Metadata
- Author: Elena Mary
- Full Title:: ‘I Awoke at ½ Past 7’
- Category:: 🗞️Articles
- URL:: https://aeon.co/essays/victorian-diary-writers-kicked-off-our-age-of-self-optimisation?utm_source=rss-feed
- Read date:: 2025-11-19
Highlights
(this culture of self-quantification in the pursuit of self-improvement long predates social media, algorithms and targeted advertising. In fact, we can trace its roots back into the daily lives and preoccupations of the Victorian middle classes. (View Highlight)
Industrialisation, imperialism and rising bureaucracy fuelled demand for desk and pocket diaries to record meetings, appointments and financial transactions. (View Highlight)
the practice of reading the diaries of friends and relatives was widespread, meaning that diaries were texts on the threshold of public and private. (View Highlight)
In the Victorian period, people were more aware of the passing of time than ever before. (View Highlight)
Wrist watches and clocks allowed the middle classes to schedule their days with precision. (View Highlight)
The pressure to achieve self-mastery and constantly improve could create a sense of continual failure – a sentiment many of us share with our Victorian forebears. (View Highlight)
While the Victorian diary might initially seem strange to us – the lists of books read, the constant references to religion, the fact that family members and spouses would exchange these private texts – contemporary social media accounts display the same tendencies towards performative self-improvement. (View Highlight)
title: “‘I Awoke at ½ Past 7’” aliases: [“‘I Awoke at ½ Past 7’”] permalink: ‘i-awoke-at-½-past-7’
Metadata
- Author: Elena Mary
- Full Title:: ‘I Awoke at ½ Past 7’
- Category:: 🗞️Articles
- URL:: https://aeon.co/essays/victorian-diary-writers-kicked-off-our-age-of-self-optimisation?utm_source=rss-feed
- Read date:: 2025-11-19
Highlights
this culture of self-quantification in the pursuit of self-improvement long predates social media, algorithms and targeted advertising. In fact, we can trace its roots back into the daily lives and preoccupations of the Victorian middle classes. (View Highlight)
Industrialisation, imperialism and rising bureaucracy fuelled demand for desk and pocket diaries to record meetings, appointments and financial transactions. (View Highlight)
the practice of reading the diaries of friends and relatives was widespread, meaning that diaries were texts on the threshold of public and private. (View Highlight)
In the Victorian period, people were more aware of the passing of time than ever before. (View Highlight)
Wrist watches and clocks allowed the middle classes to schedule their days with precision. (View Highlight)
The pressure to achieve self-mastery and constantly improve could create a sense of continual failure – a sentiment many of us share with our Victorian forebears. (View Highlight)
While the Victorian diary might initially seem strange to us – the lists of books read, the constant references to religion, the fact that family members and spouses would exchange these private texts – contemporary social media accounts display the same tendencies towards performative self-improvement. (View Highlight)