Looking Back at 2025

As one year has ended, and another begins, I wanted to pause to look back.

My Fitbit tells me that I walked 1,515.06 miles and earned 7,515 heart minutes.

I used StoryGraph to track my books and audiobooks this year.

Books: 67 (physical) + 23 digital = 90 (for a combined 30,447 pages)

Audiobooks: 33 (for a combined 331.7 hours)

Total: 123

I volunteered at a local farm 34 days.

I spent spring break at 2 state parks with my dad.

BoardGameGeek tracked the games I played: 341 games played. 

My top 10 games: 

Star Realms 

Gizmos 

Race for the Galaxy 

Space Base 

Abandon All Artichokes 

Hanamikoji 

Harmonies 

Hive 

Kingdomino 

P.I.

In Praise of Focus Friend

 I have a new favorite app: Focus Friend, designed by Hank Green. 

This app creates an adorable sentient coffee bean on your phone who loves to knit, except it can't knit if you are using your phone. So you set your phone aside to focus on non-phone tasks while it works. (You can't interrupt it or its work will be lost.) Then you can take the socks (free mode) and scarves (subscription mode) to decorate its rooms.

As a person who loves to check things off my list, I am thrilled to "earn" socks and scarves for not being distracted by my phone.

It has a count-up mode (which lets you stop at any point between 5 minutes and 2 hours without losing your progress) and a count-down mode (where you set a firm phone-free time where ending it early will cause your bean to lose its work).

I use this at social events when I'm tempted to be on my phone instead of socializing.

I use this when I'm doing chores and feel the urge to get side-tracked.

I'm using this now, as I'm writing on my computer. 

What is an app that improves your relationship with technology?