The Over-Quantified Self

Journal entries from a life examined a bit too much


January 1

My new years resolution is as follows: I'll be going about my day like anyone else.  The alarm goes off.  I wake up, shower, shave, and eat breakfast.  The only difference is that I'm entering data into my phone immediately after all of these events; shower duration, shaving pattern, quantity of materials used, breakfast items, calories consumed.  Otherwise known as life-logging or self-measurement, I'll be tracking anything and everything I do to get a better understanding of who I am, which will maybe lead to some self-improvement along the way.  Who knows, maybe I'll wind up going to the gym more.  Maybe less.  We'll let the numbers speak for themselves.


January 10

It has been "so far, so good" after a good week of this experiment.  What's great is that there are all these little apps that can track anything from the number of times you yawn in a week and then spit out a linear regression graph.  If it seems strange to look at a least squares graphical approximation of how often you listen to Lady Gaga, that's because it is.  But it's also very revealing.  Think about the alternative; going about your daily life, barely remembering the difference from one day to the next.   Just by the process of typing the numbers in, I've noticed how inconsistent I can be.  For instance, I never seem to eat breakfast at the same time each day.  I wonder why that is.  And from this, my caloric intake can fluctuate wildly.  Could this also be affecting my variable sleep schedule?  I can't say for sure just yet.  This is exciting.  It's like a self-reflective detective agency.  Someday I'll be able to put together a portrait of myself that looks nothing like who I think I am.  It's really quite fascinating.  Eat your heart out Marcel Proust. 



February 1

Last night I got into a bit of an argument with some friends about the input processing.  They seemed to think it was too much of a distraction.  They also kept calling me "Data" from Star Trek and suggesting that I "go paint my ass white" instead of constantly recording everything we do.  But if I don't take this information down in the moment, it's just going to get lost, and there's nothing worse than lost data.  The last time I got drunk with them I woke up with a good three hours that couldn't be accounted for.  Without those numbers, the continuity of my line graphs gets all thrown off and I'm forced to switch to scatter plot.



February 26

Using the moodGraphr plugin, I was able to look at how my emotional state has been trending and it doesn't look good.  I went ahead and declared the last week an official depression (it has a little selector option for this), which makes sense considering the number of times I left the house plotted against the times I masturbated.  Looking back on it, I can't readily decide on the source.  The tea leaves are kind of blurry in this respect.  Besides some blips in food intake and sleep schedules over the last week, I can't see anything that I could readily identify as a cause.  Possibly weather related?  The project at work has gotten progressively boring, but I'm having a hard time quantifying that one.  I need more information to deign any one possible cause significant. 


March 3

At this point what I really need is some extra peripherals to record the details that I'm missing.  A head-mounted, steadi-cam unit with high quality boom-mike might work.  Something that can record everything I see and hear throughout the day.  My worry is that it might get particularly bulky.  Here's hoping Apple will come along with a neural implant for just such a need in the near future. 


March 12

It looks like I won't be getting back those last two hours I spent watching the Adventures of Sheriff Lobo marathon.  Those lost hours are putting my inefficiency rating above ten percent.  This is certainly going to be sending me into another guilt spiral, which is also wasted time, which will only perpetute the spiral.  This time of behavior usually depicts itself like a logarithmic decline on the efficiency chart.  I may be running under the national average for time spent watching TV, but I'm way over the national average for time spent sleeping.  My life is slipping out from under me.  This week's vow is to get those numbers down.  So far I've eliminated alcohol, waiting in line, lunch, and entertainment.  To really make a difference, I may have to eliminate dialogue with co-workers. 


March 15

Somebody asked me about the weather and my head almost exploded.  Sure, we're in an elevator, but I have specifically reserved that time for processing memories.  Nothing wrecks the Gaussian curve like idle chit-chat.  We're talking the difference between a probability distribution of .4 and .5, and I'd rather not get into Jacknife resampling.


April 13

I do not like the looks of this stool.  It's a greenish-brown color tint which is far away from the standard oak-brown I have been used to ever since I switched to a higher-fiber breakfast cereal.  It has to be that take-out from last night.  When plotted on a color spectrum grid against the other data points (thanks to this new iSpectrum app!), it's falling towards the violet wavelength.  There's no question, I have to go back to that restaurant and confront them about the contents of their hot wings.



 

—December 17th, 2009

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