Habit Optimization 3

Make your best performance your new baseline. (Josh Waitzkin)

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Fragments from imaginary dialogues

“How can I optimize habit-tracking?”

“Marking a habit as done feels good. You can amplify this effect by also celebrating your small win. 

I like to do it by saying to myself ‘That’s like me!‘ I know this little mantra from Brian Johnson. When I say it, I also express Gratitude to Brian, and send him and his family Love. This amplifies the effect even more.

If marking a habit as done feels good, marking ALL of them at the end of day feels even better. I like to call this AD (All Done). You can use this to your advantage.”

“How?”

“The main benefit of tracking a habit is that you can see its continuity. ‘I’ve been doing this for x days in a row.’ The longer the chain, the harder it becomes to break, and the more satisfying it feels. 

What’s even more powerful than seeing the continuity of a habit is seeing the continuity of your AD. 

AD is also a habit – a meta-habit. The habit of completing all your habits every day.”

“So the idea is:

Track your AD, not just your habits.“

“Precisely.

I like to do it in writing.

AD tracking

I write the calendar in pencil, and whenever I have an AD day, I write on top with a pen.

Seeing the continuity of your AD feels really good. I’m now working on making it my new baseline.”

“That’s a useful feature for a habit-tracking app. I mean, the AD visible as a separate row, whose continuity you can see at a glance. Once you complete all habits for a day, the AD becomes marked automatically.”

“I guess it is.”

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