I’ve been tracking all kinds of personal things before the term ”Quantified self” was even invented. I’ve done serious biohacking more since my Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) diagnosis 2013.
On these pages I share some of the ways I track myself and my life and biohack my brain and body.
Quantified Self – tracking everything
The Time Management base (which I accidentally call Time Tracking database in some of the previous posts) is my daily log where I dump everything. I often use it during the day or the next day to remember what I’ve done, where I was at a certain moment, what did I promise or think, what was the name of the podcast I just listened etc.
I start a new Time Management (Ajanhallinta) base every year (basically just duplicate/clone the base, rename the old base and empty the new base).
Tracking (Seuranta) base is meant for long term use and for comparing different days/weeks/months. The individual tables make it easier to look at the trends as well.
This system is constantly evolving. In the past three days I began measuring my morning body temperature, just because I found the thermometer and found a good spot in my morning routine to take the temperature.
My goal is to remove all the friction from the tracking process and make tracking so easy and intuitive, that I can do it almost without thinking.
My tracking habit has evolved over time. I have weighted myself daily since 2002. I have logged my food on and off since 2002 – sometimes years at the time. I’ve written morning pages on and off for several years – probably since 2005 or so. And before that I used to write “regular diary” ever since I was a kid. I’ve tracked my activity and sleep with Fitbit since 2013 and Oura since 2018. I first tracked what I do and think in 2018 for almost a year. I’ve meditated almost daily for over a year.
I don’t try to start tracking multiple new things at once. I don’t expect to track everything every day. I trust that if tracking something (like purchases) is as easy as possible and feels relevant, I will start doing it more consistently over time. The act of tracking – and being aware/mindful what I’m doing – is the beef here.
Having logs/records to go back to and compare is just bonus.