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What one man learned from obsessively tracking his vital signs for 48 years – Vox.

Robert Sothern is the ultimate quantified man. For 48 years, five or six times each day, he’s been tracking his bodily functions and mental acuity in extensive — almost absurd — detail.

“I measure my heart rate for a minute,” he tells me on a recent phone call. “I measure blood pressure. I measure respiration for two minutes, breathing slowly and counting how many times I inhale. I measure peak flow [air flow from the lungs], and I’m doing time estimation [counting to 60 without looking at the clock, and then seeing if it matches].” Fourteen years ago, he started to wear a step tracker.

The former chronobiologist at the University of Minnesota still rarely misses a day, and at 69 years old he says he’ll continue making measurements for the foreseeable future.

Read more.


Some insights, over time our internal circadian clock appears to break down. “We are rhythmic creatures” – optimizing, sticking-to and having routines that change over time to compensative for our-slowing-down clocks will be valuable.