Streaking! (not like that)

There’s been a lot of research done on habit-forming, and I’ve read lots of books about procrastination and organisation. (How best do I procrastinate on a project? Read another book about proscrastination).

One thing - that has become more easy with various apps - is tracking streaks, or regularly doing the good thing. Jerry Seinfeld has talked about his writing process in this way, just making sure he writes every day by marking a wall calendar to show he’s completed it. This sounds pretty basic, but it’s very motivating to keep going once you’ve started.

It’s not just doing it, it’s having proof you’ve done it. (I threw a tantrum when my Kindle missed recording a day of my reading, thanks to travel and time differences and wifi access), so it broke my daily reading streak.

Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash

Currently I’m feeling pleased (and in a way amazed) that I’ve completed a 365 day streak of something else. Peloton. I don’t have the bike, but I signed up for the app in late March last year, to try their other classes. Since the day I joined, I’ve done something every single day. Even when travelling. I’ve worked my core in hotel rooms, meditated in airport lounges, done yoga on a ship. What’s more, I look forward to it. It’s not damn, I have to do the thing, to keep the streak, ugh.

I’ve actually formed a habit.

What else I’ve been up to: I was in the WSJ this week with a review of Fool Me Once, and I wrote about knitters challenging labor laws and World Bear Day at JSTOR Daily.