The Art of Self Tracking

Over on Mastodon, I follow Joel. Joel also has a blog, which I found through his Mastodon account. Now, before I found his blog, I wasn't much of a follower of blogs. Sure, I'd view a few posts here or there if I were looking for something, but mostly I stuck to more traditional media.

This was a horrendous mistake.

The world of blogs, which has been around for almost as long as the internet, is a horrible thing to miss out on. I'm thankful to Joel and all the other bloggers out there who reminded me that this space exists. Without them, I wouldn't be blogging right now. Or at least not as often, that's for sure.

But this post isn't about blogs. It's about Joel. Joel does something that I decided to steal. Joel tracks everything he does. In weekly and monthly posts on his blog, he discusses everything he's done during that time. Things like what he's read, how much time he's spent reading, playing games, on his phone, and a lot more. If this sounds familiar, it's because I've started to do the same with my monthly wrap ups.

I talked a few days ago about the importance of personal documentation, and that's a part of this, but Joel takes it further. He uses tech to track exactly what he does. I think it's such a good idea.

We rail against companies tracking us, but are mostly powerless to stop them. But there is value in tracking ourselves. Like with my decision to ban TikTok from my life, tracking helps us see the imbalances that are caused by living life. Sometimes we spend time on things that don't really add value. And you're not going to truly realize that until you track your time. When you see it all laid out and find you're spending 30 hours a month on TikTok, you know it's time for something to change.

For me, tracking things has become kind of an obsession. It really started before reading Joel's blog, when I got my first Apple Watch. There's something revolutionary about having access to some of your heath trends. Extrapolating that into more areas, getting more data about every aspect of what you do, can lead to some very interesting personal realizations.

Blogging about tracking your life also adds in an element of accountability. It's shameful to admit that you spend so much time on TikTok. I can't deny that a part of why that mattered to me was that there were now people who knew I spent that time on TikTok and judged me for it. Tracking your activity also keeps a personal record. You can see trends and establish a baseline for your habits, both good and bad.

The more data I have about my own life, the better I seem to feel. It allows me to make better decisions, allows me to make different and more healthy choices, and it forces me to reflect on what I've done in the past and how it will affect my future.

This is something that, I feel, has the chance to change my life. That may seem dramatic or like hyperbole, but it's true. It has led me to think more about my life and its general direction. And that can only be a good thing.

Do you track your time? Please let me know in the comments below or on Mastodon.

This is a part of 30 in 30, my attempt to blog every day for 30 days.