Monthly Review: October 2017

It was a month of settling in. The first half was extremely surreal; adjusting to a new job, meeting tons of new people, trying to memorize train schedules and figuring out which way is uptown and which way is downtown. On that last point I don’t think I’m 100% certain still.

There are some big upsides though. I was extremely productive this month and it feels great. I’ve started listening to podcasts, which has given me a chance to learn about a lot of things I don’t think I would have otherwise. My favorite right now is probably How I Built This by NPR.

My correlations were very uninteresting this time around and none were particularly strong, so I’ve left them here without comment. Considering my lifestyle is suddenly extremely different this isn’t particularly surprising. It’ll be a couple months before the “new normal” shakes out in the correlations Exist is able to surface.

So, without further ado:

Productivity

Huge boost in productivity this month. This is likely due to the newness of my job, but I do find I’m more focused at work than the few months prior to October. The other big difference is how much more of time is spent on software development rather than in meetings. That’s a big departure from my previous job. It probably has something to do with the higher productivity, even though I count meetings as “productive time” in RescueTime. Fewer disruptions mean I can really get lost in a task, I guess.

• Productivity pulse of 82 (+19)
• Average of 1 completed tasks per day
• Met All Productive Time goal 15/22 days
• Average 5h 17m productive time per day

RescueTime Top 5 Categories:

1. Software Development (51%)
2. Communication & Scheduling (16%)
3. Business (13%)
4. Social Networking (5%)
5. Utilities (5%)

Correlations:

• I’m more productive on Wednesdays (24%) and Tuesdays (18%)
• I consume more calories when I’m more productive (21%)
• I have more good days (rated a 4) when I receive fewer emails (22%)

Health

I’m a little surprised that my step average dropped, considering that part of my commute involves walking a few blocks and that I walk to get lunch 3 or 4 times a week. I think last month’s average was skewed by a few days at the end when I was moving though so we’ll see how it fares over the next couple months.

I was very happy to learn that I apparently can’t do math, because I estimated my final paycheck from my previous job at half of what it actually was which meant sticking to my budget was actually easy. That extra income was great for paying off my credit card (YES!) and putting a big chunk into savings.

Getting less sleep wasn’t a surprise either, as I have to wake up earlier now and because of my long commute I have less time in the evening so I end up staying up late anyway.

• Average of 6,728 steps / day (-1.9%)
• Average of 2,092 calories / day (-8.9%)
• Average of 6h 14minutes of sleep / night (-5.6%)
• Average weight of 143.2lbs (-0.1%)
• Average body fat percentage of 11.9% (-6.7%)
• I spent 70.2% of my income

Correlations:

• I spend more time asleep when I go to bed earlier (63%)
• I eat more on Fridays (15%)
• I have more great days when I spend more time sleep (18%)

Books Finished

None. I thought maybe I’d read on the train during my long commute, but I’ve been listening to podcasts instead which has been really nice too. Maybe I’ll mix it up in November.

Main Goal Progress

I closed the month with a $0 balance on my credit card! The surprise of a much larger final paycheck from my previous job made this pretty easy to do, as it was a good amount of money I hadn’t budgeted for so rather than spend it I just went ahead and paid off my credit card. Big win!

I was also able to deposited $710.27 to savings bringing me up to $2,432.66. This is much better than I expected. I don’t think I’ll meet my goal of $5,000 by the end of the year, but I hope to get back to pre-move levels at least.

The other thing I wanted to focus on in October was getting used to living in New York. I’ve gotten pretty used to my commute, and I’m at least familiar with the blocks in the immediate vicinity of Penn Station, but it’s still a little surreal to be in the city every day. It wasn’t until near the very end of the month that I stopped feeling like I’m supposed to go back to Rochester and this isn’t some strange vacation where I go to work each day.

Main Goals Next Month

With Christmas approaching, I’m looking to do all my shopping while keeping my credit card balance at 0. I won’t finish it all this month, but I’m hoping to close out the year with no credit card debt so that will be a focus for the next two months. This means making a realistic budget and sticking to it.

I’d also like to get my average night’s sleep back up to at least 6.5 hours so getting to bed a bit earlier is my other focus.