Tuesday, December 08, 2020

Slice of Life Tuesday: Streak

Today makes Day 92 of my eBird checklist streak. That means that I have posted at least one birding checklist per day for more than three months. 

 

I find the streak concept extremely helpful, and apparently I'm not alone. I found loads of articles explaining how effective this tool is to help people make and keep good habits. It's very simple: you do something every day, and keep track of how many days you've gone without missing. As the number gets larger and larger, you are more and more motivated to keep going, so you won't have to reset to zero and start again. There are many apps that have this feature.


Here's to my checklist streak! Long may it last! 

 

Streaks of things we want to do can help outweigh the streaks of things we'd rather not. How many days in a row have I had my temperature taken, arriving at work? How many days have I taught in a mask or face shield? How many days have I added the duty of saying multiple times per period, "Put your mask all the way over your nose, please," to the crowd control duties I already had?


I don't know. But I know this is Day 92 of looking at birds.


4 comments:

Erika Victor said...

I love a good streak! It is so compelling. I love your birding streak- it is always fun to see what inspires us. I totally do not want to count my mask streak (and I think we all have the mask reminders on repeat).

arjeha said...

What a great self-motivating tool. May your streak continue.

Stacey said...

I wrote about streaks and using an app called Momentum on TWT years ago. It all started with some inspiration by Jerry Seinfeld. In case you're interested, here's the link to the piece from Seinfeld and streaks.
https://lifehacker.com/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-secret-281626

Fran Haley said...

I find the idea of a daily streak of looking at birds so compelling, Ruth - and uplifting,mboth educational and giving wings to the soul...