Most people only know their age in terms of years. But for the last several years, I have made a point to be aware of my age in days.

Your age in years carries societal baggage around what it means to be in your 20s, 30s, etc., but your age in days just is what it is.

At 30,000 days old, you’ll be 82, roughly an average life expectancy. I celebrated my 10,000th day a few years ago. More recently, I turned 11,000 days old. I find that being aware of my age in days really helps puts things in perspective.

I keep track of my age in days by writing the number in the top right corner of my morning journal. If I go too many days in a row without journaling to simply add the number of days in my head, I’ll just look it up again on a website like daysold.com.

If you want to be more aware of your own mortality, and more willfully ignorant of what society says you should be doing at a certain age in life, I would say a healthy awareness of your age in days is good. Let me know if you decide to try it.

Age in days is more personal and reflective than age in years. It helps put things in perspective and encourages awareness of mortality