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Introducing new habits to habitcalc - when?
Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:12 am
by kbits
On previous occasions, I have had upto 5-6 habits being tracked on habit calc, right from the get go. As you can imagine, this turned out to be a disaster: one habit might be going well but then another might not be, then I would start to berate myself until eventually walking away from the whole torrid mess
I've just finished my first successful (all green) 21 days with No s and yesterday introduce Cinderella's Electric Candle (all electrical devices out by midnight).
Just wondering - how frequently do you like to add new habits to your tracking? Once every month? Longer? Shorter?
What have you found is most successful for you and why?
Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:37 pm
by kccc
Even before Reinhard, I did "habits of the month" instead of yearly resolutions.
There is a rule-of-thumb that it takes 21 days to build a habit. I figure a month gives me some slack if I'm a slow learner.
The habits are at different levels, and I try to recognize that. Some are things I want to maintain, some are temporary areas of focus. For things I want to maintain, I do try not to add another until the first is solid. "Focus" can change more easily.
If I can tell that I'm getting a bit shaky on maintenance, I'll repeat a habit. It's okay - it's all process.
My biggest issue is TELLING myself I'm focusing on one thing, but letting others sneak in under the radar... I'm working on that.
Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:08 pm
by reinhard
I add them very rarely... (it's been over a year and I'm up to 4, 3 of which were well established before I even started keeping track). There's a cost, partly just in screen real estate (which is more of a technical problem that could be easily rectified in that version 2 which I keep talking about) but more importantly in terms of willpower and attention.
Reinhard
Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:32 pm
by kbits
That's interesting...
I'm guessing sleep / diet / exercise are of course the biggies.
After that...what comes next in your list of priorities? Perhaps "tasks" is a sneaky way of keeping it to 4...but really doing much more than four things, without creating a sense of being overwhelmed?
(general question for all).
Honestly....there's a lot more than 3 things I'd like to become "habitual" in my life.
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 2:39 pm
by reinhard
Yeah, "tasks" is a little sneaky.... but it's been very effective.
Among other things, it's a staging area for habits that you might want to promote to top level tracking at some point in the future when you're clearer about their feasibility/sustainability/advisability.
Reinhard