A New Method for Changing Old Habits
How Many Productivity Apps have you Tried?
There’s a lot of people out there (myself included) who are constantly trying out the latest productivity hacks and have downloaded all the greatest app hits for anything to do with habit tracking, calendaring, to do lists, etc.
Just one problem. They don’t seem to work for many of us. You know the ones:
Streak-style apps. These have you pick a habit and you try to do it everyday so your calendar looks like one nice, colorful chain. Jerry Seinfeld did it! You can too! Or not.
Stylish to-do lists. Cool. Now my long and overwhelming list of things I’m not going to do looks pretty!
The BJ Fogg model. In a nutshell, you use triggers to change one very small habit at a time. So if you want to floss, after you brush your teeth, floss one tooth. Sounds easy. It isn’t.
Eating the frog. Do the thing you least want to do first thing in the morning. So now I procrastinate first thing in the morning.
Gamification. Rewards! coins! Fun! Unfortunately, I can still somehow lose at a one-player game.
Something Totally Different
If these methods aren’t working for so many people, is there a different way to think about habit change that isn’t based on the same old schools of thought?
I was thinking about yoga. There are a few poses that are… not everyone’s favorite. They hurt. You squirm. You want to move to the next one. But the class doesn’t start with these and it doesn’t end with them either. The instructor builds up to them. You get in the flow. You don’t even realize you’ve gotten into that less-than-favorable position into you are a few breaths in and then well, you might as well just keep going. You do it and move on.
What if we thought about habits like flows?
What if instead of focusing on that one tough thing to do, you mix it up with fun, small actions?
What if you treated your to dos less like a list of chores and more like a flow or even a ritual?
When I started experimenting with a new mix of actions before going to bed, I actually started doing them. I FLOSSED. I still use the trigger concept that BJ Fogg uses, but instead of one thing, I do five. Then no one thing is important, difficult to complete or overly stressful.
The Five Elements
As I experimented, I found five main features that made my new mix of actions really flow.
1. Give it a Meaningful Name
Giving your mix a name that you love makes it a lot more fun to keep doing it. I call mine the Nightcap Mix. Because booze.
2. Set a Trigger
Setting a trigger builds on BJ Fogg’s findings to build off another action that will kick things off. My trigger is an upbeat song set for 9pm. Other triggers could be things like: coming home from work, finishing dinner or taking a shower. These are moments where you’re transitioning from one moment to another and you can squeeze in a little sequence of activities.
3. Create your Mix: list at least five small actions that flow together
Instead of doing one thing, do five, or more. Then no one thing is important. Each one is just a part of a larger thing. My newest version of my Nightcap Mix has about eight steps. The exact quantity is not as important, just enough that you can get into a flow.
4. Add Joy
So you might be doing a few things in your mix that you don’t love doing, but you love how you feel when they are finished. When you have other actions around that-thing-you-hate, you can create a little joy bubble around it. Maybe part of your ritual involves doing the dishes and you hate that. Who doesn’t. But what if before you do the dishes you put on some bangers and light a candle. These little actions in mixed together help you flow into the harder stuff.
5. Be Flexible
Change things up if your mix isn’t working. Could your steps be in a different order? Do you need break them down into smaller ones? And don’t worry if you aren’t doing your mix every day. I’ve flossed my teeth more in the past 3 months than I probably have in the last 3 years, but I still don’t do it every damn day. Don’t pressure yourself to be perfect! St*t happens.
Sounds great - now what?
Let’s get practical. Where do you keep track of your new mixes? And how you remember your actions when you’re right in the middle of your flow? Well. That’s why I’m building an app! Follow along on my site for the latest and please reach out if you’d like to test it out when I have it ready.