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I’m a data nerd. I love analyzing information, finding patterns, and seeing connections. But data for the sake of data isn’t valuable–it’s only meaningful if you apply that information to create change. In 2015, I’m purusing a more quantified life. If I know what I’m doing–tracking fitness, food, habits, thought patterns, sleep, spending, accomplishments–I can evaluate how I’m doing in pursuing goals and how effectively systems I’ve put into place to achieve things is working. In general, I prefer specific apps that perform a single function. Technically, I could keep track of all this information in Evernote, but after deleting hundreds of worthless notes in the past few days, I’ve opted for a different, better option. Each app does one (ok, maybe two) things exceptionally well, and I know exactly what I’m doing when I open it. [footnote]That means I don’t have the walk-up-to-the-refrigerator-and-forget-why-I’m-there feeling.[/footnote] Here are a few things I’m tracking this year and how I’m doing it. ...

I see the value of reflection, but I rarely set aside the time to do it properly. However, inspired by the end of the year, I decided to block out time to review 2014, remember the highs and lows, and save it in a Day One journal entry for future reference. If you missed the boat on reflecting on 2014 when it was still 2014, fear not! It’s not to late to get your rearview glances in, and I’m sharing the 7 steps I took to give the year a thorough pat-down. Here’s how I reflected on 2014. ...

Command + F is a helpful shortcut to remember; it allows you to search and find a word or phrase in a document. It works just about anywhere you can find text on a Mac. [footnote]For my Windows friends, that’s Control + F.[/footnote] Normally, when I’m trying to refer back to a website, especially one that is poorly organized, I use Command + F to find text quickly. For a long time, I didn’t think this was possible on an iPhone or iPad because, well, there isn’t a Command button. Alas, I was sorely mistaken, and to my delight I discovered that you can search and find words on a webpage via Safari with iOS. The feature name is “On This Page” but it’s hidden better than a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Here’s where to find it and how to use it. ...

I used to wake up a bit sluggish and slowly wake up to the sweet, yet distracting, sounds of Twitter chirps. After finding my seemingly optimal amount of sleep, mostly through trial and error [footnote] around 7.5 hours and I’m waking up before my alarm[/footnote]a few things have been significant in getting better sleep –something more people than I realized seem to struggle with. I cut back on coffee. I only drink 1–2 cups a day now, almost always before 2pm. I work out 3–4 times a week and have a goal of walking around 10,000 steps a day, which isn’t too hard in a European capital. That wears me down in a good way so that I’m looking forward to sleep. Our room is completely dark, like a cave but with better temperature control. We sleep using a white noise app cranked up nice and loud to drown out any other noise. I don’t look at my phone before bed. I charge my phone, which serves as my alarm clock, on the other side of the room, so I have to get up and turn off my alarm. Now, I sleep almost through the night, normally waking up once, about halfway through my sleep cycle. I’d love to be out cold for a solid night, but a once-a-night wakeup is certainly tolerable. ...

Four years ago I created a charity: water campaign for my birthday to raise money to build a well to provide clean water for people who didn’t have access to the most basic need in life. Through the generosity of friends, family, blog readers, and maybe even you, we raised $5,004 and helped build a few wells in Africa. If you’re curious, here’s an infographic I made about the project. For the last three years, the remarkable team at charity: water has wished me a happy birthday–the first year through a YouTube video, then via phone calls the last two years. ...

I’m learning a second language for the second time. Normally you’d consider that a third language, but when you don’t properly learn a second language the first time (read: via high school Spanish), your second second language is really your first second language. After that clarification here are a couple tools I’ve been using to make language learning a bit more automatic on my Mac. 1. Using PopClip to make translation easier. I’ve mentioned my love of PopClip before. It’s an extension that appears when you highlight text with your mouse on your Mac. There are two handy extensions you can find on the PopClip website. Translating via the Google Translate website and having a pop-up translation appear. ...

It’s been two months since the release of iOS 8, and I’ve quickly taken to using widgets in the Today View. If you’ve updated to iOS 8 but haven’t explored widgets, you’re missing out. With your phone unlocked, simply pull down from the top of your screen to see your Today View, and at the bottom click the Edit button to add widgets.[footnote]You can reach your widgets via Today View at any time, but you can only edit your widgets with your phone unlocked[/footnote] Here are the widgets I’m currently rocking. ...

Jordan and Niki discuss the cure to clutter, how to figure out what stuff you don’t need, and best practices for eliminating clutter, after a brief detour about Harry Potter. Click here to listen. I’ll use the made up word “unclutter” a number of times, we’ll chat about why clutter builds up, and how to feel more comfortable throwing out picture frames from your grandma. Check us out in iTunes here or visit our podcast website. ...

Calling out awkwardness is the new black. Alerting the world to awkwardness is now cooler than sitting with the in crowd at lunch. There are hand signals for bringing attention to awkwardness. There are websites dedicated to awkwardness. Awkward is the strange love child of American culture. We’ve made it all encompassing. When something is weird. When it’s uncomfortable. When it’s embarrasing. When there is more than one second of silence in a conversation. When someone mispeaks. Or misteps. Or misses a cue. When you do something clumsy. When you run into that old, former friend in an unexpected, ordinary place. ...

I’ve been blogging, intermittently, for five years. Somehow I don’t completely hate my first post. I started with a hope. I hope this can be a place where I can share my thoughts, my encounters, and my opinions in an effort to make this world a better place, one reader at a time. I was called a pliable college idealist shortly after writing that. I suppose I’m now a pliable twentysomething idealist, because my hope remains. ...