Small Victories 8
One of the great ideas in agile software development is the small victory. We experience it at the micro-level: write a small test, now it passes, victory! We experience it at the macro-level: another two-week sprint is done, we’ve added more value the product, victory!
I’ve been pretty quiet on the blog lately, partly because I’ve been insanely busy, but also because of some health problems. The latest one was a kidney stone. Those of you who have experienced a kidney stone are probably wincing at your monitor right now. Perhaps the worst pain of my life – I thank God I live close to a great hospital that has great painkiller technology and that I have health insurance to pay for most of it.
The doctor said that I could get more kidney stones if I’m not careful. He said the #1 way to avoid this nightmare is to drink water.
And I mean a LOT of water. 10-12 glasses a day minimum.
I don’t know who can drink that much water. I don’t know how to do it. But after my trip to the hospital, I’m very motivated to do whatever I can to prevent it from happening again.
My initial attempts to gulp down 12 glasses a day weren’t working too well. But then yesterday, I found a technique that seems to be working.
Small victories.
Instead of using a big 24oz mug, I now use small paper cups. I haven’t measured their capacity yet, I’m guessing they’re only 6 oz. But by the end of the day I’m drinking more, and it’s because I find it much easier to drink it until it’s empty. And I like the sound an empty paper cup makes when it’s put back on the desk – it’s another kind of applause that I drank yet another cup of water.
So using a small paper cup is more fun, gives me a sense that I’m making progress throughout the day, and more importantly, is helping me achieve my big goal.
If you have a big challenge, don’t just break the problem into small pieces. Break the problem into small victories.
A couple of years ago I went on a doctor assisted diet, and I had to drink a minimum of 12 glasses of water a day, and work up to about 20 glasses a day over a couple of months. One of the ways I did it was to mix my water with Sugar-Free Kool-aid and Crystal Light. They aren't anywhere near as tasty as pop, or the full sugar Kool-aid, but the variety helped. The only downside is the number of visits to the bathroom was crazy.
It's like the reverse of "bite size" candy, you know the stuff that you end up eating four of because they're "bite size". I found I also drink more water when it's in those 6oz or 8oz water bottles (though I tend to just reuse them vs. throwing them away) vs. the big monster ones. Same with tequila... I drink a lot more tequila when it's in little itty bit glasses :)
Glad to hear you're better, that's a pain I wish on no person!
I'm sorry that you had to go through this, and I'm confident you'll be fine from now on. I thank my Argentine roots, I drink Mate every day (several litres) and this not only keeps me awake but it's an excellent way to hydrate oneself. Just an idea! But you gotta like the taste ;) Cheers from Switzerland!
Your paper cup idea is a good one, but there is no need to do all that. Just develop one habit, refill your tank soon after you emtpy it.
Or you could exercise a lot which will make you want to drink that much water. Take a spinning class!
Sorry to hear about your kidney stone. Never had it personally, but I know people who have. Ugh.
Personally, I drink a TON of water. If I have just little cups or bottles, though, it's way harder. I'm just too lazy to get more. I like to get the biggest 1 or 1.5 liter bottles I can find and have them next to me ALL the time. I go through several of those a day that way. We're talking 100+ ounces a day.
What's funny about this whole thing is that a few months ago a friend of mine was trying to drink more water and asked me to build a site to keep track of that. She works with my wife and basically wanted a place that they could compete to be the best water drinker. Of COURSE I used Rails. And of COURSE it became way more complicated and involved - but awesome.
Anyway, it's still a private beta, but since your health is at stake, if you (or anyone on this thread) wants in, just go sign up at zeaLOG.com and I'll let you in. You can join our water drinking competition that is already going or start another one. So that I know it's you, use the word "softies" in your name somewhere. You can change it once you sign in, but that way I can move you to the front of the list.
Thanks for all the responses, everyone - very helpful indeed.
@Aaron H. - Let us know when zeolog.com goes live so we can help tell the world about it.
I think one reason the "less is more" in regards to water works is that with smaller glasses, the water you're drinking is more likely to be colder than a large glass. I drink more water when it's cold (temp of water this is), so this trick definitely works for more too. Hopefully those kidney stones will stay away!