Matt D'Avella - I put 27 habits to the ultimate test
The speaker conducted 30-day challenges on 27 different habits, including technology use, nutrition, minimalism, mental health, physical health, productivity, and sleep. Key insights include the importance of designing environments for success, such as making sugar invisible to quit it, and the realization that digital minimalism benefits vary by individual. Practical applications include using a smartwatch instead of a phone to reduce screen time, and tracking calories to understand nutritional needs. The speaker also found that meditation and journaling can aid mental health, while physical challenges like powerlifting and yoga improve physical well-being. The experiments highlight the importance of self-awareness and intentional living, suggesting that not all habits suit everyone, but experimenting can lead to personal growth and understanding.
Key Points:
- Design environments for success, such as making sugar invisible to quit it.
- Use a smartwatch instead of a phone to reduce screen time and distractions.
- Track calories to understand nutritional needs and adjust diet accordingly.
- Meditation and journaling can aid mental health and self-awareness.
- Physical challenges like powerlifting and yoga improve physical well-being.
Details:
1. 🔍 Exploring Technology Habits
- Conducted 30-day challenges on 27 habits including cold showers, Bullet journaling, quitting sugar, and waking up at 5:00 a.m.
- Organized challenges into categories: technology, nutrition, minimalism, mental health, physical health, productivity, and sleep.
- Experimented with technology habits by using a flip phone for 30 days.
- Using a flip phone reduced phone usage significantly but introduced high inconvenience.
- Texting on a flip phone was tedious, leading to minimal communication (e.g., replying with 'K').
- GPS functionality on a flip phone was impractical, forcing a return to printed directions.
- Major downside: stopped capturing memories as the smartphone acted as a camera and journal.
- Trade-off between convenience and happiness was more complex than anticipated.
- Notable benefit of flip phone: satisfying sound when closing it.
2. 📵 Experiments with Digital Minimalism
- Implementing small digital rules such as no screens in bed and limiting email checking to once per day can significantly improve focus and productivity without feeling deprived.
- Reducing streaming services to one day per week encourages finding alternative activities like playing board games, reading, and cooking.
- Digital minimalism impacts individuals differently; while some see improved productivity and focus, others may not find it beneficial due to varying screen-related anxiety and distraction levels.
- Self-awareness is crucial; if digital screen use does not negatively affect your life significantly, digital minimalism might not provide substantial benefits.
3. 📱 Social Media Detox
- The experiment of a social media detox led to a significant increase in subscribers, with 124,000 new subscribers gained in one month, marking the biggest spike in the channel's history.
- The video 'A Day in the Life of a Minimalist' released during this time became the most popular, contributing to the channel's rapid growth.
- The creator realized that constantly checking metrics was not contributing to audience growth, but instead, creating quality content was the key driver.
- The detox process involved eliminating distractions from social media to focus on producing higher-quality content, which in turn attracted more subscribers.
- Personal reflections on the detox revealed a clearer understanding of audience engagement and content strategy.
4. ⌚ Smartwatch vs. Smartphone
- Switching from a smartphone to a smartwatch for 30 days reduced phone addiction significantly, demonstrating a practical method for digital minimalism.
- The smartwatch allowed essential connectivity functions: making calls, sending texts, listening to music and audiobooks, and using maps effectively.
- A challenge was successfully completed using only the smartwatch for navigation, indicating its reliability for basic connectivity needs.
- Eliminating social media scrolling, streaming, and gaming improved presence and reduced mindless screen time, showing potential lifestyle benefits.
- Challenges included limited battery life and navigation issues while driving, suggesting areas for improvement in smartwatch technology.
- The approach is used selectively to achieve a distraction-free day, indicating flexibility in application depending on personal goals.
5. 🚫 Quitting Sugar
- Your environment shapes your habits: To successfully quit sugar, it's essential to design your environment for success by making sugar invisible, as willpower alone isn't enough.
- Energy levels stabilize: Removing sugar from the diet leads to more stable energy levels throughout the day, eliminating the mid-afternoon slump and sudden cravings.
- Understand the root cause of bad habits: Quitting sugar revealed that cravings were responses to stress, lack of sleep, and boredom, not just taste. Addressing these root causes is crucial for breaking habits.
- Implement stress management techniques: Incorporate activities like meditation, exercise, and deep breathing to handle stress, which can reduce sugar cravings.
- Prioritize sleep improvement: Establish a regular sleep schedule and create a restful environment to tackle lack of sleep, a common trigger for sugar cravings.
- Engage in fulfilling activities: Combat boredom by finding hobbies or engaging in productive tasks, which can help reduce the urge to consume sugar.
6. 🍽️ Calorie Counting Insights
- The speaker tracked every single calorie consumed over 30 days using MyFitnessPal, highlighting the importance of detailed calorie and macronutrient tracking for nutritional awareness.
- A single spoon of peanut butter contains 95 calories, and an oversized ice cream sandwich contains 1,200 calories, half of the daily intake, emphasizing the need to be mindful about portion sizes.
- Through tracking, the speaker discovered their baseline caloric intake necessary to maintain weight based on their activity level, which is crucial for personalizing dietary plans.
- With the help of a nutrition coach, the speaker found they were undereating protein and overconsuming fats, prompting a shift towards more balanced macronutrient distribution.
- Tracking meals was time-consuming but worthwhile, suggesting that even a brief period of detailed tracking can significantly enhance one's understanding of their nutritional habits.
7. ☕ Quitting Caffeine
- The first 48 hours after quitting caffeine presented significant challenges, including severe headaches, brain fog, and an overwhelming urge to nap, leading to a dramatic drop in productivity.
- Physical adjustment occurred after the first week, but the absence of the coffee-drinking ritual and its associated joy was keenly felt.
- After 30 days without caffeine, there were no noticeable improvements in sleep quality, anxiety levels, or energy, suggesting these aspects were unaffected by caffeine consumption.
- Upon resuming coffee consumption after 30 days, there was a renewed enjoyment, indicating that the initial cravings and appreciation for coffee's effects persisted.
8. ⏰ Intermittent Fasting Experience
- Two primary fasting protocols were explored: 16-hour and 18-hour fasts, allowing for personal experimentation with fasting durations.
- Intermittent fasting aids in weight loss by reducing overall calorie intake, as it decreases meal frequency and snacking, rather than by increasing metabolism.
- Restricting eating windows to six or eight hours daily led to fewer meals and improved portion control, contributing to weight management.
- A personal experiment showed a 5 lb weight loss over one month, highlighting the effectiveness of intermittent fasting in personal weight management.
- Skipping breakfast resulted in improved energy levels and focus, which enhanced morning productivity, showcasing an additional benefit of intermittent fasting.
9. 👪 Minimalism with Family
- The speaker has been practicing minimalism for over 13 years, focusing on understanding personal limits of 'enough' through various experiments.
- Experiments include counting possessions, challenging others to adopt minimalism, and adapting minimalism as a parent, offering unique insights.
- Using Squarespace for 7 years as a tool to simplify website creation illustrates the application of minimalism principles, emphasizing ease and efficiency.
- The speaker highlights the importance of supporting partnerships through provided links, suggesting a strategic approach to leveraging minimalism in professional settings.
10. 🧸 Minimalism with Kids
- The minimalism experiment focused on four categories: closet, digital clutter, beauty products, and cooking condiments.
- In the closet category, 99% of the wardrobe was packed away, leaving only 33 items, yet this change did not result in any perceived benefit.
- Digital clutter was addressed, including over 10,000 unread emails and a chaotic desktop, which were organized, leading to a positive change though unacknowledged.
- Beauty products were consolidated into one bag, retaining only essential items, though some non-essentials like glitter eyeshadow were kept.
- In cooking condiments, the participant resisted change, and no minimalism conversion occurred by the end of the week.
- The experiment underscored the importance of respect and compromise in relationships rather than both partners adopting minimalism.
11. 🧘 Mental Health and Meditation
11.1. Practicing Minimalism with Kids
11.2. Integrating Minimalism into Mental Health Practices
12. 📊 Tracking Mood and Breathwork
- Committing to a full hour of meditation daily for 30 days proved overwhelming, emphasizing the importance of starting with a manageable duration for beginners, such as 10 minutes per day, to build a sustainable habit similar to training gradually for a marathon.
- Guided meditations are particularly beneficial for maintaining focus and engagement, offering structure that aids in staying present, which is crucial for successful meditation practice.
- Despite initial enthusiasm, sustaining the meditation habit was challenging amidst daily life demands, suggesting the necessity of integrating mindfulness practices flexibly into one's routine to accommodate real-life situations.
- The experience underscores the importance of setting realistic goals and adapting meditation practices to individual lifestyles to ensure long-term adherence and benefits.
13. 📝 Journaling and Cold Showers
- Self-perception is often inaccurate due to daily emotional fluctuations, leading to misconceptions about long-term happiness.
- Engaging in deep, meaningful work increases flow and positive feelings, but overworking (more than 10 hours) results in burnout.
- A year-long tracking experiment recorded 69 Amazing Days, 169 good days, 98 fine days, 25 bad days, and 4 awful days, indicating an overall positive year with more good days than bad.
- Quality time with loved ones and maintaining work-life balance is crucial for happiness, rather than focusing solely on major achievements.
- Breath work is intense but provides stress reduction and emotional release, although it is challenging to sustain outside of structured retreats.
14. 🏋️ Physical Health Experiments
- Journaling daily for 30 days initially felt like a chore, but became crucial during a period of intense anxiety, helping to process thoughts and emotions.
- The practice of journaling is repeatedly credited by successful individuals as having a significant positive impact on happiness and clarity.
- Journaling can uncover patterns, struggles, and progress over time, offering insights that might otherwise be missed.
- Having a place to journal, even if not daily, is invaluable for gaining clarity during difficult times.
15. 🧘 Yoga and Walking Challenges
- The traditional R.I.C.E. method for recovery is under reconsideration, indicating a shift in understanding cold exposure benefits.
- Julian Smith's book 'The Flinch' advocates for embracing discomfort to foster personal growth, using cold showers as a tool to build resilience against hesitation.
- Regular exposure to discomfort can retrain the mind to face challenges head-on, rather than avoiding them.
- An actionable challenge suggests trying cold showers to confront and overcome instinctive fear or hesitation.
- A humorous observation notes a cold shower at 61°F feels unexpectedly warm, raising questions about perceived discomfort limits.
- Physical activity, including walking, is crucial for health; however, the efficacy of different fitness practices varies.
16. 🏋️♀️ Strength and Mobility
- A powerlifting competition after 100 days of training was a significant motivational factor for improving performance.
- The greatest strength gains were achieved by focusing on technique, following a structured program with progressive overload, and receiving guidance from a world-class strength coach.
- Training in a serious environment consistently pushed personal limits, enhancing capabilities beyond initial beliefs.
- Despite the benefits, powerlifting was physically and mentally taxing, indicating it may not be a sustainable long-term pursuit.
- The experience improved core lifts like squats, bench press, and deadlifts, enhancing technique and knowledge without needing to max out every session.
17. 🚶 Walking and Mobility
17.1. Yoga Insights
17.2. Walking 10,000 Steps Challenge
18. ⏲️ Timing Productivity
18.1. Mobility Practice and its Limitations
18.2. Principles of Productivity
18.3. Experiments in Productivity Enhancement
19. ⏰ Early Rising Challenges
- Research indicates that obtaining less than 7 hours of sleep damages health.
- The first week of waking up early felt like experiencing jet lag daily, emphasizing the importance of adequate sleep.
- Realization occurred that waking up early doesn't inherently enhance productivity if it results in sleep deprivation.
- Personal experience demonstrated that lack of sleep led to decreased creativity and overall performance.
- Transitioning to early rising without sufficient sleep led to a significant drop in both physical and mental energy, reinforcing the need for a balanced sleep schedule.
20. 🗒️ Bullet Journaling
- The speaker, after months of low productivity, experimented with various productivity apps and found Toggle to be an effective tool for time tracking.
- Time tracking results revealed that the speaker was only working 20 hours per week, significantly less than anticipated.
- This realization prompted a reevaluation of the speaker's work-life balance, highlighting the discrepancy between perceived and actual productivity.
- As a result, the speaker emphasized the importance of balancing work and personal responsibilities, especially as a parent and business owner.
- Bullet journaling was part of the productivity strategy, providing a structured way to organize tasks and track progress.
- The speaker's experience underscores the value of using productivity tools to gain insights into work habits and improve overall efficiency.
21. 🔗 Habit Stacking
- Bullet journaling requires intentionality and mindfulness by writing tasks by hand, unlike digital to-do lists.
- The setup of bullet journaling is time-consuming and can feel like a chore due to its rigid structure.
- Despite not sticking with bullet journaling as a whole, elements like habit tracking, mood checks, and idea dumps were valuable.
- These elements provided a useful self-reflection tool without slowing down productivity.
- If a digital productivity system is working effectively, switching to a physical bullet journal may not be necessary.
- Integrating habit stacking with bullet journaling can enhance productivity by combining the mindfulness of bullet journaling with the efficiency of digital tools.
- Habit stacking allows for the creation of new routines by linking new habits to existing ones, making it easier to maintain consistency.
22. 🛌 Sleep Experiments
- Implemented habit stacking by combining cardio, drinking water, and listening to audiobooks, leveraging existing routines to increase adherence.
- Used the 'two-day rule' to maintain consistency, which allows for a missed day but prevents two missed days in a row to sustain momentum.
- Achieved 358 minutes of cardio and 27 hours of audiobook listening in one month through small, consistent efforts.
- Drank 60 ounces of water daily, totaling nearly 2,000 ounces in a month, emphasizing the cumulative impact of daily habits.
- Recognized sleep as foundational for enhancing focus, energy, and health, with experiments revealing its critical role in daily performance.
23. 🌙 Lucid Dreaming
- Changing sleep routines for a week showed immediate downsides in energy levels and sleep quality, highlighting the sensitivity of sleep patterns.
- According to Matthew Walker, sleep cycles are primarily influenced by genetics rather than self-discipline, emphasizing the need to align schedules with natural circadian rhythms.
- Forcing a rigid wake-up time that doesn't align with one's biological clock can lead to exhaustion and decreased productivity, stressing the importance of personalized sleep schedules.
- The experiment revealed the difficulty in altering ingrained sleep habits, as neither participant adapted to the other's routine, underscoring the challenge of changing established sleep patterns.
24. 🍼 Parenting and Sleep
- A 30-day experiment on lucid dreaming resulted in a few successful instances, demonstrating potential but not life-changing benefits.
- The correlation between effort and lucid dream frequency is unclear, implying luck may play a significant role.
- Participants are encouraged to try lucid dreaming, suggesting potential enjoyment or personal insights, despite no major productivity gains.
25. 🔑 Key Takeaways and Life Lessons
- The speaker and their spouse experienced significant sleep deprivation when their newborn son woke up every hour until he was 8 months old.
- Tracking sleep patterns during this period highlighted the severity of the sleep challenges faced.
- The experience was emotionally taxing, leading to depression and PTSD for the speaker and their spouse respectively.
- A notable improvement occurred once their son began sleeping through the night, significantly enhancing their appreciation for a full night's rest.