A couple of months ago I started keeping a journal. I posted about it here, asking for recommendations, and vaguely outlining my plan. (TLDR for that post: I’m writing a traditional journal when I have the time and keeping track of activities and emotional levels in a spreadsheet everyday, since that only takes like a minute.) It’s gone very well. Originally I envisioned the journal as being a far more important part, but I’m enjoying the data collection much more. (Though both are valuable and I encourage both) I’ve recently made the tools for actually analyzing the data I’ve collected, and I thought I’d make the template publicly available for anyone who wanted to try a similar project. If you are, please send me a message or comment, and I’d be happy to explain the spreadsheet in more detail, since I know it can be hard to follow. But I don’t want to take the time to write this if no one is going to use it.
Surprisingly, I have found very few statistically significant correlations. For example, there is not yet any statistically significant correlation (p<0.05) between how much sleep I’ve gotten and how energetic I feel the next day. R-squared values for linear regressions of variables tend to be around 2%-7%, even for variables that I thought would correlate very highly. Surprisingly, what is most strongly predictive (of the things I’ve looked at) of my happiness is how much exercise I have gotten that day (even more so than how much I have eaten).
I feel like this is mostly because I need a lot more data. There are trends that are evident in most of my things, but they’re just not statistically significant yet. I really want to have about 4-5 more months of data, and then I feel like I can make some strong conclusions. I hope I’m not coming back in another 4-5 months wanting another 4-5 months though...
Edit: Apparently I am more energetic (Significant at alpha = 0.05) when I eat more than average than less than average. I must not have looked at food eaten vs energy before. I thought I had. There’s an R-squared of 21%, which is astonishingly high comparatively.
Surprisingly, what is most strongly predictive (of the things I’ve looked at) of my happiness is how much exercise I have gotten that day (even more so than how much I have eaten).
I don’t think that’d be much of a surprise if you read much literature on exercise—exercise improving mood & cognition is a pretty common result.
Apparently I am more energetic (Significant at alpha = 0.05) when I eat more than average than less than average.
Or vice versa? (I feel very hungry on modafinil—does hunger cause me to use modafinil?)
Yes, that’s the problem—my appetite is initially suppressed and then I wind up incredibly hungry. I try to eat in advance (from my nightwatch days I know how much I should eat by 3 AM etc), but again, appetite suppressant.
Yes, that’s the problem—my appetite is initially suppressed and then I wind up incredibly hungry.
That makes sense. And given how degree of hunger influences what kind of food we desire you’ll end up craving a bunch of carbohydrates later rather than whatever healthy food you had planned at the meal times.
I don’t think that’d be much of a surprise if you read much literature on exercise—exercise improving mood & cognition is a pretty common result.
I knew of the literature you mention (well, not the specific literature, but that’s not the point) - which is precisely what caused me to look at it—but I thought other factors would still be more correlative. I would have thought sleep, stress, recreation time, or social time would be more predictive. But those barely correlate.
Or vice versa? (I feel very hungry on modafinil—does hunger cause me to use modafinil?)
I quite intentionally didn’t say one caused the other. But I wouldn’t expect the primary causality to flow from energy to eating, as opposed to from eating to energy. (Or, yes, from a common third cause)
A couple of months ago I started keeping a journal. I posted about it here, asking for recommendations, and vaguely outlining my plan. (TLDR for that post: I’m writing a traditional journal when I have the time and keeping track of activities and emotional levels in a spreadsheet everyday, since that only takes like a minute.) It’s gone very well. Originally I envisioned the journal as being a far more important part, but I’m enjoying the data collection much more. (Though both are valuable and I encourage both) I’ve recently made the tools for actually analyzing the data I’ve collected, and I thought I’d make the template publicly available for anyone who wanted to try a similar project. If you are, please send me a message or comment, and I’d be happy to explain the spreadsheet in more detail, since I know it can be hard to follow. But I don’t want to take the time to write this if no one is going to use it.
Surprisingly, I have found very few statistically significant correlations. For example, there is not yet any statistically significant correlation (p<0.05) between how much sleep I’ve gotten and how energetic I feel the next day. R-squared values for linear regressions of variables tend to be around 2%-7%, even for variables that I thought would correlate very highly. Surprisingly, what is most strongly predictive (of the things I’ve looked at) of my happiness is how much exercise I have gotten that day (even more so than how much I have eaten).
I feel like this is mostly because I need a lot more data. There are trends that are evident in most of my things, but they’re just not statistically significant yet. I really want to have about 4-5 more months of data, and then I feel like I can make some strong conclusions. I hope I’m not coming back in another 4-5 months wanting another 4-5 months though...
Edit: Apparently I am more energetic (Significant at alpha = 0.05) when I eat more than average than less than average. I must not have looked at food eaten vs energy before. I thought I had. There’s an R-squared of 21%, which is astonishingly high comparatively.
I don’t think that’d be much of a surprise if you read much literature on exercise—exercise improving mood & cognition is a pretty common result.
Or vice versa? (I feel very hungry on modafinil—does hunger cause me to use modafinil?)
You do? It’s supposed to have the typical appetite-suppressing properties that most stimulants share.
Yes, that’s the problem—my appetite is initially suppressed and then I wind up incredibly hungry. I try to eat in advance (from my nightwatch days I know how much I should eat by 3 AM etc), but again, appetite suppressant.
That makes sense. And given how degree of hunger influences what kind of food we desire you’ll end up craving a bunch of carbohydrates later rather than whatever healthy food you had planned at the meal times.
FWIW, I feel pretty hungry on modafinil, too. But that’s maybe caused by sleep-deprivation which is correlated with modafinil-consumption.
I knew of the literature you mention (well, not the specific literature, but that’s not the point) - which is precisely what caused me to look at it—but I thought other factors would still be more correlative. I would have thought sleep, stress, recreation time, or social time would be more predictive. But those barely correlate.
I quite intentionally didn’t say one caused the other. But I wouldn’t expect the primary causality to flow from energy to eating, as opposed to from eating to energy. (Or, yes, from a common third cause)