Write for The Quantified Self
What did you do? How did you do it? What did you learn?
The Quantified Self evolved through people sharing their stories. At first with complete informality and spontaneity: I remember at the first meetings we simply put up a whiteboard and had people put down their name if they wanted to show their self-tracking projects.
Later, we started to get into trouble. As the meetings grew, they became a natural place for toolmakers to pitch their apps and devices. This was fun, but it crowded out first person’s stories of discovery that made the meetings so interesting in the first place.
Kevin and I had been part of peer knowledge sharing networks before, and we knew that some gardening was needed. That’s what led to the development of the “QS Show&Tell.” We set aside a full hour before every meeting and put out tables where toolmakers could set up demos, but for the talks, we asked people to always speak in the first person and tell us what they did, how they did it, and what they learned. This turned out to be a great catalyst for years of wonderful talks and presentations.
I want to open the same door here. If you have made your own observations to explore a question in your own life, please consider sharing it. Your discoveries are important.
I learned from watching hundreds of these talks and moderating dozens of meetings that you don’t have to have a big, general, world-shaking conclusion to give something very valuable to the people who read or listen. Seeing people develop ways to answer their own questions with their own data is inspiring, even — or perhaps especially — when the answer remains elusive.
Just tell us what you did, how you did it, and what you learned. And if you have a project that you’d like to share but aren’t sure that it’s ready or how to make it understandable to others, you can call on me for help. I’ve edited many of these, and it’s something I like to do.
Length. 800–1000 words is typical.
Images. Try to include at least one representation of your observations: a chart, a table, or even just a photo of your instrument or notebook. Please don’t bother with illustrations that just decorate, like a big word that says “WOW” or something. It’s hard to really learn something from that. One image is enough, but more is ok, too.
Other people’s data. If anyone else appears in your post please ask their permission first.
Conflicts. If you have a commercial relationship with a tool, company, or product, please disclose it.
How publishing works. Send it to me. I edit. Hopefully fun for both of us.