Robert Shields

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I think often about Robert Shields, the man who logged every five minutes of his life.#

I ponder him mainly because I'm a bit of a "logger" myself, so I'm amazed how he managed it.11 Spoiler: autism, I'm sure#

Not only did he write often, but he wrote a lot. He tallied up 37.5 million words from 1972 until 1997 when a stroke disabled him. For reference, Samuel Pepys wrote 1.25 million words in his diary.#

But most of his entries were short. Here's some examples:#

April 18, 1994
6:30–6:35: I put in the oven two Stouffer's macaroni and cheese at 350°.
6:35–6:50: I was at the keyboard of the IBM Wheelwriter making entries for the diary.
6.50–7.30: I ate the Stouffer's macaroni and cheese and Cornelia ate the other one. Grace decided she didn't want one.
7.30–7.35: We changed the light over the back stoop since the bulb had burnt out.#

(You can see lots more examples here)#

I now log via my notebook, but I've mostly done it digitally using an app on my phone called Funnel (App Store link) which would send it to my daily note in Obsidian. But despite having a quick add app on a phone that's nearly always on my person, I'd still struggle to log every five minutes!#

However Robert wouldn't actually create a log every five minutes – that's impossible.22 Especially when you're using a IBM Wheelwriter. He would take handwritten notes throughout the day using a pen and paper and then in the evening he'd type up each five minute log at once on a typewriter. Which would be a lot of work and time. In one entry he said he'd been up since 03:00 writing them. As a result he avoided leaving town and disliked overnight trips because they put him behind.#

For a moment I considered logging just one day of my life every five minutes in honour of Robert. But that frequency is just insane. Fifteen minutes is more doable. Perhaps I’ll try. He died on an October 15th, which is ten days away. Maybe I’ll give every fifteen a go.#

His story is a curious one. You wonder if he had OCD or autism and these logs ruled his life and negatively effected those around him. Or, who knows, perhaps it was his driving purpose in life. And logging down everything was a way of living life more purposefully and ensuring his life would be remembered.#