"What gets measured, gets managed." I took this advice too literally. For 7 days, I logged EVERYTHING in a massive Excel Sheet. Every rupee spent. Every minute managed. Every calorie eaten. Every conversation had (rated by sentiment).
> THE DATABASE SCHEMA
| A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Activity | Cost (₹) | Joy (1-10) | ROI |
| 08:00 | Coffee | 50 | 9 | High |
| 09:00 | Email Clearing | 0 | 2 | Low |
| 11:00 | Argument w/ Jio Customer Care | 0 | 1 | Negative |
| 13:00 | Burger | 350 | 8 | Medium |
> THE INSIGHTS (PIVOT TABLE REVEAL)
By Day 3, the data started to scream at me.
Insight 1: I spend 4 hours a day on "Transition Tasks" (Getting ready to work, looking
for files, deciding what to eat).
That is 25% of my waking life wasted on buffering.
Insight 2: My "Joy Score" peaks at 7 PM and crashes at 10 AM. I am chemically miserable
in the morning.
Insight 3: The ROI of scrolling Instagram is -100%. I spent 2 hours for 0 Joy and 0
Money.
// HAPPINESS_DISTRIBUTION
Pink: Stress | Blue: Neutral | Purple: Joy
Conclusion: My life is mostly "Neutral Administrative Tasks."
> THE OBSERVER EFFECT
Logging the data changed my behavior.
I didn't eat the cookie because I didn't want to open the sheet and type "Cookie - 200 Cal."
Laziness to enter data made me healthier.
I worked harder because I wanted to type "Deep Work" in the Activity column instead of
"Procrastination."
I became a slave to the cells.
> CONCLUSION
Living in Excel is efficient. It is also psychotic.
I optimized my life, but I lost the spontaneity.
"Hey want to go for a drive?"
"Hang on, let me calculate the cost-per-mile and the Joy probability."
I stopped logging. But I still keep a mental spreadsheet. And I know now that 10 AM emails are a waste
of life.