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

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

#51

Post by guessmyname »

Great article.

I have been doing the same for the last two years or so. I use Qbserve [1], a native (privacy-focused) time tracker for macOS developed by a couple living in Chile. The application keeps all the information on my computer in an SQLite database, making it very easy to analyze. I regularly reference it during my quarterly performance reviews to justify ups-and-downs in my results.

I will use this article as inspiration for writing a blog post sometime.

Coincidentally, I also saw a Reddit post last night [2] with the original poster's data analysis of all their expenses recorded through 2020. I bookmarked it because I collected similar information during the previous three years to write another blog post. Unfortunately, I am still unsure how to write such an article without revealing too much personal information.

[1] https://qotoqot.com/qbserve/

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/kp3fcn/a/

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

#52

Post by dnautics »

Draiken wrote: 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…

Did you read the article? "I work less than I thought I did and that's ok"

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

#54

Post by barrucadu »

nyxtom wrote: post #48
barrucadu wrote: post #44

I started tracking my time in 15-minute intervals a little under a month ago, and I've also been surprised by how little effort it is. I've not gone for breaking by day up into 15 minute chunks, instead I've been timing myself as I do things, and noting down the duration rounded it to the nearest 15 minutes when I change tasks. I'm also not tracking everything , for example, showering. So I have a fair bit of missing…

Do you use an app for this, or do you just use the timer?

I'm manually noting down durations in timedot format (https://hledger.org/hledger.html#timedot-format) in a text file.

For example, today's entry as of 18:32 is:

    2021-01-03
    leisure:anime       .......................
    leisure:social      ..
    sleep               6.5h
    chores:foodprep     .
    chores:regular      .
    leisure:social      ......
    leisure:ttrpg:play  ..........
Each dot is 15 minutes, so I'm missing a bit of time today. Oh well.

I think that having a timer app which lets me start / stop timers individually and give them names would be helpful. The one I'm currently using, on my phone, just has a single stopwatch.

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

#55

Post by Max_aaa »

serial_dev wrote: post #26
whatshisface wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't paying someone else to raise your children... not raising children? It's like comparing a bank with actual gold in a vault and many expensive physical security measures with someone who owns a futures contract with no delivery.

There is a line between completely "outsourcing" raising your children (how I "stereotypically" imagine royal families might do) and getting help with the things that take all your energy but doesn't really contribute to your relationships with your children. Washing clothes, buying groceries, cooking every day are all things that must be done, but it can be done by another person (nanny, au pair, or even grand paren…

The food is kinda resolved for no-so rich families with services like Hello Fresh, and so on. As you are just left with the Cooking bit, which is actually a bonding experience, as the little ones help with the meal.

And with cleaning, yes, that one is a chore.

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

#56

Post by Draiken »

dnautics wrote: post #52
Draiken wrote: 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…

Did you read the article? "I work less than I thought I did and that's ok"

I did. But it also mentions procrastination as a -4 point and sleep as a 0.

And my sentiment is also from reading some of the comments here. So many people obsessed with productivity.

Some have a clear reason to do so, but I fear many do it because of outside pressures, or never even thought about it.

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

#57

Post by sunir »

Draiken wrote: 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…

I think you have a very narrow understanding of what "productive" means. You can produce or make progress towards anything that you value. Making other people money is just one avenue.

If you had a year to live, you would definitely want to be productive. There's a lot that needs to get done to wrap up your one single life well, so that your time on earth wasn't lost. Just getting your will and testament done, talking to all your loved ones, getting your affairs in order for any dependents, tying up any loose ends so they aren't inherited, cleaning up your house for the estate.

If you know older people, you'll see them doing these kinds of activities in their later years. That's still being productive. You're still making progress.

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

#58

Post by gbrindisi »

guessmyname wrote: post #51

Great article. I have been doing the same for the last two years or so. I use Qbserve [1], a native (privacy-focused) time tracker for macOS developed by a couple living in Chile. The application keeps all the information on my computer in an SQLite database, making it very easy to analyze. I regularly reference it during my quarterly performance reviews to justify ups-and-downs in my results. I will use this article…

I am curious, can you share the reddit post?

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

#59

Post by hezag »

ChrisLomont wrote: post #41
xkeysc0re wrote: post #36

I am really really grateful I am not this kind of person. Not everything needs to be quantified and analyzed. I'm glad OP had fun with the exercise but this drive to amass data will only lead to human suffering and oppression down the line

> this drive to amass data will only lead to human suffering and oppression down the line On a large scale, science (and economics) is a drive to amass data, which has led to vast reductions in human suffering. Amassing data lets one (and mankind) make decisions not on random conjecture or feeling, but on a solid footing, which results in better decisions on how to allocate resources. Not gathering data where it's po…

> Amassing data lets one (and mankind) make decisions not on random conjecture or feeling, but on a solid footing, which results in better decisions on how to allocate resources

"Better" is extremely relative. Better for whom?

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

#60

Post by gibrown »

Draiken wrote: 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…

> 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".

But if you are going to try and do things that "really matter" don't you want to be productive at them?

I've seen a number of folks with ALS who have done amazing things with the time they had left, and I am sure they focused on their productivity in doing them.

This also isn't a hypothetical for me. I have a damaged spinal cord and have spent amazing amounts of time tracking data to try and improve my body and my life. Not the same as facing death since I am trying to optimize my time to get back to a point where my body is stronger and in less pain so I can spend more time with my kids and also do the other things I want. It is a very tough balance.

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