Don't Don't Break the Chain... Make the Chain!

Make the chain!
(source: Wikipedia)

One of the worst productivity tips I've ever heard came from Jerry Seinfeld.  Here's the "tip": never skip a day of work.  Specifically, as a comedian-writer Seinfeld's goal was to write as much as possible.  To this end, he marked a calendar with a big red "X" for every day he worked.  After a few days of this, a chain of X's would form.  Then came the productivity goal: "Don't break the chain."

I've tried this trick for some activities and I've found it to be a terrible piece of advice.  Here's why: I always failed.  Eventually, I broke the chain.  Eventually, life reared up and made it impossible to stick with a habit.  Something always comes up: illness, events, deadlines, fatigue.  And guess what?  Failing sucks!

The problem with "Don't Break the Chain" is that it is an avoidance goal: it frames a goal or habit as something not to do.  The problem with this is that doesn't describe the behavior that one should be doing and leaves too much room for failure, as I've described.

Instead, I propose the following counter to Seinfeld's tip: "Make a chain."  Track every time you do something.  Make a check mark. Stick a sticker.  Put a coin in a jar. Whatever.  Just give yourself credit for every time you do it right and keep track of how many times you did it.  In this case, it doesn't matter if you skip a day.  Pick up the next day, or the next.  Or the next week.  Small failures don't matter if your goal is to make a huge chain; just pick up where you left off.

This has worked great for me while I've taken up running.  At first, I got all bummed out when I missed a day of my running plan: I broke the chain.  But then I reframed the goal as "make the chain" and now I can never fail.  If I miss a day, I just pick up where I left off.  Each workout I complete, I cross it off.  I see a permanent record of my progress that cannot be taken away.

Stay happy :)

Brain In A Jar

Don't forget: you have a body.

"Embodiment" is a concept in cognitive science that doesn't get enough attention.  In very simple terms, embodiment means you have a body.

Uh, ok.  Yes, most of us can agree that we have a body but the true insight of embodiment is that how we think, actually the very fact that we think at all, cannot be separated from the fact that we have a body.  For a primer, check out this "brief guide to embodied cognition" from Sam McNerney.

Here's the way I think about it: if we had some sort of technology that would allow me to take out my brain and put it in a jar, you know what would happen? Nothing.  I might think about stuff, but eventually I would stop thinking about anything new and I would probably go crazy from sensory deprivation. In addition, without a body all my thoughts would be meaningless: if a brain thinks in a jar and no one is there to listen to it... You get the idea.

The Happy Homunculus attempts to be a practical blog, dedicated to applying psychology to performance.  Luckily, all this talk about embodiment has practical implications.  Basically: you have a body and, if you want to perform at your best, you better not forget it.

I can think of two major extensions of embodiment that relate to performance:

First, all our thinking matters for shit if we don't get out in the real world and do something. We can feel like garbage or feel great.  Be happy, or be sad.  But, what really matters, in the real world, is what we do with our body (hands to do, mouth to speak, eyes to look, ears to hear) to make something happen.

Second, everything that happens to your body, happens to your brain.  Let me put it this way: your brain is an organ connected with all the other organ systems of your body.  If you treat your body like it is an expendable brain-carrying-case, your brain will suffer.  Your thinking will suffer.  And, your performance will suffer.  I'm sure many of the academics that I interact with would love to avoid this fact, but if your body is unhealthy, your brain is unhealthy. Period.

In summary, we have bodies.  Our brains can not be separated from our bodies.  Our thinking can not be separated from our bodies.  Let's get our bodies out into the real world and make shit happen.  And, let's take care of our bodies so we can keep making shit happen.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals Are Dumb

Dream small.

If you've ever been exposed to any goal-setting advice of any kind, you've probably heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals, an acronym which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.  I'd like to add one more adjective: overwhelming.

Who has the time and energy to craft a series of SMART goals and then track progress in great detail? I'm a nerd, but there are only so many excel spreadsheets I can create before I feel ashamed.

Also, what happens if you think you've created a SMART goal, but realize it's not "attainable" or too "timely"?  I know what happens to me: I feel like monkey poo.

SMART goals are also dumb because when they are too "big picture", they cause anxiety.  For example, when I think about some Big Goal, even when it may fit into the SMART paradigm, I get overwhelmed. I get discouraged. I get pessimistic.

What's the solution?  Actually, I think it's a combination of Big, but Vague, goals and small SMART micro-goals that are designed to bring us one step closer to that Big Vague Goal.  This concept of micro-goals is shown to be effective in everything from making tough changes, to procrastination, to extreme physical challenges like training for the Navy Seals.

Why does this work?  Because you can design the micro-goals to be so stupid easy, you are guaranteed to succeed. So, we shouldn't make some huge-ass SMART goal that seems impossible (even if it's not). Instead, we do something so tiny that it seems ridiculously easy (run for 5 minutes).  Then, we do it and feel awesome.  This creates a positive-feedback loop: set more tiny goals, kick ass, repeat.  As long as these tiny, micro-goals are pointed in the general direction of the Big Vague Goal, we're basically guaranteed to come close to our Big Vague Goal over time.

To be fair SMART isn't all bad, setting specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals is essentially what I suggest we do: easy goals are all of those things.  But I would add one more essential criteria: small. The smallness takes the overwhelming scale out of the equation. So, SMARTS goal-setting is the way to go for me, but that's an awkward acronym and it's easier to just say SMART goals are dumb.

Physical Flow

C'mon, get physical!

This week, we're feeling the Flow - that sweet state-of-mind when we're in the zone, operating at our peak.  Incidentally, this state is associated with feelings of fulfillment, so searching for flow is a no-brainer.  During previous challenges, we've found flow in our daily lives and turned a chore into a flow activity. Today, we're going to get physical to get flow, so get warmed up!

Of all activities, physical activities - especially sports - seem to go hand-in-hand with a flow state.  As we've discussed, activities that trigger flow are characterized by three traits: well-defined goals, immediate feedback, and appropriate challenge.  Physical endeavors, tasks that require movement and action in the real world, frequently match this profile.

But physical activities aren't restricted to sports.  Things like gardening, crafts, or do-it-yourself projects require hands-on effort.  Furthermore, these activities are perfect for flow: the goals are normally clear, you can see your progress right away, and they are often self-correcting in terms of level of challenge (you can move at your own pace).

What physical activities provide you with Flow?  Today, do something physical and let yourself get into it:

Physical Flow

Task: Find flow in a physical task.

Info: Pick any physical activity (one that requires movement of your body or part of your body) and focus on the task in a way that is conducive to flow.  Consider these questions: What are your goals for the activity?  How are you progressing?  Is the challenge appropriate?  What could you do to match the challenge to your skills?  As I mentioned before, athletics are great for producing flow, but not necessary for this task.  I especially like working with my hands and find any task of that nature to produce Flow.  Find something that works for you. 

Goal: Maintain flow for at least 30min.

Post your preferred physical Flow-maker in the comments!

Show Up

Yoga pose: upward-facing monkey.

This time last week, I calculated that 99% of my time is spent sitting on some sort of cushion, barely moving.  This made me a tad disappointed, and my homunculus giggled mischievously: that lazy, inner child often gets his way.  Hopefully, you're not like me and spend more of your day physically active.  But, if you're sedentary too, today's Daily Mind Game is sure to trick your bad-self into exercising.

For me, a surefire way to get myself to exercise is to go through the motions of getting ready to exercise.  I go to the gym, I put on my headband, and I walk into the exercise area.  There have been times when I really didn't feel like exercising, but I forced myself to just show up.  When I've used this trick, I normally feel so awkward leaving after all that, I end up working out.  It's the bees knees.  It's also your Daily Mind Game.

Show Up

Task: Go through the routine of preparing to exercise.

 Info: This is the Week of Self-Control, so if you control yourself enough to go through your normal pre-exercise routine, you win today's game.  You don't have to work out if you don't want to, but see what happens.  I bet you end up exercising.  Also, this game doesn't only apply if you go to a gym.  For example, if you are a runner, put on your shoes and gear and step outside.  Don't have an exercise routine?  Make one up, yo!

Goal: Determine if a "show up" routine is an effective way to get yourself to exercise.

Well, did it work for you?  Stop back after you're done and post your thoughts in the comments...

Moving

My homunculus at work.

The Week of Self-Awareness is zooming along, and I've got another challenge all lined up.  I tried this Daily Mind Game earlier, and I must say, I don't like what I'm seeing.  An overview of my self-observations from yesterday: bed, table, car, desk, table, desk, car, sofa, table, sofa, bed.  Unfortunately, that isn't a stream-of-consciousness gone wrong.  No, that is an account of my sedentary lifestyle.

How physically active are you?  The reason I ask is that our brains are organs.  In our bodies.  Sooo, when things happen (or don't happen, in the case of exercise) to our bodies, our brains feel a piece of it.  Oh yeah, and in case you forgot, our brains are pretty important for lots of things.  Anyway, back to physical activity: more and more evidence is piling up that physical activity may protect our brains from many age-related diseases and enhance general cognitive health at all ages.  Importantly, very small changes in activity level, like walking or standing more, can have a big effect.  So, massive changes in behavior aren't necessary to reap the benefits.

Don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about? Well, guess what? I'm a hypocrite: I spend a lot of my day sitting on my rear end.  So, do as I say, not as I do! And, please don't feel badly if you're in the same boat as me.  I empathize with your guilt through the intrawebs.  Nonetheless, we all have a general sense that more activity is usually better, so for today's challenge, we're going to observe our physical activity level in order to increase our self-awareness in this area.  Maybe we'll see simple ways we can increase our activity a smidge.

Moving

Task: Observe your physical activity for the day.

Info: Questions we'd like to answer today include: how much time is spent sitting, standing, walking, running, swinging kettlebells etc.  When sittting, do we fidget or sit still?  Are there opportunities to integrate more moving-about into our day?  Again, as in previous posts, the focus of the challenge isn't to actually move more.  The focus is on observing our behavior.  After we're informed, finding ways to improve should be easier.  Finally, try to brainstorm a few simple ways you might increase you activity level.

Goal: Determine how much physical activity you engage in, and think of three simple ways to increase it.

One thing I like to do is to try standing up while I work on my laptop - I stack a bunch of books on a counter-top to bring the laptop to the right height and get my geek on.  I often feel much more energetic, for longer, working that way.  My coworkers say I'm strange, but I just howl like a monkey at them until they let me be.  Just kidding :)