Hoarding Experiences: Tracking Every Detail of Our Lives
Summary
In this article, we explore the concept of hoarding experiences and the costs and benefits of tracking every detail of our lives. The author shares their experience of creating a biennial report where they tracked every place they went and everyone they were with over the course of two years. The report is color-coded and overlaid with pie charts to evaluate different behaviors. The author reflects on the high degree of completeness achieved through hoarding experiences, but also acknowledges the high costs of doing so.
Table of Contents
- The Biennial Report: Tracking Every Detail
- The Costs and Benefits of Hoarding Experiences
- The Recursive Problem of Tracking Time
- Conclusion
The Biennial Report: Tracking Every Detail
The author shares their experience of creating a biennial report where they tracked every place they went and everyone they were with over the course of two years. The report is color-coded, with blue representing 2010 and magenta representing 2011, and overlaid with pie charts to evaluate different behaviors. The author explains that they created the report to keep track of their habits and preferences, such as where they like to go with their girlfriend or best friend.
The Costs and Benefits of Hoarding Experiences
The author reflects on the high degree of completeness achieved through hoarding experiences, but also acknowledges the high costs of doing so. They explain that the downside of hoarding is that it can lead to a cluttered and overwhelming calendar, as every detail of our lives is tracked. The author shares their thoughts on creating methodologies that don’t interfere with the life they are trying to record.
The Recursive Problem of Tracking Time
The author addresses the question of whether they track how much time they spend tracking. They explain that this is a recursive problem that they don’t want to think about. The author also shares that they don’t do any analysis until the end of the year, as they want to tally everything up and look back on their behavior.
Conclusion
In conclusion, hoarding experiences can lead to a high degree of completeness in tracking our lives, but it comes with high costs. The author shares their experience of creating a biennial report and reflects on the challenges of hoarding experiences. They also emphasize the importance of creating methodologies that don’t interfere with the life we are trying to record.
