to match my partner's result in more sex? And so on.
Here are some other numbers that either didn't make the cut, or I'm still not clear bout:
* Time drawing (maps) per day. I suspect this is core to me, but I can't bear to track it yet (in that, the numbers would be very very low).
* Income (my salary is stable. My freelancing income is a function of the focused units of work (ie my billable hours) - for now, this is a derived stat. But a time will come when I'll want to focus on this, and track it and improve it explicitly.
* Time playing video games (or card games, or tabletop RPGs) per week. Something I struggle with, but I'm gonna ignore it for now.
* Food. Various things I'd like to improve here -- recipies I've mastered, times eating out, food and restaurant budget for the month, number of fights we have over dinner plans, etc.
* Social time / contact with friends. One, I'm fairly happy in this area, for now. Two, not sure how to measure it, or if that's a good idea, etc.
* Emails written and phone calls made per day. I'm kind of phone-phobic. And terrible at emails. I suspect these numbers are pretty important too, but I don't want to focus on them yet.
And, of course, a note of caution for myself :)
But that post got too long. So I'll talk about the numbers first, and then post an explanation/backstory. (Bad sign, huh? - skipping the foreplay).
Short version is this: I realized that whatever I started tracking, slowly got better over time. Amount of weights I could lift, when working out? Slowwly crept up. Time that it took me to run 5 kilometers? I could see it improve, and pretty fast, when I started tracking it. How about weight? Yeah, that too! Now of course, it was because of the diet & exercise program I started, but it was really cool to watch.
I don't know about you, but I've heard and read this a hundred times - whatever you measure, tends to improve. But hearing it is one thing, seeing it at work on your own hide is quite another!
So then I was rubbing my hands greedily, and thinking, well what else can I track (and hopefully watch it improve)? I drew up a long list, but eventually narrowed it down to these core numbers:
1) Number of units of focused work per day. (One unit being a a pomodoro, 25 mins of super-focused work ignoring other distractions, from the Pomodoro Technique. I track the overall number I can do per day, a sum of work from day job, freelancing, personal projects, and work for Cat).
2) Word count. (Number of words I write per day - since I don't write fiction, this means blog posts. I do think this is a key number, even for me).
3) Number of times we have sex (per week. And no, I don't want to argue about what the definition of one unit of sex is - this is not usually a point of confusion, with my partner).
4) Amount of time I spend with my wife (per day. This one is somewhat less clear than others, definition-wise. I want to track quality, non-distracted time. But does eating dinner and watching tv together count? I think so. Anyways, this bears more thinking about).
I struggled with adding this one for a long time, since I wasn't sure if it was a core stat or a modifier to the ones above (but ultimately, decided to track it as a core stat):
5) Reading time (per day, in units of 20 mins (which is coincidentally the time on the ferry from island to town). Magazines and print books only, Kindle counts.)
Since I was already tracking these, I'll add 'em in there, as generic physical ability indicators (I don't think they're core, though):
6) Physical stats: body weight, max bench press weight, 5km running time.
My main suspicion/hypothesis is this: improving these numbers will help me move towards the kind of life that I want. They aren't sufficient, but I think they're helpful or even necessary. (Other hypotheses: that I can improve them at all, and that tracking them will help improve them. And that Cat is not going to think I'm lame and divorce me).
I've been tracking these numbers for about two weeks right now. (How am I doing on them? Uh.. nothing to be proud of. Shhh. I have an excusereason, though - it's crazy deadline crunch-time at work for me, these last two weeks (and before that, for Cat)). We'll see how it goes, in the coming months.
Also! The whole point of tracking these, is that it allows me to do a slow kind of personal science. I can now ask questions and perform experiments on myself, to see how various things affect the core numbers.
Would getting more sleep help improve the numbers? Or would getting less sleep be better, and hence give me more time in the day? I don't know, let's find out. How about drinking more coffee? Less coffee? Would taking up meditation help my focus, and by how much? Does working at home make me more productive than at the office? How about at a coffee shop? If I write first thing after I get up, will that up my word count for the day? Would shifting my sleep schedule to match my partner's result in more sex? And so on.
Here are some other numbers that either didn't make the cut, or I'm still not clear bout:
* Time drawing (maps) per day. I suspect this is core to me, but I can't bear to track it yet (in that, the numbers would be very very low).
* Income (my salary is stable. My freelancing income is a function of the focused units of work (ie my billable hours) - for now, this is a derived stat. But a time will come when I'll want to focus on this, and track it and improve it explicitly.
* Time playing video games (or card games, or tabletop RPGs) per week. Something I struggle with, but I'm gonna ignore it for now.
* Food. Various things I'd like to improve here -- recipies I've mastered, times eating out, food and restaurant budget for the month, number of fights we have over dinner plans, etc.
* Social time / contact with friends. One, I'm fairly happy in this area, for now. Two, not sure how to measure it, or if that's a good idea, etc.
* Emails written and phone calls made per day. I'm kind of phone-phobic. And terrible at emails. I suspect these numbers are pretty important too, but I don't want to focus on them yet.
And, of course, a note of caution for myself :)