Personal experiment #1: Lunch purchasing intervention – Results
I’m not terribly certain how to write up the results of my N-of-1 personal experiment. I think the raw data is most compelling to me and is probably most intriguing to anyone reading this, so here they are in a google spreadsheet.
By way of a tally, I purchased lunch 9/20 days during the 20-day run-in period when I did not send myself a text message reminder, and I purchased lunch 10/20 days when I did send myself a text message reminder during the 20-day treatment period. The intervention did not appear to have a “significant” impact (I put “significant” in scare quotes to humor myself).
Following my two grocery purchases during the 8-week period, I went six days and four days without purchasing lunch respectively. This might seem obvious, but I found that having chips, particularly Sun Chips or Baked Lays, correlated with my not purchasing lunch (data not recorded). As I ran out of my favorite chips, I began purchasing lunch again.
I did not track the following variables as I had intended per my methods section: perceived hunger level, bank account status, cash in wallet, friends’ desires to eat lunch outside the office, weather
Other “supplementary results” include:
- My average wake time was 4:50
- My median wake time was 4:45
- My average self-reported stress level at lunchtime on days when I purchased lunch was 5.21. It was 5.23 on days when I did not purchase lunch. I’m paying no mind to significant digits if you’re wondering.
- My average self-reported workload on days when I purchased lunch was 6.68. It was 6.71 on days when I did not purchase lunch.