Why You Should Schedule Productivity Cheat Days
Self-improvement is not a temporary thing, but a way of living. It’s not some medicine you take only until the sickness goes away and you can return to your, unchanged, usual ways. Self-improvement is all about your usual ways.
Therefore, once you’ve started, it’s always there. In the background of everything you do.
The way I wash, how I dress, what I eat, and when. The music I listen to, the social apps I ignore, the distractions I constantly eliminate — all these changes in my life are a direct result from my decision to try to maximize my output-per-hour ratio.
And every shower I take, every piece of food I (don’t) consume, is a subtle reminder of that.
That makes me proud.
But, sometimes, I can’t help it. I need to break free.
Making life easy
“Fool!” you say. “You’re relying on willpower, and that’s stupid.”
“The fact that I get the impulse to escape, indicates that these self-improvement behaviors are not yet habits”, you explain. “Your adherence to them behaviors still relies on self-discipline. The behavioral change is incomplete, because you acting like you want to still hinges on you having enough discipline to resist the desire to go AWOL.”