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I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

samplesize.one

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Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#241
post #8

For a long time I've wanted to create an Android/iOS app called "Sample Me" or something similar, for collecting exactly this kind of data about yourself. You design a survey with whatever data you want to collect, then the app gives you a notification at whatever interval you configure. A couple taps and you have a sample point about your life, which gets appended to a Google Sheet or similar, and maybe some in-app…

I'd love this on an apple watch. Would be especially nice to combine with an NFC tag. e.g. when you brush your teeth, just hold your watch to the brush which has an NFC tag, then start brushing. That activity is now recorded somewhere. It's really not a big deal to open an app, browse to the particular activity, and register it. But somehow in practice it is. It's another chore that I never really get around to doing…

The “Today View” (swipe left on the Lock Screen, Notification Center, or Home Screen) would also be a great place for this

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#243
post #49

I am always baffled how sad this extreme focus into productivity makes me. If you discovered you were going to die in a year, would you continue to spend all your time being "productive"? I figure almost everyone would shift all their focus on doing things that "really matter". Sadly I believe the world managed to make us feel guilty when we're not doing something that makes someone else rich (majority of jobs). I'm…

The most productive people ever focused on productivity.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#244
post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a side note... what does TFA mean? I've seen it a few times here. Does it mean "the f*cking article"?

I think it means "The Featured Article".

I always interpreted as "The Full Article" (as opposed to just the title).

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#245
post #49

I am always baffled how sad this extreme focus into productivity makes me. If you discovered you were going to die in a year, would you continue to spend all your time being "productive"? I figure almost everyone would shift all their focus on doing things that "really matter". Sadly I believe the world managed to make us feel guilty when we're not doing something that makes someone else rich (majority of jobs). I'm…

> extreme focus into productivity makes me.

I see it rather sad when some people do nothing of their lives instead of investing a little bit every day in doing something meaningful. By no means I am advocating for 100% productivity at all times - but striving for a little less idle time is beneficial.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#246
If you spend most of your time on a computer you could use “Timing 2”. I’ve got down to the second tracking of exactly what I did during my last job for around two years. Easy to sort by work-vs-fun. If I had used it on my personal laptop I’d have near 90% coverage of my life. Then tracking the rest would require less manual effort. Probably could semi-automate that too by building an app that polls you every 15m with a few quick-add entries.

I can’t imagine doing this manually in a spreadsheet.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I never said tracking time inherently does that. I agree with you. It's a great way to put things in perspective. It's just my personal experience that the majority of time we label as "productive" is in fact productivity for the sake of someone else profiting on top of it. I have nothing against the OP or the article.

Most people work for someone else, the productivity is a for a paycheck. But secondarily you are also learning skills which can either propel you up a career ladder or give you the basics to start your own business. Sour grapes over how much profit shareholders are getting does not serve ones own interests—either start your own business or maximize your own salary/billable rate in the labor marketplace, but don’t cut…

This is a myth and you should be ashamed for believing it. Please go spend time with the rich, you’ll see they’re dumb as shit and the laziest people on earth. But yeah, keep kissing their ass, maybe they’ll let you in the club

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#248

"Today’s society is no longer Foucault’s disciplinary world of hospitals, madhouses, prisons, barracks, and factories. It has long been replaced by another regime, namely a society of fitness studios, office towers, banks, airports, shopping malls, and genetic laboratories. Twenty-first-century society is no longer a disciplinary society, but rather an achievement society". - Byung-Chul Han

We still very much live in a Foucauldian world: - we're constantly surveilled (school, jobs, gov't) and mostly we willingly submit to this - r.e. "21st century is no longer a disciplinary society", yes it is, see my point above. we (they?) just succeeded in making the discipline less overt, more complicit. we don't need jails anymore we just need smartphones (see Social Dilemma) - that list is not one of an "achievem…

You've missed the point - which is often the problem with posting quotes.

I agree that we still live in a Foucauldian world and that many of those factors remain. But what Han is getting at (and his broader thesis in 'The Burnout Society') is that a new series of societal dynamics have propogated from the modern citizen's raison d'etre of serving one's own aspiration, rather than that of the collective.

In Han's view, we live in a society where the Other is disappearing. This, in turn, creates all kinds of mental artifacts that hinder our overall experience and well-being.

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'renewiltord mentioned Akrasia. That's one big thing. Another thing is that you may not have enough time to fit the things you want with your schedule - and you first need to optimize your things in your life. That may involve optimizing your productivity at work, to free up time or energy for your own things. That also will involve taking a look at what you do around and after work. All of us live at least partially…

Hi, I agree with your view. And over a couple of years of (failed) scheduling/optimizing techniques, I learned a thing or two that I would like to share. The approach OP used in her article is undoubtedly, a great way of looking at your footprints. I used to do a similar (revising over time) thing, but looking back on how much time i "wasted" and how little i was "productive", was not worth the effort. Over time, I'v…

Thank you for sharing this anecdote, it neatly fits in with a revelation that has been slowly unfolding in me over the last 6 months, graduating from my burnout stage of youth into a mores sustainable and enjoyable way of being and working.

Do your 3 sections have time limits? As in, the morning section is confined to 2/3 hours, the second section 8 hours and X hours for the 'freestyle' final section?

Re: I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year

#250
post #235
post #49

I am always baffled how sad this extreme focus into productivity makes me. If you discovered you were going to die in a year, would you continue to spend all your time being "productive"? I figure almost everyone would shift all their focus on doing things that "really matter". Sadly I believe the world managed to make us feel guilty when we're not doing something that makes someone else rich (majority of jobs). I'm…

Unlike many folks here, I agree with you (in that a lot of focus on productivity makes me sad). For a point of contrast, though, every now & then I'll log my activities for a week -- just a week -- as a way of auditing my commitments. Am I spending a lot of time on things I don't value? Am I enjoying what I'm doing? At this stage in my career/life, I actually want to put a limit on my employed hours. Side projects, f…

I really like the idea of intermittently logging a week, thank you for sharing. Your example of taking a short time to plan ahead with your spouse is a perfect motivation for me to try this, as it's an area I could really improve
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