Stats from Headspace

It's coming towards the end of the year, so I thought I would write a couple of posts on stats from the various web services I use. Today I look at my stats from Headspace, which I wrote a review on earlier this year. This was one of my strategies to address my resolution to be more mindful this year; the other was changing my approach to 'to do' lists using iDoneThis, which I sort of covered here. Anyhow, onto the basic stats that are available through the app itself:

Click to enlarge. Source: https://www.headspace.com/

I signed up for Headspace on 11 April this year, though I had already completed the first series (Take 10) which was available as a free trial, so I think I first started meditating on April Fool's Day. Excel tells me that, as at today, that is 267 days ago. Completing 174 sessions over this time is a rate of about 65%, so a little over one session every two days. Meditation is supposed to be a daily practice, so I guess I'll have to work on lifting that one.

I was actually rather surprised by the total time I've spent meditating: three thousand, one hundred and eighteen minutes. There are 1440 minutes in a day, so that equates to a little over two whole days spent meditating this year.

It should be noted that I signed up before they released 'Version 2' of Headspace, so I am still working my way through Version 1. The Series Progress in the above stats only shows progress against Version 2 packs. In Version 2, you can pick any series that you want to do, in whatever order you wish; however, in Version 1, you have to complete each series in a linear order (see graphic below). I am currently about halfway through the Creativity series (the 6th series), so I have some way to go before I move onto Version 2.

Click to enlarge. Source: https://www.headspace.com/

As I haven't spent much time in Version 2, I haven't really used any of the Singles packs yet. But the small experience that I've had with them has been positive. There are three Singles packs: On-the-go is for extending mindfulness to day-to-day activities, like walking, eating or sleeping. Classic delivers guided or unguided meditation for set length of time. And SOS is for when you really need to get some perspective.

I usually like to try to meditate in the morning to set myself up for the day, but there's a lot of times when that won't happen. I haven't been in a good routine lately, hence why my current run streak is zero, The maximum run streak I've got to is 15, which earns you a reward - a month free to give to someone else - which is nice.

As with any new (good) habit, your body and mind will often fight to keep you at your current status quo. Seeing stats like these helps me to stay motivated to keep doing whatever it is I'm currently doing. I find them useful to keep the tendency to be pulled back to the status quo at bay.