Self-Quantification Tools

On a day to day basis, I find myself thinking mostly of how much sleep I got (especially if I’m feeling the effects of little sleep) and the mood that I’m in that day. I’ve decided that my “Quantified Selfie” will be primarily focused on the aspects of my life that affect my mood and sleep, a common topic amongst students here at CMU. The things I’ve come up with to monitor so far are: how much sleep I get each night, at what hours am I going to sleep and waking up, what mood am I in when I wake up/midday/evening/before bed, how many hours of class do I have each day, how many assignments/tests do I have each day.

The applications I will use to monitor these things are a Fitbit, AskMeEvery (http://askmeevery.com), and MoodPanda (http://moodpanda.com/).
The Fitbit will be used to monitor my activity throughout the day. Some days, I may be more exhausted due to physical activity instead of sleep deprivation, so I’ll need to take that into account. Additionally, exercise can put you in a better mood, with all the chemicals and adrenaline. It can also note which days I have dance, depending on how little other exercise I do, which usually puts me in a better mood. I will also use it to monitor my sleep. The Fitbit has a lot of versatility, tracking things like activity, weight, calories, and sleep. I will use it to monitor how well I am sleeping each night. I can then go back and relate this to what my day was like. The Fitbit also features a mobile app, so I can use that to monitor my activity on the go.
I will use AskMeEvery to ask me questions throughout the day to monitor that day’s data, such as what times I wake up and go to sleep, how many hours of class I had that day, etc.
I will use MoodPanda to record my daily mood and monitor that progress over time.
Depending on the direction that my project goes, I might also track what foods I am eating. I tend to eat my feelings, so junk food comes into play eventually as the semester progresses. Unhealthy foods can also make you feel more lethargic. To track this, I will use MyFitnessPal to track what foods I am consuming each day. I can also input specific activities (Ex: one hour of dance) to relate to what the Fitbit monitors of my activity.