Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Final Weekly Review and Overall Project Reflection
My SMART goal: I will shower for 5 minutes everyday for the next 5 weeks.
This week I did pretty well in achieving my SMART goal. The week was about half; with me achieving it 4 times.
Successes and Challenges:
I was successful for half the week. I used my phone to set an alarm so I would turn off the shower at the right time. When I needed to shave I turned the water off. It was still really challenging to shower in 5 minutes. I did go over that a couple of times but overall I did better than last week.
What Feelings did you experience?
I felt pretty good the whole week. Even though I didn't always make my time I still was always under ten minutes at least so it felt good to save water.
What did you learn this week?
I learned that the more you practice a behavior the easier it is to change that behavior into a habit.
What are your plans for next week?
This project is done this week but I will continue with my SMART goal.
Review of entire process:
My SMART goal was: I will shower for 7 minutes everyday for the next 5 weeks. I changed my SMART goal once from 7 minutes to 5 minutes.
The things that helped me to be successful were using an alarm to time myself in the shower so I knew when I had to get out. Also, just knowing I had a goal to keep made me shower faster. It was challenging at first to shower for only 7 minutes but once I got used to it, it just became habit. It's still hard for me to shower for 5 minutes. When I needed to shave I just turned off the water so I wouldn't go over my time limit.
From this project I learned how easy it is to change a behavior if you really try to change it. I learned that I used to take showers that were way too long and I save gallons of water just by showering for a shorter amount of time. Behavior changes have to be worked on; they aren't something that is going to happen overnight. For a behavior to change, you have to keep trying to change the behavior until it becomes a habit.
The environment benefited from my project because I saved tons of water from being wasted. By conserving water I helped to reduce water pollution. I also saved energy that is used to heat the water.
I will continue this behavior because it has become natural now for me to shower for only a little while. However, I will probably shower 7 minutes and not 5 minutes. I think it's important that I keep conserving water by lessening my shower time.
For anyone making a lifestyle change, I recommend that they pick something that they really want to change or something they really care about. It's so much easier to make a lifestyle change if you really want to. I would also recommend to keep trying if it doesn't work at first because it's very likely that the change will not happen right away.
Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5 hosted by Amy@Amy in the Rain
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I think you're right that one should pick something they really want to change or it'll be even harder to stick with. Overall, I think you did a great job with your goal. Even if you didn't always meet it, you were still conserving water by trying.
ReplyDeleteI am really impressed with your 5 minute showers, I would say on average my showers are about 5 minutes and I definitely take guy showers, so this goal is very impressive!
ReplyDeleteHoly buckets---5 minutes?!? That is awesome, I do not think I have taken a 5 minute shower since I was a kid. Nice work. I also really like the idea of turning off the water while shaving, although is these cold winter months I know I would have a hard time doing that. I think your goal was really a good lifestyle change because I know for many of us (including myself) this would be very difficult to do.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with your commitment to your smart goal and I am really impressed with your speed in the shower. I cant imagine taking a shower in 5 minutes! I am impressed because I don't know if I could do what you did because I always like to take my time and relax in the shower. You did a wonderful job!
ReplyDeleteHoly moly, you were able to take 5 minutes showers!? That's awesome! I don't tend to take long showers but 5 minutes would definitely be a little bit of a challenge; at least it would be if I wanted to wash my hair, ha! I would have to agree with you on picking a lifestyle change that you are actually interested in, I know it would have been a lot harder for me to succeed if the whole class had to do the same behavior change!
ReplyDeleteI love this goal!! It is super unique and a good thing for the environment. I can understand why it would be hard to make your goal when you have to shave. Ah what a hassle. Sounds like you adjusted will though. Keep up the good work.
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