Another month has passed, which means another monthly update! Things were quite busy after coming back from the Japan Short Term Mission Trip. I co-led a Bible study on Mark 4:35-5:20. I read The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame and Fear Cultures by Jayson Georges. I spent a bunch of time listening to and learning Japanese worship songs. I compiled a bunch of the songs from the concert into a [Spotify playlist](Spotify Playlist), and wrote out the romaji lyrics for others.
Shiny New Object - iPhone 16
I upgraded my phone from a Pixel 6a to an iPhone 16. The reason for the switch was that I got a few AirTags for my Japan trip, but it is super awkward to use them because I have to bring my iPad with me everywhere to use them. So I thought, maybe it’s time for an upgrade. Obsidian opens very slowly on my Pixel 6a, and an iPhone will work well with all the other Apple products I have.
The iPhone 16 has been good. I really like how Obsidian launches in under one second, as opposed to the five seconds on my Pixel 6a. Being part of the Apple ecosystem means it works well with all my other devices. I have also been playing around with Focus Modes, Shortcuts, and NFC tags, using them for tracking time, tracking my weight, and quickly capturing my thoughts. One hiccup when switching from Android to iPhone is that I lost all my WhatsApp chat history. It turns out if you skip the transfer from Android to Apple step when setting up your iPhone, you can’t transfer your WhatsApp chat history. You will have to reset your iPhone, set it up again and do the transfer from Android to Apple step.
Time Tracking
I started tracking my time this month as a way to be more intentional this year. I tried to track my time earlier in January, but I think it was too complicated, so I didn’t stick with it. This time I kept it simpler, and I’m feeling confident that I will stick to this practice. Below are the categories and the things that generally fall into each category:
| Category | Example |
|---|---|
| Output | Work, writing, anki, practicing instruments, programing, designing, planning |
| Input | Reading, youtube, listening, courses, sermon, podcast |
| Personal | Food, cooking, personal hygine |
| Sleep | Time when sleeping |
| Health | Working out, running, stretching and mobility |
| Unintentional | Unintentional time, trying to minimize this |
| Toilet | Time spent sitting on the toilet, also trying to minimize this |
| Travel | Time spent commuting or driving |
| Social | Whenever I’m with people and not in a work setting |
| Devotional | Time spent doing daily bible reading and prayer |
| Chores | Time spent doing chores (Mowing the lawn) |
So far I’ve only tracked my time from June 19-27th. But I noticed that just having a timer running helps me be more intentional. When a timer is running and I get distracted, I remind myself, “Oh yeah, I have a timer going, I should be doing this, not that”. By starting a timer, I tell myself that for the duration of the timer I am intentionally focusing on this thing.
It is also helpful in showing you what you actually spend your time on. I was surprised to learn how much time I spent with people—almost 26 hours in 8 days. I also have a toilet timer because I’ve been curious to know how much time I spend on the toilet. And I was quite shocked to see 6.5 hours spent in just 8 days—something I’m definitely going to reduce. Anyway, below are a chart and a table of the data from my time tracking.
| Project | Hours Spent | % |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep | 75.7 | 36.76 |
| Output | 54.5 | 26.46 |
| Social | 25.9 | 12.56 |
| Personal | 12.6 | 6.11 |
| Travel | 11.0 | 5.32 |
| Input | 8.3 | 4.04 |
| Toilet | 6.5 | 3.15 |
| Devotion | 4.5 | 2.18 |
| Health | 4.2 | 2.02 |
| Unintentional | 2.1 | 1 |
| Chores | 0.8 | 0.39 |
| Total | 206.0 |
Losing Weight
I’ve been trying to lose weight, and I’ve been doing pretty well. I lost about 4kg from 84.9kg to 80.7kg this month. Here’s some data on my weight this month.
Writing Book Reviews
I’ve been working on my book notes page and writing book reviews for past books that I have read. More will be coming soon…
Met a Raccoon June 22nd