Superhuman Mode
This went out yesterday as issue 17 of The Angelo Report, a weekly newsletter published every Sunday afternoon.
About a month ago, I said this about my Apple Watch:
A wrist computer does something very different. As an extension of your phone, it bullies your attention with literal taps on the wrist. As a data-gathering device, it wants you to be concerned that you're not getting enough steps or sleep or stand hours. It wants you to substitute paying attention to how you feel with numbers and graphs that tell you how you should be feeling.
It was one of the reasons I switched back to wearing a good ol' analogue watch. And yet, I'm going to go all-in on tracking a pile of things and launching myself head-first into starting (or re-starting) a bunch of habits for thirty days (i.e., November).
I'm calling it Superhuman Mode.
I've mentioned before that I'm generally not feeling especially great. I'm dealing with some pain, my sleep has been pretty spotty, I feel anxious more often than not, and I'm regulating my mood with things that aren't great for me. I don't really have any hobbies anymore.
I didn't used to feel like this, and I want to give myself a solid kick to get back to it. In my experience —and I'm speaking purely for me, so this may not work for you— there are two components to this:
- Take definitive action by starting new/stopping old habits; and
- Determine a baseline and track progress of (1.) above.
And so, I've been thinking about a few areas where I can track some progress, some new habits and hobbies I can take up. A few of the things I am going to keep tabs on:
- Sleep hygiene:
- The schedule
- How many hours
- How I feel in the morning
- Macronutrient intake
- No sugary treats (I am a candy fiend)
- Limited alcohol (I don't drink much, but am curious)
- Daily meditation
- Daily steps
- Resistance training twice a week
- Cardio training three times a week
- Flossing daily (I know, I know)
- Practicing guitar daily
- Journaling daily
- Reading daily
- One photo a day (ideally with my camera, not my phone)
- Spending some time every day on the business
Let me be clear: this is not sustainable. I can do it for a few weeks, I think, but in the long term, this is too time-consuming (and life-restricting) to be healthy. Even at just 30 days, it will take a superhuman level of discipline and focus (hence Superhuman Mode).
I am sure I will slip up and fail a couple of times, too, and that's fine. That's human, which is what I am. Life gets in the way, because I am not a hermit living alone with full control of my schedule. This is what irritates me about most productivity advice — it fails to recognize that there are huge external demands on your time, attention, and energy. Going Superhuman Mode will, in some circumstances, require understanding and support from the people closest to me (time commitments, diet, &cet.) and I also recognize that sometimes, that understanding and support can waver (because hey, they're also humans).
I'll post updates as I go. I'm not sure if I'll track this stuff publicly, but if I do, I'll share links.
Around The Web
- Parmesan cheese is literally MSG for white people .
- Anne-Helen Pederson's article on prepping for a colonoscopy is equal parts hilarious and sobering. I should schedule one.
Thought Of The Week
A few weeks ago during a service review at the day job, I was presenting the metrics for the mobile platform team and closed by blurting out:
“All's well that trends well.”
If I think about it, that's kinda what got me thinking about Superhuman Mode. It's also a reminder that we should focus on progress, not discrete events. There's currently a meme going on Instagram where someone will e.g. spill a couple of drops of water on themselves while drinking, and then process to pour the entire glass all over themselves, to illustrate this (I don't know where it originated, but in true Instagram fashion, it's been copied by a legion of wannabe influencers, so... no link).
Anyways: forgive the one-off failures, and focus on the rolling average.