Tracking my 2026 #2
In March, I wrote a post describing a project I had started working on: tracking my life by noting down the corresponding category (school, phone, food…) for every half-hour.
I recommend checking out that post for more details: https://www.reddit.com/r/QuantifiedSelf/s/cWtR7ToQwU
I had been recording this data for nearly three months just for myself before deciding to share it with you. Honestly, I didn't have any particular expectations, but I was truly surprised by the comments and the attention the post received.
So, I am here today to share some updates.
We have just passed the halfway point of the year, but I waited a few days so I could write about and analyze the data in greater depth.
As I previously wrote, this project has proven to be very interesting and is helping me improve how I use my time, even though changing long-established habits can be difficult.
A lot has happened over the past few months.
Filling out the file has become a habit by now, and as I write this, I have reached 8,874 half-hour entries, amounting to 4,437 hours.
Regarding my phone usage, I managed to cut back month by month from February to May. However, after school ended, my usage increased though I am pleased that I use it more for gaming than for mindlessly scrolling through social media.
Since May, I’ve also fixed up my bike and started riding it again, covering just over 350 km so far (data I track in a separate file, not relevant to this post).
At the same time, I’ve kept up with my reading and have finished 9 books since the start of the year (data I also record elsewhere, not relevant to this post).
Then, in June, I finished school; I had to study and take exams, and I’ve just graduated with a diploma in accounting, scoring 98/100. Now my routine has been turned upside down, and I’ll have to start doing a lot of new things.
If you want to take a look at the data, please forgive the category names being in Italian.
I’ll see how this post performs; I’m going to keep tracking the data, and perhaps around November or December, I might write another post to sum up the project. I’d like to share the experience as a whole, maybe in greater detail, and offer useful advice to anyone who, like me, wants to start tracking something, so they can avoid making the same mistakes I did. For instance, if, like me, you love having precise data and want to start in January 2027, I recommend preparing beforehand and perhaps tracking data as a trial run in December to see if anything needs tweaking. I say this because I’ve been adding new categories as I take up new activities, but there are some things I can’t change without compromising data consistency; in my case, I would have preferred to separate social media from video games.
As with the other post, I am available to answer your questions and welcome suggestions of any kind.
Thanks for reading.