June 2019 Review

June was a pretty exciting month! We had two interns start at work, and I have the wonderful pleasure of managing one of them, which has been a great learning experience. They’re also doing really great work so far, and it’s been wonderful to have them.

The first of the big highlights though: we had our first annual company retreat! Three days in the Catskills, full of bonding, yard games, karaoke, a talent show, a trip to a brewery, a cruise on the Hudson River and so much more. It was a fantastic time getting to know my coworkers outside the office, and I can’t wait for next year’s retreat!

Shortly after returning from the retreat, I made my way to Texas for a week to help my parents move. A few days of working remotely, and 3 days of loading and unloading a moving truck in 100 degree heat made for a packed week, but it was nice to spend some time with my family.

Somewhere in there my company also finished our kickball league, taking second place overall which was not quite what we wanted after securing a bye to the championship, but a pretty strong season nonetheless. Summer is off to a great start, so I’m excited for what July has in store.

And now, the data:

Productivity

Slight dip in productivity in June, which I’m not totally surprised about. It always gets a little distracting when summer starts to roll around. I also had a number of work from home days this month, and those tend to be slightly less productive for me.

• Productivity pulse of 77 (-2)
• Met All Productive Time goal 14/17 days
• Average 5h 34m (-16m) productive time per day

RescueTime Top 5 Categories:

1. Software Development (34%)
2. Communication & Scheduling (26%)
3. Utilities (7%)
4. Business (6%)
5. Design & Composition (5%)

Correlations:

I still seem to be having more sugar when I’m less productive. That this correlation holds up makes me think there’s a little more digging to be done here. My more productive day of the week is now Monday, but still maintaining the beginning of the week as my more productive days. And apparently Slack-heavy days tend to mean I had a worse day. I’m curious why that might be, so I may have to more deeply consider the types of conversations I’m having on heavy Slack usage days.

• I consume more sugar when I’m less productive (29%)
• I’m more productive on Mondays (19%)
• I use Slack more when I have a worse day (34%)

Health

A dip in caffeine and an increase in sleep is a pretty nice trend to see in this data. My steps are way up, no doubt bolstered by the 3 days of moving and carrying all those boxes! I did end up spending a bit more than I wanted to in June, but that it was a slightly smaller portion of my income than in May is something to be happy about.

• Average of 9,248 steps / day (+7%)
• Average of 2,450 calories / day (+18.2%)
• Average of 7 hours 10 minutes of sleep / night (+6.7%)
• Average weight of 139.3 lbs (+0.7%)
• Average body fat percentage of 10.3% (-7.7%)
• Average of 193mg of caffeine / day (-13.5%)
• I spent 92.6% of my income¹

Correlations:

A pretty equally strong correlation about sleeping more when the night is cooler. Now that summer is here my bedroom is definitely warmer than it used to be, and this may be contributing to getting less sleep. I try not to run the air conditioner too much, but if I want more sleep I may benefit by turning it down a degree or two. Possibly worth exploring.

A big increase in correlation for caffeine and Mondays… Guess I just need a boost to get going. And very slightly weakened correlations on mood and skipping breakfast and eating more. I did eat more on average through June, and started more regularly having breakfast, but the fact that the correlations are still there suggests what I eat and my mood are still related. Perhaps it’s worth exploring types of food and their impact on my mood.

• I spend more time asleep when the night is cooler (16%)
• I tweet more when I spend less time asleep (21%) and use Twitter more when I consume more caffeine (22%)
• I consume more caffeine on Mondays (31%)
• I have a better day when I don’t tag “no breakfast” (29%), and when I consume more calories (17%)

June’s Focus

1. Stop spending so much on food

I didn't even come close to achieving my goal of $280 on food for the month… I clocked in at $458. A few hard-to-say-no-to happy hours and some poor meal planning lead to a few extra dinners out and more trips to the bar than expected and it all adds up quick. Still, coming in a little over $100 less than average is something.

2. Read another book

I read the next Temeraire book, Tongues of Serpents, almost entirely on my flights to and from Texas. It was glorious! I also started to find it easier to read for extended periods of time, which bodes well for continuing the reading habit.

3. Run 3 times a week

I didn’t quite manage this. My schedule was thrown off with the retreat and my trip to Texas, so 3 times a week didn’t happen, but I did come pretty close, and the running has continued into July. I’m hoping July will be easier to manage this.

July’s Focus

1. Still spend less on food

My previous goal was a little too aggressive, I think - despite the week in Texas and the days on retreat. For July I’m setting my sights on a more realistic goal to keep food spending under $400.

2. Read 2 books

I’m going bold and aiming to read two books this month. If I can keep up that pace I can still reach my goal of 12 books for the year.

3. Finalize a redesign of my website

At the start of 2018 I set out to redo my website. The new site never materialized, though I do have the design still kicking around. I’d like to revisit and revise it a bit more this month with the intention being to actually build it in August.

July is going to kick off with a nice long weekend thanks to Independence Day and my company being awesome and giving us the 5th off as well. And at the very end of the month I get to see Lights in concert for the second time!! Otherwise, I’m hoping to spend the month just enjoying summer in New York. And, figuring out what exactly that means this year.

¹Monthly spending is calculated as expenses, divided by income, minus 2%. The 2% reflects my 401k savings, which never arrives as income in Mint. This is to help me better estimate what my overall savings rate is.