My 2021, with data

Since 2017 I started recording data from all monitoring tools, both online (for example the TV series watched) and physical (physical activity with the Apple Watch or Fitbit). Since the end of 2020, however, I found Exist, which is an online service, developed by an independent team in Australia, which allows me to aggregate many monitoring services together, and to check the correlations between all these datos.

With my referral link there is the first month free: link

A few days after the end of the year, Exist sent me an email making a recap of the data accumulated throughout 2021. Although the cumulative numbers make little sense in many cases for me (what good is it to know that I burned about 800 thousand kj, or that I was 109 days in bed, of which 103 days sleeping?), the part that serves me most is that of the typical day of 2021.

I am indeed convinced that, more than overall, the data I collect every day serve for the specific. I must be able to answer the question “How do you usually spend your day?” with “In a satisfactory manner from all points of view”.

As if it were my diary, I try to analyze the data and understand what they mean to me today, and what I can do to improve tomorrow.

I slept on average 7 hours and 52 minutes, or just under 8 hours. My implicit goal for 2021 was to sleep well, and I would say I almost achieved it. In the first 4 months of the year, between job change, graduation and wedding, I had a very ‘toxic’ rhythm, but from August onwards I recovered, taking more holidays (on average a couple of days of relaxation every month, in addition to weekends). I definitely feel better mentally than last year, happier and more rested.

I woke up on average at 8:07. This is because the first meeting, every morning, was at 9:30. 1 hour and a half between waking up and work is actually little, because it doesn’t allow me to train, I can’t do meditation nor even have an hour of focused work before hearing the others. In 2022, in fact, we moved the morning meeting to 11:00, so as to leave more breathing space for everyone for their morning routines.

I weighed on average 73.3 kg. This is an increase of 3-4 kg compared to last year: physiological increase compared to the fact that now I am more sedentary and that I have to restructure my sports life, if you can define it that way. This year my main goal, after that of building solid economic and family foundations, is to drastically increase my physical activity. I already have some ideas, maybe I’ll talk about them in another article.

I was also productive on average for 3 hours and 14 minutes. This figure is very important: it is taken from RescueTime, the service I have active on all my devices and which analyzes how I use apps. If RescueTime tells me that I am productive on average for 3 hours a day, what’s the point of working more? One of the goals in 2022 is in fact to work less, but much better. About 6 hours a day during weekdays and 0 hours during holidays. So I have more time to train, be with my family, write (which for me is an outlet, not a job) and travel.

I tweeted on average once a day. My Twitter profile has doubled in the last year, because I am a public figure in the Avalanche community (a crypto sub-community, basically). Now I have more than 1,100 followers and I plan to reach 10,000 by the end of 2022.

I was little distracted, only 15 minutes a day. It is always a RescueTime datum, and obviously does not take into account the time I spend on TV, playing PlayStation or Switch. It means the time I am distracted when I am at the computer. Basically I practically never get distracted, I am very focused, excellent.

I took about 6,000 steps. This is little, below my desired threshold of 10,000 to feel good. Another datum to support the fact that being in shape must be a priority this year.

I went to sleep at a quarter past midnight on average. To get up at 8 and sleep 8 hours, is an excellent habit: going to sleep at midnight and working 6 hours a day, as I would like, means that I will have 24 (total hours) - 6 (work hours) - 8 (sleep hours) = 10 hours to do something else: take care of myself, do sports, see friends, etc. Enjoy life, in short.

Finally, I was on average in bed 8 hours and a quarter: since I slept about 8 hours, it means that I don’t stay in bed unnecessarily. When I go to bed, I sleep and rest, I do nothing else. This is a direct consequence that we don’t have a TV in the bedroom and that I tend to read when I am in bed, or listen to podcasts or audiobooks (all activities that help me sleep).

In short, with this year’s data I can therefore declare my list of intents for 2022:

• Build
• Be fit
• Invoice
• Travel
• Relax
• Divulge
• Read

Simpler than last year, but with more stringent goals. Let’s see how it goes.