the duolingofication of habits
For this year, I've decided that I'm going to draw at least one sketch per day. The goal is to build a habit and draw more consistently. Last year, I would sometimes go days or even weeks between drawing practice.
So far, it's going well - my sketchbooks are filling up nicely, at a steady pace. One page per day. Not even one missed day so far.
However, I've also noticed another thing. Ever since I started this challenge in January, I've almost exclusively only done the one drawing per day. Last year, I would sometimes have really productive days where I spent half the day drawing. Not anymore. And because I'm doing my daily drawings after work, I'm often pretty tired and don't put in as much effort as I want to. I've achieved consistency, but at the cost of intensity, it seems. And I'm not sure if I like that. It reminds me of how people make sure to keep their Duolingo streak, but do so by completing exactly one 2-minute lesson per day without actually learning anything. It's like declaring that you want to "do more exercise" and then proceeding to only do one push-up per day. That's not the point, right? But if all that you care about is the habit itself, then it technically counts. I think this is an easy trap to fall into.
I want to keep the consistency, but also slowly up the intensity. So for now, I'm adding a new rule: Do the daily drawing, but also at least one additional drawing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Maybe this goal will "duolingofy" itself eventually too. That's when I know I have to move on to the next step...