[blowski]

I find these tools to be the ultimate form of unhelpful navel-gazing. If you already feel good, what’s the point? If you’re feeling low, you become obsessed and frustrated.

Personally - and I know this isn’t for everyone - I find a combination of open-ended journaling, prayer and meditation, and talking with people I love and trust to be much more effective at achieving balance in life.

[valbaca]

> I find a combination of open-ended journaling, prayer and meditation, and talking with people

I think that's precisely what these kind of tools help with: discovering what has the most impact on your feelings.

[blowski]

I guess it varies from person to person. For me, these tools are counter-productive - what’s really important bubbles up during that time, while these tools mask it.

[browningstreet]

I'm in a relationship with someone who can't quite put together that certain activities and certain moods are correlated. They've put a bit more structure in their life to preclude the randomness that they usually pursue and it's helpful.

A little more tracking in other areas -- exercise and nutrition -- has been helpful as well. We're all self-employed, working from home, so knowing when you're being orderly versus free versus random is a good lens to employ.

[GekkePrutser]

I can feel that wish for randomness though. I really hate having my days tightly ordered. It makes life really boring for me if I know exactly what I'll be doing at what moment during the next week. The same with holidays, I can't stand when I'm with someone that wants to plan every part of a trip in advance. I want the freedom to explore, and to spend more time on the things I find interesting.

The flip side of randomness is the lack of a feeling of accomplishment and of feeling of working towards a goal. But I do think these things are largely societal values imposed on us. When I realise I don't care about spending my time wisely it bothers me a lot less.

I manage to be plenty successful in work too. Not super much but at a level I'm comfortable with.

[lanstin]

Nothing makes me happier than to go down a new road and see where it leads. I am glad I don’t live with anyone judging my behavioral correlates (just kidding my wife can glance at me and tell how much I have eaten or how much coffee excess I have enjoyed; it much judging really but awareness for sure.).

[lanstin]

What is the retort to hyper-optimizing your life: life so that when you wake up each day you know just what you are going to do. When you love it, you won’t need to track it so much. I mean some todo lists are good especially when it comes to convincing others, but the passion and the sincerity make it all fun and easy.