If you are like me, you struggle to get things done that you want to. Increasingly I’ve been setting more aggressive goals but finding, that when the next year rolls around, many of them remain undone. Why is this? The answer is complicated but I have a simple idea that might be able to help: showtime.
What time is it?
In a nutshell, showtime is setting an arbitrary date/time when you will do something. Examples of showtimes from life include school (tests) or sports (games) as kids and work (meetings) as an adult. Although most of these showtimes are set by external forces, we can also harness this idea’s potential for ourselves.
One reason showtimes are so effective is because they require little of you other than showing up. Over time, this habit seems to magically apply a compounding effect on your output. I first noticed the effect of showtime by playing in a band with my wife and father in law. We would have around 2-3 gigs each week in addition to working other jobs. Despite practicing very much, we continued improving as we played hundreds of shows together. In 2015, we played over 100 shows and I noticed a huge leap in our tightness, musicianship, and comfort being on stage. The pressure of having an audience and the repetition of showing up time after time were the two most important ingredients to growth.
Application
So how can we use this idea to get better outcomes? Start by picking something and then schedule a day and time for the showtime. Put it on your calendar and then choose your audience. The audience will be the person(s) going to the show. This makes it more real and puts skin in the game (you don’t want to disappoint them do you?). Lastly, show up regardless of how much you’ve prepared. Then repeat and build a habit.
Not to get too meta but the concept of showtime is the reason why you are even reading this in the first place. It’s the tool I use to make sure I write each week. If it sometimes feels incomplete or imperfect, that’s because it is. But overtime I hope the mysterious effect of showtime will make a difference.
Choice Cuts
🏡 James wrote an essay about applying the design/architecture concepts of one of my favorite books, A Pattern Language, in the world-building Nintendo game Animal Crossing.
🗺 Tonika created the Folded Map Project which looks at pairs of houses/people on Chicago’s North and South sides.
🔮 Yak Collective explores the future of homes in light of the pandemic, remote work and other trends.