Fresh Start Monday #002: Are You Swimming Upstream?

Are you swimming upstream? Last week, I tried habit-stacking. The meeting didn't "end" until I finished my notes.

My experiment lasted two days.

Habit-stacking didn't work. I felt resistance from the first call. I kept trying the 2nd half of the week, but with more self-curiosity. (Let's be real, more of a disbelief around why I can't complete simple tasks)

I asked, what's hard about this?

I noticed that when a zoom call ended, I didn't check slack notifications or email. I left the room. The last thing I wanted to do was switch to another task.

I finished the notes in a start-and-stop manner for the first two days. I checked my phone. I looked at other work. A 5-minute task turned into 20 minutes.

I chalked this up to Zoom fatigue.

My nerdy side started researching how to reduce zoom fatigue, but why?

Why would I learn to swim upstream?

When we make changes in our life, our initial excitement overpowers the current, but rivers are tireless. We lose steam, we lose progress, and we lose motivation until we swim into a whirlpool of self-judgment and being too hard on ourselves.

When we pop our heads up and direct our curiosity inwards, we can reflect on what's working and what's not.

My experiment revealed I need a short break post zoom calls. My cue to start documenting notes became my cue to take a break.

Fresh Start Monday:

My manager Gary brought up his calendar event at the end of the day. He documents all his meeting notes in one time block.

When I revisited James Clear's formula for creating a habit:

1. Cue

2. Craving

3. Response

4. Reward

The reward from last week's habit wasn't strong enough. A call ending on its own is not a reward. However, the end of my workday is a reward I cherish.

This week, I'm batching my notes together in a 15min calendar event at the end of the day.

What's hard about a new habit you're trying to start?