Show HN: Weeks of Your Life

[petemilly]

Hi! I made an interactive visualization of your life in weeks. Inspired by Tim Urban's Your Life in Weeks (Wait But Why) and Buster Benson's Life in Weeks.

Hopefully it's a fun thing to do together with family over the holidays.

I wrote about it on my digital garden: https://www.petemillspaugh.com/weeks-of-your-life

Any feedback is welcome. Top on my todo list is improving performance (reduce interaction lag).

[msie]

Sometimes I think this concept is depressing because it increases the pressure to "do something" with your life. When you are presented with the finiteness of your life you feel pressure to fill each moment/cell with something "meaningful" or "worthwhile". When someone is enjoying a hobby they will lose track of time yet that hobby may be frivolous in the eyes of someone else. Do they want something like this to track how much time they "wasted"? To me there is this paradox of losing your sense of time with something you are passionate about (building a model, doing some hobby programming) and yet in trying to track it for some purpose of maximal utility will kill the passion.

[Edit] This post on the same page is related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38741982

[pelagicAustral]

It is depressing. But most things are when it comes to achievements. I think I do not need any help from an app to tell me I have not done has much as I could have done. I have that going on already, looping on a while 1==1 fashion.

[wepple]

But if you get to decide what is “meaningful”, it’s just a reminder of the finiteness of life.

I’ve spent a bunch of this holiday sitting on the couch, relaxing or letting my mind wander or just enjoying being near a warm fire. I don’t think I’ll regret that at the end of my life (provided my life isn’t all sitting on a couch)

I’d argue if you feel pressured to do “meaningful” things that apparently don’t bring you joy, you’re just miscalibrated about meaning of your life?

[ip26]

I might agree, if I could ever figure out what is “meaningful” to me. I’m simultaneously incapable of sitting down and doing nothing (because I love pushing towards a goal) and also fully aware that goals are usually extrinsic and unfulfilling. Both deeply drawn towards big problems with a long march, and torn that by their very nature, I won’t get to undertake many (so choose wisely)

[youniverse]

Seems like you've figured it out already. Pushing towards a challenging goal is exactly where meaning is to be found, even if it's difficult to enjoy in the moment. Growing through challenge and taking on the responsibility of life is where we seem to get more fulfilling results.

[ip26]

The common wisdom is that there is no meaning in work, which is the most common form of what I described, so I have to discount the possibility I’ve actually figured anything out.

[iamflimflam1]

This video from Adam Savage talks about this and his way of looking at it is really helpful.

https://youtu.be/nGx-DHjrXAY

[balaji1]

it is depressing to some, others in a different stage of life might experience gratitude, others hope and clarity, etc. in all aspects of the human condition, there's probably a similar dynamic to the 5 stages of grieving.

tho I agree the popular notion is to > fill each moment/cell with something "meaningful" or "worthwhile".

and I would add, there is pressure to achieve something "unique"

[ydant]

It can also be encouraging.

It's important to think about the things you have done and accomplished in life (happiness is more meaningful if you focus on celebrating what you have rather than chasing= what you don't have), and if you use this as an exercise to remind yourself of what you have accomplished/done, it might be helpful.

It could also be motivating. Perhaps you see all the things you've done and you're proud of and it encourages you to set out and do more things. Or the things you haven't done enough of, but are within your control to do more of in the future.

I quite like this kind of view on my past.

[deadbabe]

Think instead of how many Christmases you have left, how many summers, how many new houses and cars and how many Olympics and World Cups and GTA sequels. Then, maybe divide by half.

[slothtrop]

> it increases the pressure to "do something" with your life

We increase that pressure.

[Aperocky]

> that hobby may be frivolous in the eyes of someone else.

So what? That's missing the entire point of <hobby>.

[rubicon33]

This is a visualization of how I have been feeling for the last couple of years.

I'm in my mid 30s and lately have been going through what I'm sure is a mid life crisis. Seeing all these empty cells really underscores the point.

- Aware of my limited time

- Aware of my limited health (despite exercising, eating healthy, avoiding alcohol and drugs, sleeping well, etc... I don't feel like I did in my 20s)

- Difficulty finding meaning in my work / life ... lots of existential thoughts and worries.

- Bored and burned out, not really sure "what else" there is yet constantly reminded of time that is running out.

Anyone else been feeling this way? My "solution" has been to just accept it and take each day as it comes. I haven't given up, I'm just trying to chill out and let go a little bit. The last three decades were all about gas, gas, gas and maybe I need to just accept that I've reached a time in life where my body and mind is telling me to ease up on the accelerator, enjoy the small things, and accept that what will be will be.

[kirso]

Interestingly, I came across this tweet from the founder of Replit:

"Lots of ink spilled on the coming of age, but no one prepares you for middle age: losing a parent, confronting the reality of passing time, and the resulting reevaluation of life’s priorities. More art should explore this period of life."

It struck me at the same age as you. It doesn't seem to be unique and I didn't find the solution. What I think is that there is no solution, just acceptance and making sure we do things that we feel are worthwhile whilst avoiding that "auto-mode" at work.

For me, it was the fact that I live 8000km from my parents. The last 2 years were just so fast it became a blur. But seeing them grow old scared me so much that I'd rather lose out on my career but try to spend more time with them and live closer.

Instead of chasing startups and VC glory, I would like to work on problems that I care about and build small things that are fun despite them not bringing full-time income even if I just do it on the side. My professional goals are around working on worthwhile things (subjective) with a small team of awesome people. The dream setup is to have 5 smart friends and work together on cool shit we all enjoy whilst earning a living.

Also exploring all these emotions and feelings is interesting. I found that having dire nostalgia and melancholic feelings about the past (and hence passing time...)probably signals something. However, if left unexplored it doesn't lead to introspection. It's meta but even thinking about why the feelings that you described exist leads to interesting internal and external conversations. Journaling, therapy, SO conversations.

"Spending your time well" is an art that is hard to get right.

Would love to also hear about more resources on this topic.

[rubicon33]

> whilst avoiding that "auto-mode"

what do you mean by this?

[mortallywounded]

I've felt that way since my mid-20s because I started "late" professionally. I've been playing catch up ever since.

Although I've had a lot of success by conventional means (I run my own company solo, work for myself, I'm married with children, I own my house with no mortgage, etc).

My sights are still higher and I feel like I'm still playing catch up. I've been debating about what to focus my time on these days-- do I push more on my business and attain more success? Do I allow myself time to pursue interests that have little to negative financial upsides? Do I forget all of it and just spend that time with my family?

Wish I had a solution or answer for you, but I'm still figuring it out.

[rubicon33]

Those questions are the same questions I would have. Not sure there's an easy answer for either of us unfortunately.

If I were you I'd probably spend time with my kids. They're only young once and getting to enjoy those years would probably mean the most to me.

[ip26]

Even that can be a puzzle. Kids can be hard work. People like to talk in rosy terms about spending time with kids, especially when it’s the “idea” of kids or the “memory” of their own kids. Yet few parents of presently young children describe their days as blissfully idyllic. So what does “enjoy” really mean? Aside from basics like “don’t work 90 hour weeks” or “don’t travel for work three weeks a month”.

[ydant]

Most of "enjoying time with your kids" is less about what you do and the fact you're there to do it.

It's about building the memories and the trust (in both directions) that anchors the family together. That'll pay off as they grow older and come into their own identities and start to drift away from you into their own lives.

It's partly about setting up opportunities for the big events that people idealize and have nostalgia for. If you're not there, you can't have those great experiences.

It's partly about having the bad experiences. Sometimes those matter more in the long run for building the deep, meaningful, and lasting relationship.

The day-to-day often sucks and often isn't "enjoyed". But the cumulative results of the time and the good and the bad - that takes long-term investment.

[smokeydoe]

Taking care of kids is hard sometimes, no doubt. But spending time with your young kids can absolutely be fun and truly enjoyable. It takes effort to come up with activities and start them. When they begin talking it gets way more fun. I enjoy hanging out with my child and I would describe my days as blissfully idyllic a majority of the time. If you put in the work it pays off with intense fulfillment, pride, and a best friend. I think for this to work you need to be present with your child and actively engaging almost everyday for long periods.

I admit I don’t know that many parents personal enough to know if most are feeling more burdened than not. I would hope that is not the case.

[barrysteve]

On a basic level, kids give off joy and kids enjoy the world in ways that are long dead to us.

It is enjoyable to watch them grow and putting energy into kids when they are young feels rewarding.

Pretty much everything a kid does is important and/or rewarding biologically to the parents.

I've noticed parents don't talk about it in public, they've forgotten what it is like to be single and wrapped up in work.

Parents often only say that 'you should have kids' and 'it's great' with no further description of what it is like.

Parents are a strange phenomena, they become tribal and grounded, once a man becomes a father.

[pppoe]

I can relate to that feeling. I've been reading books on different philosophies to find way out of this. Now I feel like I just accept life is meaningless in a positive way. But it is hard to get all over of these feelings that it still comes back at me once a while.

I do have a few hobbies I can enjoy doing to just forget about all those things. I don't think there is a "solution" though, everyone needs to find his/her own remedy someway.

[palemoonale]

Do little exercising, eat what is on your mind, do alcohol and drugs, try to still sleep well after having fun partying, etc... life is too short to restrain yourself. Splurge on things you never did, will bring some fresh breath and newfound hunger for life.

[footy]

This is interesting to me, because exercising, and changing my lifestyle to support that, are what has given me that hunger for life.

Runner's high or the sense of accomplishment from a 100 mile bike ride or a tough day hike make me feel more alive than any party ever did.

[ip26]

There’s an awful lot of life still ahead of your early twenties, and I had several loose friends in college who burnt themselves out on drugs. You don’t have to be a prude, but you can cut a long, bright future very short indeed without some restraint.

[rubicon33]

I definitely think there's some truth to this, and I would benefit from some kind of unwinding. I'm just not sure yet what it is. Drugs and alcohol tend to make me feel worse the next day(s).

[apwell23]

alchol and eating fried food ( what is on my mind) give me intense heartburn.

Another perk of getting old ;)

[2024throwaway]

Eat some yummy unhealthy foods. Have a beer. Life is too short.

[twosdai]

Or just call a loved one for a chat out of the blue. :p

[rubicon33]

heh, been doing that more and more... not sure its helping though honestly!

[diimdeep]

Date picker is broken, also it is really slow webpage for what it is doing. Every web developer in 2024 and forwartd should have average device released at least 10 years ago to understand that what they are writing these deys using this horrendous web frameworks is unusable on these devices.

[vallode]

Complaining about this as well, I think entering day/month with keyboard is fine but the website completely freezes upon entering year and skips some digits entirely after many seconds of waiting. I'm on an old thinkpad, I get it, but I think everyone should keep an older device around just to demo their projects on because it helps catch such simple bottlenecks.

[petemilly]

Thanks for pointing this out (all comments in this subthread). I just updated the date picker to only re-render the grid of weeks when the input is unfocused (onblur) and avoid the unnecessary intermediate updates. Still more work for me to address lag, but hopefully that helps.

[kvakvs]

As you click the date picker, it updates entire page for that incomplete date, and it QUEUES dates for more update, even if you manage to click the correct year, it continues slowly through every year you touched/scrolled before that.

[marssaxman]

There's something even more broken about it than that, though; I couldn't get the date to go any earlier than 1991, because the scroller would keep resetting itself back to 1993. Don't understand it.

[pedalpete]

About 10 years ago I made an app called Bucket52 which challenged you to record one interesting thing you did each week. How did you make this week memorable.

It was amazing how challenging it was to do one unique thing a week. It didn't even need to be anything big, just "what will I remember about this week".

I think as a New Years Resolution, I may try it again this year.

[accrual]

I like this idea. I've seen it extended to individual days as well. If I can name one interesting thing that happened in a day, then it was an interesting day with at least one story to come from it.

[392]

I don't see it on the Play Store, sadly :-)

[pedalpete]

It was just a web app, and it was a decade ago. I whipped it up in a day because I wanted to try a new framework, though I can't even remember what that was called now.

[MzHN]

> As far as I know, there’s no way to set a dynamic width for an HTML input with pure CSS (please lmk if that’s not the case). Setting max-content doesn’t work, for example, because inputs are replaced elements that have intrinsic dimensions and behaviors that are not fully governed by CSS.

This is the case currently, but when field-sizing: content; lands, you can do it with a single property.

Also I get a weird feeling when something like React makes simple things hard and low performance. The solution of pouring a lot of time into debugging and optimizing (in context of React) feels even weirder to me. Sure, you might not need React here, but what if you do? What's the next best solution? Integrate the React "frame" with an "island" of vanilla?

I don't know, something about having this issue puts me off in a major way.

[jokethrowaway]

I did a small project recently (a form to edit N instances of an object, each containing N instances of other objects, so standard input, add / delete buttons, saving to server) and I decided to not use React or any form of templating, just DOM. It reminded me of when I used to ship jQuery projects.

It was refreshingly simple and, despite being more verbose, it was clear what everything would happen once a certain event would happen. With a bit of clever refactoring dealing with elements factories wasn't too bad, even without a templating engine.

Not having to think "How is this going to be rendered by React, is it going to be efficient or trash performance" was great and I think it's intrinsic of picking a certain abstraction and we'll always have that.

Sure, the better the abstraction the less this problem happens eg. Solid is calling the component function once, which makes things easy to reason about

[petemilly]

Oh cool, I didn't know about field-sizing. Thanks.

And yeah, this definitely set off my alarm bells like "maybe I shouldn't be using React here." I guess the initial goal was just getting something that works out there using the thing I know best (React), and the second phase could be a rewrite using a better tool for the job-open to any thoughts and suggestions on that.

[MzHN]

I'm in the same boat with vanilla instead. I start with no dependencies and add some vanilla compatible libraries when needed. But when project size grows the friction makes me less motivated to continue. That's just what I know best and where I'm most comfortable since I control everything.

Unfortunately I don't have more specific suggestions, but just in case the verbosity of vanilla is a turn-off, I will namedrop Bliss.js.

[petemilly]

Oh nice, I hadn't heard of Bliss.js, but the creator (https://lea.verou.me/) is great.

[TimSchumann]

> Any feedback is welcome. Top on my todo list is improving performance (reduce interaction lag).

Maybe don't have it render anything until a valid date post 1800 has been parsed in all fields?

I started typing a date and it rendered the year 0190.

[netsharc]

OP needs to learn about window.setTimeout(), or whatever the fancy wrapper function is in their framework of choice.

[petemilly]

Thanks for pointing this out. I just updated it to only re-render the grid of weeks when the date input is unfocused (onblur) rather than unnecessarily updating the grid while you're still entering the date.

[seized]

One suggestion.... Make it faster to skip back and set the start date, or allow manual entry. I'm not even that old but it's a lot of months to click backwards on Android.

[n8cpdx]

I think it must be using the browser native control? The date picker was surprisingly great on iOS. Color picker, too.

[marssaxman]

I couldn't make the date picker work at all - the scroller kept snapping back to a previous position.

[petemilly]

Ah, sorry about that. It is the native date picker as n8cpdx pointed out.

I just pushed an update to only update the grid of weeks once the date picker is unfocused (onblur event) rather than recomputing unnecessarily on every change event. I suspect that is what caused the bug you're describing, but let me know if it's still broken.

[marssaxman]

Yes, that fixed it. Thanks!

(I didn't know the browser had a native date picker.)

[petemilly]

Great! Thanks for following up.

And yep, the browser date picker (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/in...) is a major time saver. This project uses the native color picker, too.

[dave7]

Glad I'm not the only one!

[kwijibob]

On android I could click year and change that to gow old I am.

[netsharc]

As the page said, it's inspired by https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/life-weeks.html, but I prefer the version on his post: https://149909199.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/201... , where a week with an event doesn't expand to take up so much space, and it's possible to add background colors to mark segments of your life.

I was making a similar app to learn Angular (and realizing the performance is lousy if each square is an Angular component), an interesting thing is, because of the day-of-week drift from year to year (Jan 1 2023 is Sunday, Jan 1 2024 is Monday, Jan 1 2025 is Wednesday, hello leap year 2024), the grid isn't always 52 columns wide, some years would need 53 weeks, because your birthday could be a Sunday (end of week in a particular year) and it'd be a Monday next year, meaning there'd be 53 Sundays between the 2 birthdays...

[Flux159]

Nice job, was going to mention url size limits but then read your blog post and it already mentioned using urls to be able to share with others without a database.

One thing that might be interesting is being able to edit things in the future if you want to plan something out, but don't know if that's really in the spirit of the site.

[petemilly]

Thanks. And yeah, I was talking to my roommate about enabling edits in the future. I guess the spirit of the site is letting each person do with it what they wish, so I suppose I should open up future dates for edits.

[kapitanjakc]

Is it possible to run it locally or create backups or link it with some storage?

Only reason for asking it is that I was thinking of something similar and started keeping a daily diary in text files.

Can add summary of sorts for weekly thing.

But if someone is like me and has years worth of data, they'd want to be sure that data is going to be there in future as well.

[petemilly]

Feel free to fork the repo and run locally! https://github.com/pmillspaugh/weeksofyourlife

Maybe I could add an export feature that downloads the data in a .csv or something. The URL storage is definitely a bit wonky, but more robust persistence felt like overkill (maybe I'm wrong about that, though!).

[geekodour]

I have something similar that was discussed here few months back, the whole thing is in a org file, i can add summaries etc and each becomes a hugo blogpost, it's not as interactive as OPs submission but works ok i guess.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36641451

[smusamashah]

Made a widget for Android using KWGT app which let's you create custom widgets. Free version at least let you copy past custom components and variables but you can't import saved files.

This widget simply highlights how many weeks of the year have been passed. Made it few weeks ago when a similar calendar was shared.

Here is the code you should be able to copy paste. Includes screenshot as well. https://gist.github.com/SMUsamaShah/e54497e5e10f897d22f5de9e...

[abathur]

I get the urge to quantify life like this, but as a late bloomer in many respects I find it helpful (less stressful) to focus on who I've been rather than how long my flesh has been bumbling around.

It's all a continuum full of overlapping parts of myself, but I wasn't really recognizable as my current self before about 22ish. I don't find it terribly helpful to feel time-pressured about what that previous person spent those weeks on.

Think of it as a kind of persona bankruptcy.

Life is short, and my subconscious already spends enough time worrying about water under the bridge.

[andyjohnson0]

Nicely done. But I don't need the existential terror that it induces.

[simne]

Measuring in weeks is not good enough, because too terrestrial. At least should mark on figures Moon phases (at least extremes), because, all life on Earth synchronized on tides, because water level changed not on shore only, but underground water also affected by tides.

And with knowing of Moon phases, you are armed and powerful.

Considering Moon phases, you could make the most from most fruitful part of Moon circle (when water level near top and raising), and avoid hassles from transitional part (from raise to decrease, especially, when combined with eclipses, which themselves could multiply tide near to twice), and better use decreasing part of circle.

Plus, good thing, to add Solar magnetic activity circles, which also relatively easy to calculate.

Yes, must admit, for most young people, Solar magnetic activity is mostly unnoticeable, but extreme parts of these, could even affect modern technology, for example, it could create potentials in railroads and in power lines, or even in large buildings, not too much, just about ten volts, but enough for wrong activation of some mechanisms or to trigger safety systems and to turn off part of railroad or power grid.

Also, these harmful potentials could affect copper communication lines.

And sure, Solar magnetic activity affect Earth weather, which is not so much important for terrestrial civilizations, but could very hard affect sea transport.

[samstave]

I have been wanting this for many WEEKS IN MY LIFE...

I want to clone this and run it locally and add pics and a family tree and and and....

I love this.

[causal]

I like your attitude a lot. Others look at this and see sand depleting, or boxes unfilled with any achievements. You see your cup filling up.

[euroderf]

Same here. Starting with Markdown, and with some protocol for specifying links into an external blob store (for pix etc.).

[a1r]

Another approach using spreadsheets: https://aaronbell.substack.com/p/visualize-your-life-the-eas...

[netsharc]

The article links to https://busterbenson.com/life-in-weeks, I guess this is where OP got his inspiration.

Damn, "I got married" and one mouse scroll later, "Officially divorced". And it wasn't even to the same woman, he got married and divorced twice within 1 desktop browser viewport's worth of weeks.

[grogenaut]

On Android the hovers for a cell go away instantly. The age in year also looks kinda dumb if your birthday is at the end of the year like mine. 29 in 2012 when you're 28 until the last 2 days of the year for instance

[culi]

Please tell me the author's birthday just happens to be the same as mine and it's NOT that browsers now have a way to share bday information with websites

[L0in]

I think the default was set 04/04/1997 by the creator.

[culi]

glad to hear it's just a freaky coincidence!

[samstave]

Except.... now you've just shared your birthday through the browser openly with this website.... Defeating the premise of your concern.

[shepherdjerred]

There's a big difference between others simply knowing your birthday because you told them vs others knowing your birthday in some unknown way. How do they know that? What else do they know about me?

[culi]

well not really. People being able to find my info is very different from my browser directly telling advertisers and sites I visit my bday

[croisillon]

but then with the example of DF Wallace wouldn't it make sense to stop counting the weeks of his life after his death?

[petemilly]

I was thinking about this, too. Allowing setting a date of death felt pretty morbid...

[luqtas]

no way i won't live till 22° century T.T

[charles_f]

Fun how this makes a year seem so small

[meremortals]

Love this

[carabiner]

Oh god. No, no, no. This is horrifying.