The Good Patrons of 750 Words

4 cups

For years and years, I’ve used 750words.com as a digital form of “Morning Pages” to clear my head, flesh out my thoughts, vent and just type. It’s not really writing and it’s meant to be journaling in the “Artist’s Way” prescription: stream-of-consciousness, moving of the fingers, not really WRITING. And I have loved doing it. I use it as a warm up to real writing sometimes but it is also a sign of a commitment to writing and a commitment to making time for my own thoughts.

You can also schedule time off, which I had to do back in 2016 when I went on a trip to the Grand Canyon. But I used this sparingly and only when I was truly off-line. Sometime over the pandemic though, I started to feel burdened by having this assignment on weekends and I decided that a tool is meant to be used the way you wanna use it. So I started excusing myself on the weekends, only pasting in dummy text to maintain my streak. This way, I knew my commitment was there, the streak and my own specific rules about the streak were being followed. But yesterday I messed it up and I’ve decided that a streak that is not-really-a-streak is a crutch I don’t need right now. 2586 days in a row (sorta). That’s just a skootch over 7 years of typing every day, plus a little cheating.

I’ve contemplated controlled failure earlier and decided against it, but I think it’s fitting now. Streak over. I can always decide to get back on it if I commit to it, or even my old “weekends off” streak. But I don’t need the badge or the streak to maintain the habit.
The website shows you how long a streak you have and for years I’ve maintained a streak. You can also schedule time off, which I had to do back in 2016 when I went on a trip to the Grand Canyon. But I used this sparingly and only when I was truly off-line. Sometime over the pandemic though, I started to feel burdened by having this assignment on weekends and I decided that a tool is meant to be used the way you wanna use it. So I started excusing myself on the weekends, only pasting in dummy text to maintain my streak. This way, I knew my commitment was there, the streak and my own specific rules about the streak were being followed. But yesterday I fucked it up and I’ve decided that a streak that is not-really-a-streak is a crutch I don’t need right now. 2586 days in a row (sorta). That’s just a skootch over 7 years of typing every day, plus a little cheating.

I’ve contemplated controlled failure earlier and decided against it, but I think it’s fitting now. Streak over. I can always decide to get back on it if I commit to it, or even my old “weekends off” streak. But I don’t need the badge or the streak to maintain the habit.