1 Second Everyday

Last year marked the beginning of a new project where (almost) every day I took a short video clip (a second and a half). At the end of the year, I cut all of them together to create this video which provides a small window into my entire year. There were some big events this year…a move, an engagement, and tons of great views, but a few themes stand out for 2018:

• Hotels and Airplanes - The number of flights I had last year was a bit staggering (stay tuned for Quantified Self 2018). With my new job in 2019, I’m sure this will be a big change in 2019.

• Cats - As the Internet is well aware, cats are a never ending supply of joy and entertainment. I’m sure Henry and Charlie will be stars of 2019 as well.

• Andrea - She’s not going anywhere and I doubt she is going to get any less silly. Prepare to see more faces, dance moves, and singing in 2019.

Check out my year below and stayed tuned for season 2 in January 2020.

Quantified Self: Lessons in Self-Deception

2017 marked the beginning of my journey with the ideas of quantified self. I went all out trying to figure the ways I could quantify my life. Though I learned many things about the details of the way I spend my time and energy (much of which can be found here), the most important lesson I absorbed was that of self-deception.

Every morning and evening I would record various aspects of my day. I forced myself daily to think about my goals, habits (good and bad), and progress towards improving myself. There were times when it was so tempting to fudge a number or use some selective memory when recounting my day. Nobody would ever know. Even I would likely forget that I hadn’t reported my day accurately. This is, of course, directly in opposition to the whole concept of quantified self which seeks to obtain truth about ourselves through quantifiable measures. Garbage data going in, garbage insights coming out.

I strikes me how even in the context of a project that explicitly seeks accurate information, I was tempted to lie to myself. Unfortunately, I imagine this to be a common (if not universal) feature of the human condition. It seems that most of us probably spend our days lying to ourselves. Sometimes this can be a useful fiction to motivate us to take the next step or push forward through hard times. But I fear that more often than not it is just another example of the way we hide our face from the realities of our lives and the world around us. Its easier to repeat a comfortable lie to ourselves over and over again than to face the truth of who we are. If we can't work up the will to commit to the truth in conversations with ourselves, what makes us think that we will be able to speak truth to friends, loved ones, or the destructive powers of the world?

I am hopeful that this small exercise in daily honesty with myself may have larger implications to the way I interact with those around me. Hopefully, much like a muscle, I will continue to build the strength and resilience to live my life immersed in the expressions of truth.

"Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it then with a continuous series of such thoughts as these: for instance, that where a man can live, there he can also live well."

-Marcus Aurelius

Your Phone: a Tool or a Distraction?

I just wanted to share a quick tip that has been useful in my life and is likely applicable to yours. Recently I’ve been concerned with the effect my phone has on my relationships, my mind, and how I spend my time. As such, I have framed this problem in a way which has helped to shift my usage and allow me to catch myself acting in ways (given a contemplative mood) that I would rather not.

Before reaching for my phone, I try to pass my decision through a simple logic gate...am I going to use it as a tool or as a distraction?

If the answer is the latter, I will often opt to spend my time more wisely. There are some exceptions to this rule such as, if I am on a plane or on the toilet. I’ll except the waste of a few distracted moments in those cases. But more often than not, I only want to use it if it is aiding me with getting somewhere, learning something, or achieving a goal. That is to say, as a tool.

A variation on this question is just attempting to identify how I will use my phone before I pick it up. I find myself (and I’m sure you do the same) reaching for my phone instinctively. If I can think about why I am reaching for my phone before I do, it can cut off my impulse and make a wiser decision...ideally. None of us are perfect.