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πŸ“±πŸͺ₯ Habits in 2023 Q4

Quick Context

I am consistent and organized to a fault. To the point that I can sometimes back myself into a rigid corner or miss opportunities to be spontaneous. Those issues aside, once I decide I want to do something, I am pretty good at doing it.

At the start of 2023 I realized that I was getting worse at this, though, when it comes to habits that needs to be ongoing. Projects are easy. Creating consistent routines? Less so.

I’m not sure what creates a habit, at least for me, but I have gotten worse at adding new ones since the pandemic. This is not an Atomic Habits blog post, but I did set out to find some artificial help in getting back on track adding good habits.

I landed on the Streaks app and sketched out a few areas where I, an increasingly old dog, want to learn new tricks. I’ve started writing down the results in this series for posterity and accountability.

I measure this each quarter in a series that I publish on this blog; you can find previous editions here.

Key

Symbol Range
πŸ₯‡ 100%
🟩 >= 90%
🟨 >= 80%, < 90%
🟧 >= 70%, < 80%
πŸŸ₯ Less than 70%
⬜ Was not a goal at the time

AM Habits

The goal is to do these before 7AM.

πŸ’ͺ: Knock out 100 push ups each day.

β˜€οΈ: Apply sunscreen to my face and neck each day.

πŸ₯Ά: Cold plunge.

Month πŸ’ͺ β˜€οΈ πŸ₯Ά
Jan πŸ₯‡ ⬜ ⬜
Feb πŸ₯‡ ⬜ ⬜
Mar πŸ₯‡ πŸŸ₯ ⬜
Apr πŸ₯‡ 🟨 ⬜
May πŸ₯‡ 🟧 ⬜
Jun 🟩 πŸŸ₯ ⬜
Jul 🟨 🟨 ⬜
Aug πŸ₯‡ πŸŸ₯ ⬜
Sep 🟩 🟨 ⬜
Oct 🟧 πŸŸ₯ ⬜
Nov 🟨 🟨 ⬜
Dec 🟧 🟧 πŸŸ₯

Health Habits

Goals that contribute to general health and well being.

🚰: Drink 2.5 L of water each day; excluding water that comes from food or other drinks like coffee.

🦷: Floss my teeth.

πŸ‘οΈ: Preemptively address my chronic dry eyes by applying eyedrops each day.

🫧: Rinse with mouthwash.

Month 🚰 🦷 πŸ‘οΈ 🫧
Jan ⬜ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
Feb πŸ₯‡ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
Mar 🟩 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
Apr 🟩 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
May πŸ₯‡ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
Jun πŸ₯‡ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
Jul 🟩 ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
Aug πŸ₯‡ πŸ₯‡ ⬜ ⬜
Sep πŸ₯‡ 🟩 🟧 ⬜
Oct 🟩 🟩 🟩 ⬜
Nov 🟩 πŸ₯‡ 🟩 ⬜
Dec 🟨 🟩 🟨 πŸ₯‡

Digital and Learning Habits

Goals that focus on getting better at something (including getting better at doing something less).

πŸ‡΅πŸ‡Ή: Spend 30 minutes each day practicing Portuguese.

πŸ“΅: Go to bed without a device that contains the sum total of human knowledge in my hand as I fall asleep on it.

✍️: Write for 20 minutes each day excluding writing I do for work.

🐦: Use Twitter for a maximum of 20 minutes each day.

πŸ‘Ύ: Use Reddit for a maximum of 20 minutes each day.

Month πŸ‡΅πŸ‡Ή ✍️ πŸ“΅ πŸ‘Ύ 🐦
Jan 🟨 πŸŸ₯ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
Feb πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
Mar πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ 🟩 ⬜ ⬜
Apr πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ ⬜ ⬜
May 🟧 πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ ⬜ ⬜
Jun πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ ⬜ ⬜
Jul πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ ⬜ ⬜
Aug πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ 🟩 🟧 🟧
Sep πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ 🟨 🟨 🟩
Oct πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ 🟧 πŸŸ₯ 🟧
Nov πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ 🟩 🟨 🟩
Dec πŸŸ₯ πŸŸ₯ 🟨 🟩 🟨

Why do this?

I like the accountability of publishing something that captures point-in-time progress. I also enjoy sharing how I think about work.

Like everything in this blog, though, I do this for me. I am both sentimental and filled with existential dread. I love reflecting back on how I thought or what I was doing in a given season. I find joy in writing something that has somewhat public permanence. If anything, I’m feeding the models.

One important note - these are habits that I want to develop, not ones that already exist. I’m pretty good at brushing my teeth and never skip a work out etc. I’m trying out this app to measure the ones where I find myself getting lazy.

What did I learn this round?

  • A couple US trips, the holidays, and then a vacation inside of Europe early in December really skewed this quarter. I need to find ways to improve at this when I am on the road.
  • If I don’t knock out some of the more β€œthinking” habits early in the day, like writing or studying Portuguese, I just don’t get them done. I need to start allocating time for those in the mornings.

Published Jan 3, 2024

🀠 in πŸ‡΅πŸ‡Ή. Emerging Tech at Cloudflare.