File 0002.5: In the end does it even matter

I had such a good streak and then I lost my way. Ah well, that’s life and I’m not going to think about it too much. I’m going to pretend it did not happen and hope the problem goes away. So what’s on the menu today?

Well, beef teriyaki…but that’s not the menu I was talking about…but I digress.

Today, let’s talk about habit forming and out of sight out of mind.

Wait? Didn’t you just say you were going to forget about not writing for nearly 3 months?

Yes…but that was written in a jokey version, so I did not perjure myself as the record will show!

Sorry, what was I saying? (as if I can’t read the couple of sentences I already wrote before this…)

Oh right, habit forming. Decades of study have shown that for something to become a habit you need to do the thing that you want to become a habit for 8-10 weeks. Of course, it’s always possible to be breaking the habit according to the professors of Linkin Park but in general, you could consider something a habit after those 8-10 weeks. Of course, how bigger the thing you want to achieve the more difficult it is. They suggest starting with something small like if you want to eat healthier, start with the simple action of eating a fruit at a specific time of day (example stolen from National Library of Medicine) and keep doing that consistently.

I am trying to create a habit of writing every day which sometimes turns out to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Even if I only set myself 200 words for 1 day. I also want to be more consistent in doing exercise and I want to be better at maintaining my beard by applying beard oil.

So, I have three goals that seem to be attainable to be habitual. What are the risks that I won’t be able to commit to this?

I already mentioned it…when things are out of sight…I forget about them (although weirdly enough, as I am typing it, the sentence where I first spoke of Out of sight is currently not visible to me…so I’m guessing I’m sort of contradicting myself).

Example 1: Take the beard oil…I already own two bottles of beard oil for…a year or two now…I barely use them, they are in the drawer where I keep the rest of my daily care routine but until recently I did not use them…as they are hidden underneath all the other crap so I forget (sort of)

Example 2: Exercising. My exercise clothes and equipment are normally not readily available and they take time to prepare…so I normally don’t see them…so I forget (sort of)

Example C: My laptop and my computer are in my office, most of the day when I’m in my office, I’m doing my day job, then if I’m going up again after work I want to do other things (like watching endless youtube or play video games or both at the same time) so I forget (sort of).

So, easy to solve right? Put beard oil on top, put exercise equipment somewhere visible, and…keep your laptop or other writing equipment close for when you do want to write.

Yes, in principle…it is as easy as that.

Of course…then there is the time commitment for the last two examples…which people seem to conveniently forget…I mean there are only so many other things I want to do in the time that I’m exercising or writing even though I do enjoy both to some level…but I enjoy playing Fallout 4 as well and for that, I don’t need to get tired or think creatively…

Trying to create a habit is always work…whether it as simple as applying beard oil or more difficult as exercising more regularly and not working is for most people the preferable option and it’s not easy to break these habits of not doing something.

(Apparently, there is also a study that states that if you tell your goals to someone you trick your brain into sort of getting the feeling you already achieved your goal. Good thing then that nobody reads my blog!)