Originally posted on adriennejung.com

How do you use data in your day-to-day life?

Do you even pay attention to data that doesn’t relate to your work?

I do. If you know me, you know that I’m all about data. I strongly believe that data is knowledge. It’s also tomorrow’s currency, but that’s another story.

Data is only as good as the tools that are used to collect it and the people manipulating it. It can be twisted to tell a specific story or outcome, or omitted to perpetuate an existing narrative. Because of that, it gets a bad rep when it’s used incorrectly.

But I believe in the power it holds to help us make informed decisions. And most of the corporate world agrees with me, based on the obscene amount of tools we are given at work to get us more data.

But what about real life? What about where it matters? Have you considered any interesting data that might improve your actual quality of life in a meaningful way?

A couple of months ago, I fell down some stairs (I wish it was a cooler story, but there you go…) and hobbled away with a torn MCL and a high ankle sprain. Right as winter was ending, and I was coming out of hibernation, I was pretty violently down for the count.

I won’t bore you with the details of my recovery, but it was rough. Two months later, I’ve just had my last physio appointment and have finally been given the green light to workout “carefully.”

Now, again, if you know me, you know that I rarely do things carefully. 😅 But more importantly, you also know that exercise and staying active is a key part of how I stay sane.

I recently took the time to check out some of my trends on my Oura ring. If you're not familiar, it's a wearable device that tracks your sleep, activity, and overall health through biometric data. I’ve had one since December, and have been enjoying the insights it’s been throwing my way, but they have been smaller and action-based. Like, it turns out coffee before bed does impact my quality of sleep. And my optimal bedtime is later than I thought. Now though, I was looking to see how a fairly (physically) traumatic experience impacted my overall health.

And it turns out, there’s a lot there! As expected my activity level dipped dramatically, and my stress increased respectively. But seeing the data, the correlation between the two was striking - those curves are mirror images of each other!

Adrienne's activity levels are shown to be directly correlated to her stress levels on these data-driven graphs.

There was more, of course. Despite being inactive, it wasn’t a restorative time (when my body and mind are recharging). My resting heart rate went to an all-time high and my Sleep Score went to an all-time low (I couldn’t get comfortable!).

The point of this post isn’t to walk you through conclusions I may have drawn - those are for me, and possibly my doctor - or even to invite you to draw your own conclusions on my health.

Instead, I hope it will trigger you to start looking for data points in your own life, that help you and not necessarily your work. See how small changes can lead to significant improvements in your life, just by taking notice. Data is tomorrow’s currency and you owe it to yourself to pay attention.

And if you need a little help, eeva is working to do exactly that! 😉 Sign up for our newsletter to stay in the know!

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