Deconditioning in Learning
Have you ever come back to learning after a break and felt that the old normal is now hard?
Last year I took a week long vacation for Christmas and New Years. Before going on break, I was writing 2 articles every week. After I came back - it took me almost 2 months to write one article! The reason? Deconditioning.
According to the Cambridge dictionary, “deconditioning is the process of losing physical strength through being ill, injured, or not active.” Deconditioning also happens with athletes - something you were able to do easily suddenly seems hard after taking a break. Learning is no different.
In my case with writing, it’s not that I had forgotten how to write but the momentum of writing made it easier to keep writing every week. A week’s break turned to two months in no time. James Clear summed it up pretty well in this Tweet -
Keeping the habit alive is a powerful act. It's easier to stay in shape than to get in shape. It's easier to keep a house clean than to get it clean. Many days it may feel like you are treading water, but maintaining your progress saves your future self a great deal of work.
Whether you’re learning how to cook or picking up a new instrument - deconditioning is more a result of your behaviour that impacts your learning. It is something that has happened to all of us at some point or the other.
Here are 3 ways in which you can stop deconditioning in learning:
1/ Make it bite sized 🫦
Instead of trying to ‘over eat’ at certain points, make your learning bit sized and more frequent.
Example:
Instead of reading that book for 2 hours every weekend, see if you can read for 20 mins everyday instead.
2/ Gamify it! ⚽️
Just like habit building, if you miss a day - try not to miss a second day in a row. Depending on what keeps you motivated - you can either pick a task you don’t like for when you miss a day or pick a reward if you finish what you planned.
Example:
While attempting the 30 day Atomic Writing Challenge last year, I’d committed to running a 10k incase I missed a single day of writing!
3/ Do less but get it done ⚖️
If we don’t have the time to do everything as planned, we tend to push it off to a later date. Try to do less instead and focus on getting it done rather than getting it right.
Example:
If I know I don’t have time for my usual 60 mins workout, instead of not working out that day - I can do a short 30 mins workout instead.
Where have you seen deconditioning in action while learning? How did you overcome it? Reply to this - I’d love to hear from you!