The Case for Doing the Bare Minimum
When I’m feeling guilty or restless about not being productive, my absolute favorite thing to do is, of course, something pseudo-productive: something that makes me feel like I’m getting things done, without actually having to do them. This can include creating unrealistically ambitious to-do lists or goals for the entire month ahead, adding groceries to my Amazon shopping cart (but not actually buying them, just preparing the cart), watching YouTube videos of other people cleaning, saving TikToks of people’s efficient morning routines, or most recently, listening to podcasts on self-improvement.
Unfortunately, almost all of the advice that I’ve come across on kicking bad habits, finally sticking to goals, or boosting productivity has involved adding or incorporating something new into my routine. Eat breakfast everyday so you have more energy! Set out your clothes the night before to save yourself time in the morning! My issue is that I can’t even bring myself to do these basic things that are apparently supposed to help me accomplish every other future goal I have. That’s why when I heard Christine Carter’s TED Talk, I was shocked that I might actually be able to follow her approach.
Carter suggests that the key to actually accomplishing things is stripping your expectations to the bare minimum. Since the amount of motivation a person needs to complete a task or reach a goal largely correlates to how ambitious the task is, and motivation inevitably dwindles, the best strategy is to shrink your goals to be as small as possible so you have the highest chance of achieving them. In my experience, when I’m feeling unmotivated to go to the gym for an hour, for example, I am much more likely to skip it than I am to go thinking it will be very mediocre and not worth it. But if I make mediocrity my goal, then the thought of going to the gym becomes more appealing because I know I can succeed at that.
This is what Carter’s approach is all about– setting goals that are as unimpressive as possible without being nothing. In her words, “the goal is repetition, not high achievement.” Repeated mediocrity is better than doing nothing because it starts to form the habit of doing something at all. After you form the habit it’s your choice how much more ambitious you want to get, as long as you still only require the bare minimum from yourself. Cheers to that, Ms. Carter. Here are some of her recommendations for mediocre goals, as well as some of my own:
If you’re trying to run more: run for just one minute everyday. You can do more if you want, but only hold yourself accountable for one minute, and then you’re done.
If you’re trying to be healthier: eat one piece of lettuce on your sandwich everyday.
If you’re trying to get more sleep: go to bed (or wake up) 5 minutes earlier than usual. It could be the difference between 2:55am and 3am.
If you’re trying to start an assignment: do one minute’s worth of work, and then break, and repeat.
If your goal is to read more: read one sentence everyday.
In 2021, we could all use a little stability. People, places, and life will let you down, but if you stick to these kinds of goals, at least you know you can count on yourself to be consistent.
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