My 2023 Wrapped

Background

This is my second “Year Wrapped” article (you can see 2022, my first year here), inspired by Spotify Wrapped. If you read that article and my article about why/how I keep track of everything via my calendar I think you have a good frame of reference and understanding as to why I do this. I think my 2022 Wrapped article leaned more technical about the process that goes into creating a calendar analysis, but I want the series going forward to be a more proper reflection. I make many extensions to the form in this article, in particular I added some new sections about “Other Yearly Reviews” as well as a “Travel” and “Milestones” section. I want these to be mainstays in the format because I think that all add depth to my telling of the story of my year.

I also set a yearly word that aligns my goals for that year, like for 2023 my word was intention (setting the word / reflecting on it), but I want the Wrapped series to be more about time and what I did in general, as opposed to just through the lens of accomplishing goals.

Other Yearly Reviews

Apple Music Replay:

• 53,438 minutes
• Top Artist: Bladee
• Top Album: 333 by Bladee
• Top Song: Linger by the Cranberries

I listened to Soundcloud and vinyl so the number is definitely a bit higher but I would say that the top callouts are pretty accurate. I love 333 but I also used to listen to it to fall asleep so that’s also probably why it’s my Top Album of the Year.

Goodreads Year in Books:

• 8,599 pages read
• 20 books read
• Average Rating: 4.2 stars
• Average Book Length: 429 pages

Really I read 12 books, someone had just inputted a webnovel that I read in Goodreads into eight volumes. Webnovels are the majority of what I read this year, which are serialized fiction that are published and read online. This means that I am not really sure how the number of pages were calculated for them and the accuracy of the figures that were put into Goodreads. Regardless, I am very pleased with the amount of reading I did in 2023 and look forward to reading even more in 2024.

Milestones

I want to be careful not measuring the worth of a year by milestones because eventually you run out of them. While not technically milestones I also found new interests this year. I didn’t start listening to podcasts this year but this was the year where I started to really get more into watching/listening to podcasts and interviews. I also discovered my passion/interest in interior design so I’ve been watching a lot of stuff related to that.

Lots of milestones:

• I moved out and started living alone (June 3rd)
• I turned 23 (July 9th)
• I got into record collecting (July 18th)
  • View my record collection
  • Should you buy vinyl?
• I was promoted at work (mid-August)
• I lost 20 pounds (Nov 1st)
• I went on my first big friends/couples trip to Bethany Beach (Nov 2-5th)
• I published my 50th article (Nov 27th)
• I drank my 1000th beer (December 3rd)

Travel

I traveled a decent amount, mostly for leisure with friends and family, but a decent amount for work as well:

• January: Dallas, TX (Leisure/Friend)
  • Places to Visit in Dallas
• February: Philadelphia, PA (Leisure/Friends)
  • Places to Visit in Philly
• March: Charlottesville, VA (Work)
• April: New York City, NY (Work Conference/Family + Friends)
• May: Portland, Maine + Lincoln, New Hampshire (Family)
• June: Richmond (Work)
• July: Washington, DC (Friends Staycation)
• August: Bethany Beach, Delaware (Leisure/Family)
• September: Philadelphia, PA (Leisure/Friends)
• October: Austin, TX (Work)
• November: Bethany Beach, Delaware (Leisure/Friends)
• December: Luray, VA (Leisure/Friends)

One thing that I realized this year is that solo travel is not that fun for me. I traveled to Richmond alone but stayed with a co-worker and met my other co-workers, so I still had a fun time. This is in contrast to Austin where I met some new people from work, but for the most part I was alone and I felt like I wasn’t inclined to go out and do much left to my own devices.

How I Spent My Time

First, a note on data quality: since everything is manual there are times that I forget to input/tag things, or that I am simply too lazy to track. This is why I added the caveat of “at least” to all of the data points because it is far more likely that I under-reported the time than over-reported it. I know that I logged reading less, most times I was on transit I was reading. I know I watched less TV this year overall, but I also didn’t log it as much, most times I was working out I was watching TV.

Healthy Habits:

1. I worked out at least 241 times for 9,070 minutes or 151.17 hours. This accounts for 1.73% of the year.
   • Stationary Bike: 159 times
   • Treadmill: 29 times
   • Push (Lifting): 26 times
   • Pull (Lifting): 26 times
   • Elliptical: 1 times
2. I went walking at least 113 times for 4,570 minutes or 76.17 hours. This accounts for 0.87% of the year.
3. I went hiking at least 3 times for 290 minutes or 4.83 hours. This accounts for 0.06% of the year.

I worked out 80 times in 2022, meaning that I had a 227% increase for exercising year-over-year (YoY) from 2022 to 2023. Working out more was a goal of mine for 2023, so I am ecstatic to see that I crushed this goal. My only goal for 2024 is to hopefully sustain this high number of exercise sessions and lift more. You can look at some of my historical workout data here if you are interested.

Media/Entertainment:

1. I read at least 172 times for 7,565 minutes or 126.08 hours. This accounts for 1.44% of the year.
2. I watched YouTube at least 303 times for 13,940 minutes or 232.33 hours. This accounts for 2.65% of the year.
3. I watched TV at least 64 times for 3,110 minutes or 51.83 hours. This accounts for 0.59% of the year.
4. I watched a movie at least 18 times for 1,940 minutes or 32.33 hours. This accounts for 0.37% of the year.
5. I played games at least 11 times for 630 minutes or 10.50 hours. This accounts for 0.12% of the year.

My reading saw a 17% increase which is exciting and I hope to be better at reading more and tracking it next year. My YouTube consumption saw a 222% increase and my TV watching saw a 32% decrease. I don’t feel like my YouTube consumption is even at that crazy of a level, that is just the result of really leaning into watching while eating. I didn’t track my movie watching or game playing all that much last year, but I’ll be anxious to see how that changes in 2024. I don’t really love playing games, but I think that they are a great way to pass time with other people, so I am going to make an attempt to find a game or two that I enjoy playing.

Time Spent Eating/Cooking:

1. I cooked at least 99 times for 4,355 minutes or 72.58 hours. This accounts for 0.83% of the year.
2. I ate at least 173 times for 8,860 minutes or 147.67 hours. This accounts for 1.69% of the year.

My time spent cooking saw a 49% increase and eating saw a 46% increase. I think that this is mostly carried from the beginning of the year because I feel like I really stopped cooking toward the end of this year. One of my goals for 2024 is to be better at meal planning, so I’m not sure if that will result in more or less cooking in 2024, only time will tell.

Transportation:

1. I spent time in transit at least 256 times for 10,815 minutes or 180.25 hours. This accounts for 2.06% of the year.
2. I spent time in a car driving at least 229 times for 13,870 minutes or 231.17 hours. This accounts for 2.64% of the year.

When I log transit that is door-to-door so all that time isn’t on the Metro, but with that being said, I’m so glad to see that it is so close to the amount of time I spent driving. I went on some longer road trips so it makes sense to me that driving is higher, but I really do try to make an effort to ride public transit when I can. There was a 176% increase from 2022 to 2023 in using transit, but this is mostly because I only had moved to a Metro accessible area in July of 2022.

Working:

1. I deep worked at least 307 times for 16,880 minutes or 281.33 hours. This accounts for 3.21% of the year.
2. I wrote at least 64 times for 3,040 minutes or 50.67 hours. This accounts for 0.58% of the year.
3. I was in meetings at least 252 times for 11,305 minutes or 188.42 hours. This accounts for 2.15% of the year.

This is an entirely new section from last year so I am excited to see how this changes over time. I don’t keep track of everything from when I work, but I try my best to capture the general trends of how my time is being spent.

Social Time:

1. I hung out with friends at least 455 times for 48,935 minutes or 815.58 hours. This accounts for 9.31% of the year.

This represents a 20% decrease from last year, most of which I think that I will chalk up to data tracking error. In living alone I do have less access to people, but at the same time I feel like that has made me more intentional about scheduling time to hang out with people.

Reflections on the Data Collection Process

• I want to work on being better at classifying actions with the “event name (class name)” syntax that I have decided on.
  • I can use classes for shopping instead of location or description because rules of parsing description can be hard and location isn’t really all that helpful all the time unless I want to know the address.
  • It would be very interesting to class transportation both for public transit and driving.
    • I could class transit for work/shopping/leisure.
    • I used to class drives but I stopped at one point, not really sure why.
• I think next year I will change the number of hours in a year to waking hours to get a more accurate percentage of how I choose to spend my time. This will mess up YoY percentages so I might have to recalculate historical data if I make this change.
  • I might try to build in YoY comparisons to my analysis program just to make it easier on myself.
• I also want to build out monthly analyses like when did I work out the most? Or watch the most YouTube?