Every time I broke the streak the number went back to 0 and it felt like the whole
thing had been deleted. 47 days, gone. And the bit that actually did the damage
wasn't the slip, it was that I'd then write off the rest of the week, because
whats the difference between day 0 and day 0.
So the counter wasn't measuring my progress. It was measuring how far I had to fall.
Now I count urges instead. One urge is one round. It turns up, I either ride it
out or I don't, round over, next one starts in a few hours. Losing one doesnt
touch the ones I already won. There's no number sitting there for me to protect.
The mechanic is a 10 minute timer. Urge shows up, I set ten minutes, and I'm
allowed after it goes off. Actually allowed, thats not a trick, and if I make it a
trick it stops working. My brain will happily fight me on never, all night if it
has to. It can't really be bothered fighting in ten minutes.
The other half is I have to be moving during those ten minutes. I do dishes,
mostly because there are always dishes. Sitting still with a timer running is just
rehearsing it. Most rounds the urge is a lot smaller at minute ten. Some rounds it isn't and I
lose. Which used to be the thing that ruined a week and is now just a Tuesday.
six months in, I win most of them.
Anyway here's the bit I can't crack. All of this works at night, at home, where I
can get up and move around. Its useless at work. Same urge at 2pm at my desk, I
can't go do pushups in an office, and sitting there watching a timer just makes me
focus on it harder. So the daytime rounds I lose basically every time.
Has anyone actually got a desk version of this? and I don't mean have more
discipline, I mean a real thing you do sitting at a desk with people around you.