Consistency Part 1
I kept racking my brain to think about what other tips and tricks and hacks I could give. There are a few related to writing that crossed my mind, especially for academics. There are a few related to sensitive subjects, especially for fiction writers. But, it struck me that I needed to tell you what happens when you run out of tips and tricks and hacks.
At some point, the tip or the trick or the hack feels like it creates more work. It could also free you temporarily from a constraint, but you can find yourself stuck again, needing another. Sometimes the suggestions lead you to a place where you realize you need a break.
If so, take one!
No, seriously, if you are burned out, take a break. There is no stage where you cannot take a break: a day, a week, a month, a year, enough time to recharge. #NapMinistry #RestIsRevolutionary #RestIsResistance
There is another option: you know enough tips and tricks and hacks. You just need to show up. The real hack is this: consistency.
It is cheesy, but it is true. You don’t need to be consistently great. You just need to be great at being consistent. It is true for any long-term goal.
In what follows, I’m going to borrow from Noom and James Clear’s Atomic Habits to talk about the behavior chain. I think laying it bare will help you figure out where you can intervene to make yourself more consistent. The behavior chain is trigger, thought, behavior, consequence.
Consistency is a habit. One thing habits are not is permanent. They can be hard to break and hard to create, but it is both possible to start and stop doing something different. At each stage of the behavior chain – trigger, thought, behavior, consequence – you can shift your environment to help you create or break patterns of behavior.
Trigger: The trigger is the thing (usually related to the senses) that prompts your automated behavior. If you want to create a habit, you’ll place positive triggers in your environment. For instance, I keep my “writing notebook” with me, at all times. It reminds to write down ideas and to pay attention to my environment. If you want to break a habit, you can get rid of triggers. If your workspace is near a television, you can change your workspace.
Thought: The thought comes after the trigger. Now, you cannot control your thoughts. They come unbidden. But, you can reframe your thinking to either make or break a habit. James Clear is fond of (and I am too) of the be-do-have method of thinking.
Often, we consider habits an outcome of having certain things. If I have a standing desk like Edward Said, I will think deep thoughts, then, I will be an award-winning famous author. It doesn’t work that way. Instead, you can shift your identity or how you see yourself first. Octavia Butler, for instance, kept repeating to herself that she was an award-winning author, which helped her to continue to write, which then allowed her to hone her craft. She was a MacArthur Grant Recipient. The same is true of Kiese Laymon (a current MacArthur Grant recipient and friend. Yes, I am bragging). He identifies himself as a writer. So, he writes. Be (I am a writer/scholar/professor). Do (Write). Have (Standing Desk, Award, etc).
There are, of course, two more steps in the behavior chain. You’ll have to wait until next week.
By the way, I’d love to hear if you tried to disrupt a trigger or a thought this week.