Recently I put together a daily routine for myself in writing (finally!) and the process got me musing on the idea of consistency. It’s always been a double-edged sword to me, bringing both benefits and pitfalls.
the benefits
On the one hand, having a consistent routine makes it far easier to stick to that routine. Last semester, my class schedule was crazy; on Tuesday/Thursday, my classes began at 08:00 and finished at 18:45, but on Monday/Wednesday/Friday I didn’t have any classes until 14:00. My sleep schedule was extremely irregular as a result.
This semester, I have a consistent start time as well as a consistent block of free time from 11:00 through 15:00, and it’s been much easier to have consistent sleep, mealtimes, and more.
One of the elements of the routine I’m implementing is a consistent block of writing time every day from 13:00-14:00 (I’m writing this within that time slot). Since beginning that constant rhythm of writing time, I’ve gotten tons of writing done and have been able to get back into projects I’d abandoned.
It’s not like I didn’t have this time previously—I’m taking the same number of classes. But putting the time into a more consistent schedule has helped me better keep up with what I should be doing.
the downsides
The problem is that every time I skip on a habit I’ve set up, I’m more likely to skip it the next time as well. That consistency is frequently my downfall when I try to get into journalling: I skip a day, then I skip the next, then I just keep skipping days for weeks or months at a time.
Consistency in that case is fighting against me: missing even a single day among weeks of keeping on top of things that can completely undo all the work I’ve done during that time. Then I start building up consistency in missing my habits, making it harder to keep them.
As a counterexample, sometimes habits that I don’t do as consistently can be easier to keep because they don’t have this negative side to them. I read books often, for example, even though I don’t have a consistent time allotted to reading; if I did, I’d start to feel ashamed of missing days. Instead, I just read when I feel like it and have a fun time doing so.
the solution?
I don’t really have a solution. The problem boils down to this: doing a task consistently can make it easier to keep it, but has the downside of making me do it less often if I break the pattern.
I want to take advantage of the consistency a routine provides, but I haven’t really found a way to overcome this yet. My best strategy so far has been to try to increase the friction of tasks that are negative habits and decrease the friction of things that I want to do.
Ah, you want to hear more? Well, I plan to talk about the role of “friction” in managing my motivation in an upcoming post.
See you then. For now, I’d love to hear your thoughts on consistency’s role in habit formation; my email is below, as is a link to reply via the Fediverse.
