Part 5: 'Completion signaling' — how to make exercise non-negotiable

Research indicates checking a box is a simple but powerful motivational tool.

Image courtesy Nigar Novruzova, Vecteezy.com

Warmup

What do rocks, machine screws and a Google spreadsheet have in common?

Hint: They are tools that help me get my daily workout done. We’ll get to specifically how and why in a moment.

Today’s newsletter is the final installment of five posts about how to make regular physical movement non-negotiable in your day.

By the time January 1 arrives, we’ll be nicely primed to reimagine our limits — and stick to our resolutions — in 2025.

Here’s what we’re covering in this series:

• Pre-programming and Time-blocking (Posted 11/17/24)

• Visual Cues & Accessibility (Posted 11/24/24)

• Data & Tracking (Posted 12/1/24)

• The Double-Up Pledge (Posted 12/9/24)

• Completion signaling (TODAY)

• BONUS: N2L Reader Tips (Posted 12/24/24)

Let’s get it done.

Post

In my shift from a desk-bound office worker into someone who now exercises with unwavering consistency, my digital calendar was a critical transition tool.

Eight years ago, I had no idea how to make exercise non-negotiable. But like many of us, I am ruled by the tasks and meetings inside my digital calendar for work.

So as I first fumbled around trying to get fit, I leaned on what I already knew.

Each day that I completed a workout, I’d click on a little Google calendar square and record that workout or any problems or notes I had.

As I describe in my book NOT TOO LATE, this tactic unwittingly became a critical first step to consistency.

If I didn’t do the workout, I couldn’t write it in the calendar box. If I didn’t write it in the calendar box, the box would be blank. A blank box felt bad, and a full box felt good. So I did the workout. My psyche was that easy to manipulate. (NOT TOO LATE, Chapter 5)

Even though my workouts at the time weren’t strategic or optimized, the point was I was doing something. And the calendar boxes held a record of the fact that I’d completed that something.

Completion signaling

Research from multiple arenas agrees that the act of checking a box or marking a task as “done” is far more than just an administrative tool.

It is a psychologically powerful act because it:

• Highlights progress, which increases engagement and motivation

• Offers positive reinforcement through consistent, small rewards

• Satisfies our innate needs for competence and autonomy

• Gives clear feedback and boosts self-efficacy

• Provides cognitive closure

It’s about the perception of forward movement.

Hitting even minor milestones can boost mood, motivation, and overall engagement in people’s work, according to the authors of “The Progress Principle.” (Source.)

The same principle applies to exercise, I’ve found.

Further, a simple “check” mark creates a pattern of positive reinforcement that can help build habits.

This might be linked to the release of the “feel good” neurotransmitter, dopamine. Dopamine response systems appear to contribute in several ways to habit formation and performance. (Source.)

Rocks, machine screws and spreadsheets

Now, I double down on completion signaling in multiple ways.

1. I keep a weekly spreadsheet that allocates the tasks for each day into 5 buckets that I think of as my “crops.” Each time a task is done, I turn the spreadsheet cell where its written to green — green feels good!

   1. My first bucket or crop is Obstacle Course Training, so that day’s workout always is at the top.

2. When I perform 5 or more sets of an exercise in my home gym, I take an equal number of machine screws and transfer them from one mug to another as I finish a set. Transferring from one mug to the other feels good!

   1. Also, this way I never lose count or feel tempted to skip a set. Leaving a screw behind would feel bad.

3. If I’m doing hill repeats on a run, at the bottom of the hill I’ll stack rocks in a pile each time I compete a segment. A growing pile of rocks feels good!

Note: I always transfer the last screw, or place the final rock into the pile, even though I’m technically finished with the workout. The sense of completion signaling isn’t really, well, complete unless I do.

Cooldown

Your comments and tips for this series have been great. Next week I’ll pull a handful of them together for a bonus version of this series.

Thanks to those of you who’ve upgraded recently to paid membership for this N2L newsletter.

Paid members receive:

• Full access to the newsletter.

• Access to newsletter archives.

• A Not Too Late 2” x 3” velcro patch (choice of 2 designs.)

• Not Too Late “No Excuses — Do It From Anywhere” workout PDF.

• Discount for online fitness training with Grit Coaching.

• New benefits as they become available

Founding members receive:

• All the benefits of a paid member.

plus

• Code for 1 free U.S. Spartan Race (Sprint, Super, Beast or Ultra) - value of $100+.

• Early access to run with the author (me) in a Spartan Race on a Not Too Late team. Venues and dates TBD.

Thanks for reading. And as always, find something you love. Dig in. Stick with it when things get hard.

Wendy