Published on October 18, 2024 9:47 PM GMT
I came up with a technique that I have derived much benefit from; what kids call a "lifehack" these days. I have done this for many months, found it extremely useful and the usefulness has been rising fairly steadily as I got better at it. All the friends I could get to try it gave very good feedback as well, so I hope it will be valuable to many of you too.
I bet that most or all of you know the effect where you "just do better" on individual special days such as birthdays. It is just easier to be on your best behavior for that one day. I find, and think you will agree, that this natural effect is even more pronounced for groups living together than it already is for individuals - in a family or shared apartment, the birthday of one of the inhabitants is usually one of the most harmonious days.
If, as on most days, no such event is obvious, I just dedicate the day (daydicate) anyway, with a name or motto, basically a headline to this one day's task list. I always have a to-do list for each day. This adds a fitting headline to the list, and is an excellent frame in which I promote or expand tasks that fit the theme of the day, and reduce or postpone ones that don't. "Recovery Day", "Day of Updates", "Orderly Thursday" - whatever seems suitable as an emotional and behavioral carrier wave for just that one day in particular. I try to pick it playfully, wisely and lovingly, and no earlier than the evening before. Diversity is important: three "Writing Day"s one after the other wouldn't be playful and special anymore. I do re-use some, such as "Sunday Fun Day", but not every week.
I have done this many times, usually just for myself, but it works for a group. My anecdata looks like the decisive ingredient is a "sense of officialness" of this Daydication: that it is openly announced. I don't exactly hold a speech at breakfast, but I do talk about it, write it down visibly, explicitly invite others to join this game I'm playing that day.
I also do less explicit things like pick a fitting song to repeatedly listen to during the day. And I dedicate small concrete things accordingly: "these are the socks that I'm wearing for Easy Productive Day." - "This is the breakfast of Trip Prep Day." I put it into the strokes of my toothbrush in the morning.
This is extraordinarily impactful and extraordinarily enjoyable! Benefits include:
- It makes the day much more harmonious, playful and flowy.It fucking works! Things that fit the daydication get done easily and forcefully.Snap decisions (such as whether or how to procrastinate) become much easier, just pick the option that fits the daydication better.Serendipity and "synchronicities" start to turn up by noon, at the latest.The Daydication becomes a topic of ongoing conversation, something that oscillates and reinforces itself at no additional cost in effort.It makes the day much more memorable. Scroll past it on your calendar even a year later and I promise a flood of memories will come.
There is a chance this works for me and my friends only, but you can find out in a day whether you too can reap benefits from this.
Credit: this is very loosely derived from the "Watchword" technique of the Moravian Church.
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