Everyday Systems

I'm thinking of implementing some rules where I'm limited to a certain number of events per week or per month. I'm wondering if anyone has figured out a way to use HabitCal to do this, since I've found HabitCal so helpful for keeping me in compliance with other rules. Maybe some of you who track S events can help me here?

Say I want to limit the number of times I eat out per week to 3 lunches and 2 dinners (a lunch and dinner out could fall on the same day). Or say I want to limit book-shopping episodes (which could be a trip to a bookstore, or buying stuff on Amazon) to 4 per month.

Edited to add: what if there's something I want to do at least once per week? Say I want to have at least one dinner per week that is based on beans or tofu. Is there a good way to use HabitCal to track that?

Nicest of the Damned wrote:Say I want to limit the number of times I eat out per week to 3 lunches and 2 dinners (a lunch and dinner out could fall on the same day). Or say I want to limit book-shopping episodes (which could be a trip to a bookstore, or buying stuff on Amazon) to 4 per month.

Edited to add: what if there's something I want to do at least once per week? Say I want to have at least one dinner per week that is based on beans or tofu. Is there a good way to use HabitCal to track that?

Not online, but...

Have a couple of jars sitting in your house. At the start of the week (and taking your examples), put 3 red lunch marbles and 2 blue dinner marbles in one jar, and take one out when you use it. When that jar is empty, no more meals out. In the other jar, place one marble at the start of the week and remove it when you've eaten your beans.

Keep it simple. A good visual aid should be clear and easy to understand at a glance.

ThomsonsPier wrote: Not online, but...

Have a couple of jars sitting in your house. At the start of the week (and taking your examples), put 3 red lunch marbles and 2 blue dinner marbles in one jar, and take one out when you use it. When that jar is empty, no more meals out. In the other jar, place one marble at the start of the week and remove it when you've eaten your beans.

Keep it simple. A good visual aid should be clear and easy to understand at a glance.

I've lost all my marbles (nobody who knows me is at all surprised at this). Is there any way to do this kind of thing with a calendar?

A visual aid where I only have to keep track of one piece is also much preferred. I tend to lose stuff, and what I don't lose, the cats bat under the furniture.

My exercise goals are "5 of 7" (exercise 5 days of the week, doesn't matter which days).

I just keep a habitcal where I put on a green when I exercise. I don't worry about yellows or reds. It's a simple count, that I can see at a glance.

For something like 5 meals out, I wouldn't even worry about what day they went on (say two meals were on the same day - just put one before/after) as long as you can see the week's total.

KCCC wrote:My exercise goals are "5 of 7" (exercise 5 days of the week, doesn't matter which days).

I just keep a habitcal where I put on a green when I exercise. I don't worry about yellows or reds. It's a simple count, that I can see at a glance.

For something like 5 meals out, I wouldn't even worry about what day they went on (say two meals were on the same day - just put one before/after) as long as you can see the week's total.

From this, I think I've figured it out.

For the things I want to do a maximum number of times per unit of time, I'll mark occurrences up to the maximum green, past that is red. I'm setting a maximum of once per day for book shopping, just to make the accounting easier. Fortunately, lunch and dinner out can each only happen once per day. The first three lunches out per week are green, any after that are red, a day when I don't eat out is blank.

For things I want to do a minimum number of times, I'll mark every time I do it green.

It will make my HabitCal incomprehensible to anyone but me, but it probably was that anyway. I'll try that and see how it works out.

Hi there! I use Habit Cal to track the number of times I eat out each week. Instead of doing it using negative reinforcement, however, I use positive reinforcement (much like I do to train my dog. LOL).

Anyhow, I have a habitcal called "home-cooked meal." For everyday I eat dinner at home (that I've cooked, not ordered in), I give myself a green. No penalty when I don't, except for the additional weight and loss of money (which is penalty enough for me).