The 1% Experiment begins!

What will the 1% look like in February? Plus, a handy printable to help you with your own experiment

Brooke McAlary

Feb 03, 2024

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(This voiceover is an audio version of the newsletter below. As always, it’s unedited. If you like/need to listen to these posts I hope you enjoy it!)

Hello mates,

I hope your weekend has been good to you so far, and that you’re settling into the rhythm of a new year. There’s a real ‘set the tone’ energy to February that I love, so it feels good and proper that this is also when we officially begin our 1% group experiment.

If you’re not sure what the experiment is, this letter explains it all in detail, but at its heart, the 1% experiment asks the question:

What might happen if I commit 1% of my day to making a positive change?

It’s about committing to small, consistent change over time, and having faith that those small, consistent changes (and I do mean really small) will add up, much like compound interest builds upon itself, taking your initial investment and super-charging it.

To do this, we take an area or two of life that we’d like to grow or improve, and then commit to regular one-percent efforts. That might mean:

spending 1% of your day/week on that area of life (1% of a day = 15 minutes OR 1% of a week = 1.5 hours)
increasing a specific practice by 1% a day, growing it by tiny increments until you reach a desired level
giving 1% extra effort in a specific area of life

Some of our focus areas will be easier to quantify than others, but really, this experiment is as much about the commitment to change as it is about minutes and hours.

Below, I’ve included some printable resources for you if you’re looking for some structure. Last year, I kept track of my own one-percents in my daily logbook, but this year, in an effort to be a little more accountable, and to focus my efforts more on one or two areas at a time, I’m going to try using these.

What’s my 1% for this term?

I’ve decided to focus on two one-percents this quarter. The first being joy, because that’s my guiding word of the year and I want to weave it in wherever I can. And second, somewhat surprisingly, is healing.

This second one wasn’t on my list of focus areas at the beginning of the year and is not completely by choice. I found out over the break that I have to have a hysterectomy this month, and I will, by sheer necessity, have to focus on healing for at least six weeks.

It was unexpected news and, obviously, a bit of a bummer. I’ve been processing some fairly hefty emotions over the break — I’ve felt angry and scared and hopeful and angry again — but overwhelmingly, am trying to spend most of my time in gratitude.

Grateful for a good doctor. Grateful I decided to ask the question. Grateful that healthcare is (relatively) accessible and grateful that we can afford the gap fees. Grateful for offers of help. Grateful I have very flexible work hours so I can work ahead for a few weeks and take time off to heal.

Also, and I know this is weird to say, but being forced to embrace healing and rest this early in the year feels kind of exciting too, at least in a rebellious or counter-cultural way. Because my tendency, much like most other people I’d guess, is to start the year with a bang. Set those intentions! Carve out those hours for new habits and a better self! Improve that human condition! And maybe taking a step back and beginning the year with an intention of rest will be uncomfortable enough and challenging enough to start a new way of thinking.

Or, maybe, I’m just trying to find silver linings and I’ll wind up incredibly frustrated. Who knows?

As I outlined in this post, I’ve written a Grab & Go list — a list of one-percents that I can pick and choose from every day — in the hope that it makes it easier to stick to my commitment. They’re not To-Do lists, but rather a tool I’ll use on the days I’m too tired or cranky or overwhelmed to think of anything. Obviously, both lists will have to accommodate my post-op downtime, but the healing list in particular also includes things I’ve been doing and will do over the next couple of weeks that will make life slightly easier when I’m recuperating.

First, that beautiful, slightly vague goal of more joy.

I’ve been reading a lot about joy lately, in preparation for this experiment and the year itself, and have come to the realisation that it is actually kind of tricky to define. I’ve got a post coming on Thursday about the difference between happiness and joy, which has taught me a lot, but I suspect my joy-giving tasks will change quite a bit over the course of the year.

As an interesting side note, I went looking for ways to create more joy, expecting that the suggestions would be mostly personal (do this exercise, read this poem, try this meditation) but so many of the evidence-based suggestions for finding, creating and sharing joy were about other people. Connecting with them, doing something kind for them, sharing an experience with them — these things are a gift to ourselves as much as anyone else. I don’t know what to do with this just yet, but I do know it’s already challenging my assumptions of what it takes to create more joy.

For now though, my list includes tasks like:

Listen to a song on this playlist (kitchen dancing or car singing highly recommended but not compulsory)
Write three things I’m grateful for
Watch a TV show that makes me laugh
Move my body — walk, dance, garden, lift weights, kick the soccer ball around with the kids (obviously this will look different for a while)
Do something nice for someone else
Do something to reduce negative inputs into my life — read less news, opt out of the snarky newsletter, steer conversation away from gossip
Play with our dog, Joey
Text someone to see how they are — it will feel imperfect and half-assed and impersonal, but it’s a lot better than thinking about them and never actually telling them
Give a mate a call
Look at photos from a fun holiday
Go for a walk with a friend
Visit family for afternoon tea
Bake a batch of cookies and share them with the neighbours
Make a gift for someone
Hold eye contact with someone I love for thirty seconds longer than usual
Put down my phone when someone walks into the room

I’ve tried to create a mix of 15-minute tasks and one-percent additions, as well as things that could directly result in joy and tasks that could build the foundation for a more joyful way of living. I’m interested to see how it all feels over the next ten weeks.

Second, healing.

I’ve been cheating a little bit with this one and have spent time doing some of these over the break already. I’m taking the whole ‘go fast to go slow’ mentality that I wrote about in Slow and running with it — working to make life that little bit easier for everyone post-op. I’ve got two more weeks to go, so will spend my one-percents doing things like:

Preparing and freezing meals
Writing meal plans and shopping lists for a few weeks post-surgery
Doing some big garden/house jobs I would otherwise do in late-summer/early-autumn
Writing a list of extra ways for the kids to help out
Taking people up on their offers of help
Working ahead for The Tortoise, getting posts ready for several weeks post-op
Making sure life admin stuff (bills etc) are taken care of.

Then, post-surgery, I’ll be doing things (or not doing things) that allow me to focus on healing and not losing my patience too much:

Drink an extra glass of water
Fibre! Eat it! Add it to things! Love up on my gut microbiome!
Rest. Sleep, nap, snooze.
Add an extra serve of veg to my meal
Find a good TV series to watch.
Ditto with loading my TBR pile with a few good books. (I’ve just ordered Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood & Bone series which I’m excited to read)
Also ditto with playing the Switch (I’ve bought Hogwarts Legacy for this specific purpose)
Drink a cup of herbal tea before coffee
Move — gently and regularly, building up to a walk around the block, ten minute walk, fifteen minute walk etc as is safe.
Have patience and go slowly.

These lists include tasks that have varying levels of effort, time and energy. But knowing that there will be something I can do every day makes the commitment to change feel so much more accessible.

In order to stick somewhat to my hope of making this a more structured experiment than last year, I’ve created a printable tracker for each quarter.

If you plan to focus on one area for your one-percents this quarter, you can use this one:

1% Experiment Printable One

73.7KB ∙ PDF file

Download

If you plan to focus on two areas, this printable has space for both:

1% Experiment Printable Two

78.4KB ∙ PDF file