What is the Quantified Self?
Quantified Self (QS) is self-knowledge through numbers. Here is a quick explanation about QS in 1 minute.
What data did I collect about myself during this week?
Weight ⚖️
My weight went from 69 to 73 kg in the 1 year. In the past week, it ranged from 72-74kg.
Sleep 😴
I lack sleep (average 5 hours 14 minutes of sleep per day) and have problems falling asleep early (usually sleeping at 2 am).
Eat 🍴
In picture: the food I ate on January 9, 2021
I feel weak and low in energy, I try to cook and change a diet rich in vegetables. I can actually calculate the calories but it can be too laborious, so I take pictures as a way to keep an awareness of what I eat during the day.
Activity 🏃♂️
The steps that I walked and ran in the past week. The total number of steps taken last week was equivalent to nearly 20km.
Online time 💻
My online time today, I used all day to watch youtube and movies online.
Emotion 😅
Last 3 days, I randomly did a survey, answering yes/no with different emotions (happy, tired, sad ...). Yes = green, No = Red
Overall I'm more tired and nervous than happy and energetic
What I learn
I become more aware of myself when I have metrics to reflect what I do. For example, I spent the last day of my winter break just watching movies, for 8 hours. I become more conscious of what I eat with pictures of what I eat in a day or have a better understanding of my feelings, whether I'm truly happy or not.
Baseline metrics keep you conscious and towards a healthier lifestyle.
The baseline of sleep: For example, when the baseline for healthy sleep for me is 8-9 hours a day. Before I had only "feeling" that I lacked sleep, I now realize how much I lack sleep.
The baseline of learning: I want to only use the computer for about 9 hours a day - and at least 6 hours of that to study and learn. And I will be more conscious in the future to get to that baseline.
The baseline of activity: Overall I want to walk 10,000 steps (8km) a day, to keep my body active, and to avoid the risk of my back pain worsening.
The baseline emotion: I really want to give myself the chance to be happier, I want to feel happy, excited about my life instead of tired, and lonely. I will think more about what activities will make me feel better.
Conclude
I think Quantified Self helps me become more aware of myself through the data, and by analyzing it I become more aware of how I am treating myself. This project also has a lot of potential for further development and research, I will write more articles on this topic in the future.