I decided to present my media diary primarily as a short video highlighting the varied ways media reaches me. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeeHQJxOCtg&feature=youtu.be

This is in no way meant to be comprehensive, and in full disclosure it is a composite of two days.

Putting this together taught me a few key lessons:

* I’m nearly always consuming media — I was surprised by just how often. It depends on your definition of media, of course, but even when I was having a conversation with my wife or a friend, I noticed that there was often some form of media playing in the background (a TV in a restaurant, kids music at an indoor playground, etc.). And as you can see in the video I listen to podcasts on my iPhone whenever I’m walking, riding the T, or doing chores. So it’s rare that I go for more than half an hour without some kind of media input while I’m awake.

* Nearly all media I consume is digital, but I’m holding onto some print, mainly newspapers (Boston Globe and student newspapers) and a couple of magazines (the New Yorker and some cooking magazines). At times that creates awkward workflows, though. For instance, one day this week I picked up a Harvard Crimson when walking past a newspaper box in the law school, and I found an interesting story I wanted to share. So I opened my laptop, directed my browser to the Harvard Crimson online, then Tweeted the link to the story. Switching from print to an online version of the same article was a pain, but a couple of my followers retweeted it and it sparked a conversation with another journalist about the article, so I’m glad I did. I’m not in the habit of visiting the Crimson online, but I try to pick up the print paper while on campus because it’s nice to have the print to read while waiting for class to start. This incident made me realize that it would be easier if I just read the Crimson on my phone or laptop, and I’m sure that’s where I’m headed in the future.

* I guess I’m addicted to podcasts.

Content/Device Breakdown

I did log my computer activity for several days using RescueTime to get a more-detailed sense of my consumption patterns. I also kept a diary manually with major types of activity, since I found that RescueTime sometimes misclassified my usage. Here are some highlights:

* On a typical day I use my laptop for between 5 and 6 hours.

* When on my laptop, my biggest activity is e-mail. I spend about 10 to 20 minutes per day on Twitter (via Hootsuite), and about 15 minutes on Facebook. I do make a point to go to a few newspaper sources throughout the day (The New York Times is my home page and I often check Google News). I’m sad to say I read DrudgeReport every day.

* I use my iPhone to entertain me whenever I’m by myself (this adds up to a couple of hours a day of usage). I either listen to podcasts, check my e-mail, check Facebook, or read an article on the phone. This realization makes me think of that recent Louis CK rant.