What To Do When You Break a Habit Streak
/When I logged in to 750words.com today, my heart sank.
I had yet to realize that the day before I broke my streak of writing everyday.
I had wrote 750 words for 5 days in a row and I love watching the blank boxes for each day of the month fill up with "X"s.
But for several reasons, yesterday did not include writing time. At least not enough for me to fulfill this daily goal I have.
Habit tracking is one of the most effect ways to maintain habits you're trying to put on autopilot, which is one of the reasons I love this website for tracking my writing practice. I've been doing it long enough to know that I will inevitably fall off and break streaks. Though that can activate my old habit of negative self-talk, I've learned to actually use it as a part of my perfectionism recovery process.
So here's what I'm doing to not fall into the pit of self shame and instead let this lapse fuel my progress forward:
Acknowledging and celebrating the streak I had leading up to the lapse.
Even though I missed yesterday, before that I had written 750 words for 5 days in a row! Though I’ve used this website on and off for years, I decided that when I committed to my 2022 Writing Challenge I’d use this website as a part of my daily process. I was able to maintain that ideal process for 5 days straight and that's an awesome thing.
⭐Lapsing doesn't negate the progress that you made before, it actually informs you of the ways in which you can improve the process.
Considering how I spent my time yesterday and what NOT doing this practice make space for.
There's only so much time in the day and some days we just don't have time for all the things that we want to do in our ideal schedule. Though I didn't maintain this daily practice, I let myself sleep in for way longer than normal. After such a stressful day before, I needed it. I also met with a dear friend who I haven't seen since before the pandemic for a walk in the woods. We took our time, explored, talked, and laughed and I wouldn't have traded that for maintaining this streak. With these details in mind, I feel way more at peace with the lapse in my streak because sleep and quality friend time are more important for me than being able to say I kept my streak for 6 days in a row.
⭐Reminding yourself what's really important is a great way to let go of what isn't.
Asking myself, "What did I learn?" Whenever you break a habit, it's a great chance to gain more information about how you can set yourself up better the next time. I usually write first thing in the morning, within an hour of waking up. This particular morning, since I slept in, I didn't have much time between when I woke and when I needed to meet my friend. Then, by the time I did sit down to do some work, I was already in the afternoon energy slump. The next time my typical morning routine gets interrupted, I now know I need to set aside time in the early afternoon to make up for it. Or, better yet, do what I'm going to suggest in point number 4.
⭐All experiences have something to teach us as long as we take the time to learn from them.
Give myself a free pass! Of course I was thrown off after the craziness of the day before. Also, when it comes down to it, who cares?! My actual commitment is to write on my blog every day, a streak I have maintained. So you might say that I didn’t break the streak that really matters.
⭐So allowing for some grace actually helps you to get back on the horse (or off the wagon or whatever other metaphor you want to use).
I'd love to know:
What kinds of daily habits are you trying to maintain?
How do you offer yourself some grace when you fall short or a day/week/month?
