Matt Chat — Confessions of an addicted consumer: Update 2
In my last sustainability update, nearly 4 months back, I spoke about the power of making small changes to add up to a bigger aggregate impact… I listed out my successes and suggested some quick wins that you yourself might like to employ. But I’ll be honest with you, I’ve stalled, in true consultant style I have well and truly picked the low hanging fruit dry and coupled with that, COVID restrictions are being lifted and life is returning back to normal. This means making conscious buying decisions hard and so I’m procrastinating hard on making any further changes. I have managed to order an electric car, but that is about the crux of my successes and let’s face it, it’s still a luxury consumption. But now what? I’ve apparently hit an impasse to my target net zero life.
I read recently that procrastination in high achieving people, is less about laziness and more about an acute fear of failure. This resonated with my deeply and has been stuck in my head ever since, I so often go to start a task and then freeze, my head now a mire of fog and confusion which sees me switch to an alternative, easier (and most often lower priority) task. This is another prime example of that.
The author’s advice was to employ a 5-minute rule, set yourself a timer and tell yourself that you only need to commit a mere 5 minutes to the task at hand, and if it’s that bad — once the timer is up, you can stop. Something is better than nothing after all. Yet, if you try this little technique out (as I did) you’ll be curious to find yourself suddenly swept up in the task at hand — be it writing a report, an email or an essay — and dare I say enjoying it? But most importantly willing to carry on past the 5-minute timer and get it done. What a life hack eh?
Now, having just started a new job and doing a masters alongside, my life feels like one continuous report writing, power point creating, strategy studying saga at the moment — so this was gold. Having just started a sustainability and net zero focused role (my passion areas!) in theory getting my head in the game, getting it done and more importantly, as a consultant once again… ‘bringing people with me’ should be easy. Yet I, like pretty much every other person ever, struggle from time to time.
Sustainability as a concept is big, scary and vast. Where on earth do I start? What on earth should I do? Friends and clients alike have similar concerns and worries — and as a group of mostly ethically and morally sound individuals (can’t vouch for everyone, but I’m optimistic) people feel a weight of guilt for their inaction and apathy to the net zero cause (myself included!).
But need we admonish our procrastination? Well, I don’t think so, my theory is that sustainability needs resilience, and resilience relies on self-compassion, so with that in mind, we need to go easy on ourselves — we’re limited in resources, most acutely being time. Do what you can and remember that something is better than nothing, actions are more impactful than words. Ergo, where you can cheat the system slightly, DO IT!
In my last post I listed ideas from changing your energy supplier to changing your debit card, in the pursuit of a less impactful life — both of which need a 5-minute window to complete, give or take (particularly with the handy aid of autofill). But what about the businesses you work for and buy from? You may be appalled at the amount of international travel your firm (used) to do, or the amount of food waste your store generates, or the number of wet wipes your gym uses. Applying the earlier 5 minute rule, overcoming the initial negative mind chatter of ‘nope, can’t do it’ and giving just 5 minutes of your energy to try and make a difference might see you creating a competition for your work team on who can use the least plastic in a week, or send your gym a link to bamboo wipes as an alternative product; or even speaking to your store manager about a local food bank or homeless shelter they could partner up with.
These might seem innocuous and fairly low impact tasks, but lest we forget the psyche of the human brain — that 5 minute task will most likely sweep you up and before you know it, you’ll be building and growing on these buds of sustainability inspo — encouraging friends and family members to do the same and making a much bigger impact. You’ll also get a hit from that old friend serotonin, because nothing makes you feel better than doing something selfless and from the heart.
So, in summary, much like applying the 5-minute rule for tackling those emails, essays or laundry piles you’ve got mounting up; you can also apply the theory to hacking your life and become ever so slightly more sustainable in the process, without having to carve huge amounts of time out of your already busy life. Plus, imagine if we all had this attitude? What a world that would be. Go on try 5 minutes out and lets see what we can all achieve!
