168 Hours: An Analysis of How I Actually Spend a Week

I tracked 168 hours of my week in 30-minute increments, across categories: Sleep, School, Work, Me Time, Family, Fitness, and Other. The point wasn't to optimize, it was to find out where the gap between how I think I spend my time and how I actually spend it actually lives.

The breakdown

• ●Sleep: 27% (about 45 hours).
• ●Classes & travel: 15%.
• ●Me time, watching: 17% (the biggest surprise).
• ●Family meals + chores: 13%.
• ●Fitness: 8%.
• ●School assignments: 7%.
• ●Work: 6%.
• ●Other (pets, hobbies, applying to jobs): 7%.

What surprised me

I overestimated school and underestimated 'me time, watching.' Almost a fifth of my week was passive consumption, broken across short windows that didn't even feel like rest.

What I changed

• ●Consolidated passive screen time into one block instead of grazing all day.
• ●Moved gym to the morning, because the data showed I skipped it more often when it was at night.
• ●Set a hard stop on assignments at 10pm to protect sleep.

Why this is worth doing

A week of tracking is annoying. A week of tracking is also the cheapest piece of self-research I've ever done. If you build campaigns for other people, you should know what your own week looks like with the same level of honesty.

You manage what you measure, even on yourself.