Too Many Attempts at Habit Formation

In the last week or so since getting back my self discipline has been all over the board. I’ll be able to do 2-3 tasks, but I won’t be able to accomplish the full 4 and the additional “test” task I had of eating well.

One of two things is happening - either not hit my groove again from my vacation, OR I’ve hit my limit of willpower to accomplish those tasks.

If we say it’s the second one, it makes sense. Instead of waiting for a requisite amount of time to create a habit, THEN adding another task, I’ve just been adding another task every week, which doesn’t at all fit into the research I’ve been reading about willpower and habit formation.

Since I’ve come back from my vacation, I’ve been generally keeping up with 750 words and meditation, but things like Duolingo & Habit RPG have been falling through the cracks, with my test skill, eating right using Epic Win being hit or miss as well.

This is a good thing in that my actual actions seem to mimic the research I’m reading. It’s a bad thing because I’m going to have to re-do my overall plan for this project. Oh well. A part of all of this is knowing that I’m not going to hit the mark the first time - it’s about learning and adapting.

Back From Vacation

As I might have mentioned in another post, I just got back from a vacation. During this interlude, I put myself in the “Tavern” in HabitRPG and allowed myself to have a few drinks. I didn’t hold to doing 750 words daily. And didn’t do Duolingo or my daily meditations.

Two things about this.

One, I need to figure a way to continue being rigorous about my discipline through such interludes. There will always be interruptions, and I think the key to all of this is to soldier on despite them. Now for this trip, there were times I really didn’t have time to do my 750 words or Duolingo, and that’s fine. BUT it was not a reason to drink because that action can be done anywhere. Just a thought.

But secondly, I’ve found it really difficult to get back on track. I initially felt like I could get back “on the wagon” for all habits the next day after coming back, but instead it’s taken me a while to get over what I’ll call habit inertia. And that’s another good reason to power through vacations or other interruptions in some way or another. It’s just plain difficult to get started again.

Well I’m back on today - so far I’ve completed my meditation, 750 words, I’ve gotten out of the tavern on HabitRPG, and I’ll be doing my Duolingo shortly.

Breaking Points and Ego Depletion

I’m currently reading a book entitled Willpower by Tierney and Baumeister. In it the authors term the erosion of willpower as “ego depletion”.

A few days ago I exerted a lot of willpower through abstaining from alcohol in an environment highly conducive to drinking for me, doing Duolingo, writing on 750words, my own work, meditating, and reading. The next day I was completely and utterly depleted.

So I looked online to see what recharges ego-depletion. Sleep and glucose (like a candy bar) work, but neither was helpful in the situation - I couldn’t sleep and I don’t want to go to sugar when later on I’ll be incorporating working out and nutrition to the program.

One suggestion was to watch funny youtube videos. So, I attempted it, timing myself, and using a rudimentary ego-depletion scale (1-10) to see how it affected me over time. After 5 minutes of watching a favorite standup comedian, I felt I had gotten to about a 4. After 12 minutes, I was up to a 7, and after 20 minutes I was up to a 9.

Later that day I felt more depleted, but had a piece of cake, which immediately got me writing my daily 750words.

Although I didn’t complete my Duolingo and meditation for that day, I did accomplish more than I thought I would, given my level of mental exhaustion.

Clearly, watching funny videos has to be incorporated into my program.

Plateau Busting

Plateaus seem to be THE thing that confounds everyone.

Let’s say someone wants to learn a musical instrument. There’s an “onboarding” period where people learn a ton and feedback is great. It’s new and exciting and you want to continue with vigor. Then you hit the slower steady progress. You are still getting feedback, and you are making progress so you continue - but it’s the daily grind.

Then you hit the plateau, where you work and work but don’t notice any visible improvement. That’s where most people give up, and the habit (and learning) stops.

There are a few methods for getting through plateaus. For one, just sheer willpower - either yours, or for many in school, their parent’s. The other is to vary practice so that you don’t get bored of the routine. Another is to KNOW that it’s there - the theory is that knowledge itself of the plateau will allow you to save up willpower, which you’ll use to bust through the plateau. And another method is to take a break and come back - “resetting” your habit processors so to speak.

The point of this endeavor is really about plateaus and willpower. Does gamification lower the amount of willpower needed to get through plateaus? Does this lowered willpower threshold allow for more skills to be habituated at once. It’s really two questions.

1) Sure Duolingo is fun, but will it continue to be fun after 3 or 4 months?

2) The willpower threshold in gamifcation is lowered through engagement - it’s fun. Will this allow me to learn multiple skills and practices - or will I fizzle out because I’m trying to do too many things?

A lot of people seem to roughly calculate the plateau phase of any task as kicking in at three months - and that’s the mark I’ll be looking at closely in the future. I might decide to stagger various strategies to see which ones work and which ones don’t. This will take some tracking, because I started each skill in a staggered way - duolingo first, 750 words a week after, etc.

4th Skill - Meditation

This is the beginning of week 3. So far I have 3 skills I’m working on - Spanish language learning through Duolingo (Level 8), daily writing through 750words (8 day streak, not drinking through HabtitRPG (Level 2) - which I hope to expand into general nutrition).

This week I want to add on meditation/mental health.

I’ve ramped up to this by occasionally using Level Me Up.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m uncertain if this is the best program to use because it’s quite linear - you level based on time and that’s really it. Habit RPG might be better but again - just not sure yet.

I’m using my own meditation sequences that I’ve found very helpful in the past - they’re based on the work of Shinzen Young, Mark Cunningham, and Steve Piccus. I’d like this to be a daily practice at least because it affects my mood for the rest of the day.

I really like these scripts, but I might later try expand by using SuperBetter.

Mid Week Status Check: Duolingo and Second Skill Ramp Up

I’m mid-week on my first game - Duolingo.

It’s definitely very addictive, and I find myself wanting to get back to it throughout the day. I’m curious how this feeling will change over the course of the progression.

I think it’s really important to listen to what I naturally feel. There is a point at which you want to force yourself to keep to a schedule. That is great when there’s one finite project, but for a year-long attempt to include a number of skills, that may deplete my willpower quickly.

It’s also good to record these inclinations to see what form of gamification is able to hook me for longer - will specific quirks of one game prove more practical in the long run?

Meanwhile I’m ramping up to my next program - by ramping up I mean just mucking about with the program so I know how to use it before actually commencing.

I believe I will either add a writing program, mental health, or a fitness program next week. More on the specifics later.

Duolingo

Other than an old pen-and-paper game I created and played to get out of a slump in work several years ago, Duolingo is the first program I’ve really used that uses game mechanics for skill acquisition.

It’s basically a learning module for languages - in my case, Spanish. It has discrete chunks of info, and as you “play” you learn how to use the language. Each positive answer is followed by positive sound. Incorrect answers mean losing a heart (like Supermario!). If you lose all three hearts, you have to start the level again. You gain points and gain levels, and can practice out your skills later on by helping to translate portions of the internet. It also has a community aspect in that you can see how far your friends have progressed and leaderboards.

So far I really like it, and it’s definitely more engaging than any other language learning software I’ve used.

I chose this as my first program because 1) It’s a skill that everyone says they want to work on 2) I personally do need it and 3) it’s a very well developed program.

I’m currently Level 5 in Spanish - you can check out my progress here:
http://www.duolingo.com/#/BijuHero