I wrote previously about an interesting website that sends random surveys to track your happiness. I just finished a “happiness cycle” and thought I’d share results I found interesting.

1. Coffee was my second happiest activity

Not surprising, but a little scary to be #2. Shopping, errands, housework, etc towed the bottom of the charts.

2. Sleep quantity had no impact

I was surprised the amount of sleep I got actually had no trend at all – showing all over the charts. Though sleep quality did have a strong correlation.

3. Want to vs. Have to

Most surveys ask if you have to and do you want to do what you are currently doing. ‘Want to’ showed a strong and identical happiness level regardless of if I ‘had to.’ ‘Don’t want to’ and ‘don’t have to’ interestingly scored lower than ‘don’t want to’ but ‘have to.’

4. Level of focus / distraction

At 50% focus my happiness is all over the chart, but above 50% happiness steadily improved with increased focus. So there is perhaps a diminished return (on negative impact) for me at a certain level of distraction.

5. Days of the week

My week starts happiest on Sunday and Monday, dips mid-week, and then climbs a bit to end the week.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE PROJECT

Unfortunately this cycle coincides with me being very sick and then Amelia being in the hospital, so some of the results may be a-typical.

They share fewer results than I would like – some questions asked don’t appear in my personal results, I’d like to see the cumulative results of all participants, and I’d like to have a custom reporting engine for more complex results. Overall, the project is still interesting and enlightening.