2020 by the Numbers

What can I say about this year that hasn’t already been said? It’s had its moments — both good and bad, but I’m thankful to have made it through largely unscathed. And I can say that the opportunity presented by everything slowing down has been welcome. It made clear to me the need for greater focus, the benefits of slowing the hell down, and offering a new chance to evaluate, reflect, and map out what really matters to me.

I tend not to reflect in this way, but this year I was curious to satisfy my own interests using data I either knew or could gather easily. A few data points surprised me — and there’s one or two I think may still be missing data which I may try to sort out.

In the meantime, here’s a brief look at my 2020 by the numbers — and wishing you a safe, healthy, and prosperous new year ahead.

300

Consecutive days at home

18

Books read1

46

Postcards sent

484

git project commits

2

New MacBooks2

1665

Miles biked3

1524

Miles walked

3

Zoom talks

31

Movies watched

1

Museum installations4

231

Polaroid photos

356

Journal entries

8

Magazine subscriptions5

358

VC meetings

6

Kickstarters backed

7

Records purchased

319

Links shared6

139

Notebook entries

1

New personal website

2.94M

Steps taken7

4

Quarantine birthdays8

1

New puppy

39

Instagram posts

Footnotes

  1. I read a lot more online than expected and fell short of my paper books reading goal this year.
  2. Let’s be honest, it’s hard to get much done with broken E, S, and R keys.
  3. Does not account for indoor stationary rides which I haven’t found a good way to track yet.
  4. At the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, pre-pandemic.
  5. Including The New York Times (Sundays only), Pressing Matters, Communication Arts, the Risotto Riso Club, The New Yorker, Wired, Entertainment Weekly, GQ.
  6. Tallied manually and shared via weekly Through Line notebook entries.
  7. According to the Health data on my Apple Watch.
  8. Just my immediate family where none of us escaped quiet birthdays at home. Would be more if including extended family and close friends where we may have celebrated over a video call.