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Minimum Viable Commitment

In the self-help course, which I am studying, I have been struggling to keep up with the pace of the course. Video content to watch. Worksheets to complete. Journaling to do. Online tests to complete. And lots and lots of thinking to be done.

I thought I might be able to shortcut some of the work because I had done it before. I would be able to keep pace. Apparently not.

I had to revisit some of the work I had done a while back. Especially around strengths and personality tests. I needed to look for common threads. Especially careers that were repeatedly recommended. Topics of interest that would repeatedly come up.

I would kick myself. Beat myself up for not working enough on the course. It doesn’t matter that I have a family, just moved house, very busy at work, president of a toastmasters club, struggling to train in martial arts. If it is important to me, I would make the time.

And then proceed to beat myself up some more.

Then I came across an interesting concept.

Minimum Viable Commitment

In the self help course I am studying, the term ‘Minimum Viable Commitment’ came up. The idea being that you would commit to a minimum amount of time towards your study in the course. It might be one hour a day, 30 minutes a day or even just 10 minutes a day.

In all the struggle I was feeling, what could I commit to?

Because I had so much else going on and feeling so much resistance, I had better keep it small. 10 minutes a day.

Even if it was to just watch a video for 10 minutes or read a worksheet for 10 minutes. At this moment in time, something was better than nothing.

I use my 1 hour walk into work to write. In the short-term, I could trim off the first 10 minutes to do my study. Not the perfect solution but it would do for now.

So I set to open up a video or worksheet for 10 minutes.

Once I got over the resistance of staring the 10 minutes flew by. It turned into 20, 30, 40, 50 then 60 minutes. This was awesome. I was out much more time aside to do the study. But then I was doing it at the expense of my writing time.

Maximum Viable Commitment

This then got me thinking whether I should have a maximum viable commitment. A time limit on how much I could do. A point at which I say enough is enough and I put my pen and paper down. Much like the time limit in an exam.

You may have more to say and do, but you stop.

If this course is important to me, why would I stop?

Because I have a list other equally important things I need to do. And I need to have enough time to do them as well.

I have seen this idea a few times. Especially regarding going to the gym. Everyone thinks they need to go to the gym for a couple of hours.  A different idea is to have a minimum time of maybe 15 mins and a maximum of say 30 mins. If time, energy or enthusiasm is limited, you do 15mins. If you are feeling good and you have the time, you can do up to 30 mins. 

The minimum time is small enough so that the resistance to doing it is low. The minimum time is large enough to be effective.

The maximum time is small enough to keep you focused on the task at hand. The maximum time is large enough so that it is still challenging.

Minimum Effective Dose

Above I mention that the minimum time is large enough to be effective. There is a concept popularised by Tim Ferriss called the Minimum Effective Dose.

The minimum effective dose is defined as the smallest amount required to achieve the desired outcome. Anything over that amount (MED) is wasteful.

If you want to gain a certain amount of muscle in a given timeframe, what is the minimum amount of weight and repetitions required?

If you want to write a book by the end of December, what is the minimum number of words you need to write a day?

If you want to get a black belt in Jiu Jitsu within the next 5 years, what is the minimum number of training sessions you need to do a week?

If you want to get through a self help course, what is the minimum amount each day you need to get through the work?

Define what you want, the outcome. Set a time limit. Then workout the minimum that needs to be done to get you there. That’s your minimum effective dose.

Takeaways

Whatever you want to do in life, you are going to have to commit to it. If you commit to it, you will have to set aside time for it.

To make sure some progress is made, set aside a minimum viable commitment. A minimum amount of time.

If you spend too much time achieving one outcome, it will prevent you from achieving others.

To make sure you can still achieve other outcomes, set a maximum viable commitment. A maximum amount of time.

To achieve an outcome by a set date, there is a minimum effective dose. The minimum amount of effort or energy required to achieve the outcome.

Try and figure out the minimum effect dose for whatever outcome you are working towards. The sooner the deadline, the greater the effort.

Footnotes

Interesting article on minimum effective dose

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/gizmodo.com/4-hour-body-the-principle-of-the-minimum-effective-do-5709902/amp

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