‘Clocking in’ helps develop good habits
Regular social media posts allow friends to supervise progress
A new year, lunar or otherwise, is traditionally a time to ponder some resolutions.
In China, daka — clocking in — has become a fashionable way for people to stick to them.
It involves posting daily updates about your habit-forming process on social media, resulting in regular supervision from online friends as you pursue your goal.
Wang Qimeng, a doctoral student at Tsinghua University, is a daka fan. On Feb 29, 2016, he posted a screenshot on WeChat showing the length of his run that day — 5.01 kilometers.
In the post, he said: “Running toward the Earth’s core Day 1#6400-5=6395. From today, to next Feb 29, also a leap day, my running mileage will reach the length of the radius of the Earth (about 6,400 km).”
His running plan was inspired by a report about a sailor circumnavigating the globe.
“To set a goal, using the data relevant to the Earth, is interesting and fulfilling to me,” he said.
If the 20-year-old averages about 5 km a day, he may reach his running target in four years.
“The countdown clock feels like a step-by-step approach to the aim,” Wang said.
He began by updating his running record on WeChat Moments, a kind of bulletin board visible to friends, each day, complete with the distance left to cover, so that his friends could keep him on track.
Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said daka acts like a virtual attendance system, with the same supervisory function and constraints as clocking in at work. But it also has social attributes because your online friends are the ones doing the supervising each day.
Under pressure
Wang’s running resolution won many “likes” from his friends on WeChat, but he soon felt under pressure to carry on.
“I was motivated at first,” he said. “But after I finished the first 1,000 km, I started thinking of giving up because it was far away from my aim. However, my pride pushed me to keep running and posting updates.
“Boasting among friends is a good way to supervise you while forming a habit. It’s a kind of supervision from others. Even though I was tired or lazy to move sometimes, I finished my daily task and clocked in.”
Beijing resident Wu Yanbo, 27, also thinks outside pressure is effective when building a habit.
She has been using a mobile application to learn English for about three months.
The app encourages its users to clock in every day with a credit system that rewards them for completearned ing their daily assignment.
Wu paid about 500 yuan ($74) to use the app for half a year. Each day, she has to punch in and work on the set assignment for at least 30 minutes.
“It would be stressful for a few days without punching in, because the system will keep reminding you,” she said.
Wu remembers once getting a reminder at an airport after not clocking in for days. The pressure led her to open the app and practice until she boarded the plane.
“Another time, I was practicing on the app before bed, but I was so sleepy that I fell asleep after finishing 28 minutes of study, so it didn’t count,” she said.
Habit formed
Wu said she was influenced by others after seeing them use the app to learn English.
“Chinese people have a more open mind now, and people want to communicate with the outside world,” she said.
“Many are using the app, including retirees and parents who study with their children.”
Wang, the runner, also influenced others to clock in. Five of his friends embraced daka after seeing his running updates, using the method to encourage themselves to swim, run, play tennis or cultivate other habits.
“We will see each other’s updates on WeChat, as a form of supervision,” he said. “When I calculated my mileage incorrectly, they would remind me.
“The pressure is active because it wins you encouragement and support from others. It’s not passive like the punishment for failing to finish something. The active pressure makes you persist longer.”
Blood donor Sun Mengyuan has made the switch to a more private way of recording her efforts to realize her goals. The 23-year-old now has a collection of red cards recording her blood donations — which totaled 9,800 cubic centimeters by last month.
Sun made her first blood donation at age 18 out of curiosity. When she found out that a 1,000 cc donor access to free blood transfusions for a lifetime, she set that as a goal. Then, after discovering that the family of a 3,000 cc donor also qualified for free blood, that became her next target.
“I used to post the records via WeChat as a form of encouragement and a record, but some people don’t support it,” she said. “My parents are proud of me but worried a great deal. One teacher even thought it was a mental illness and asked me for a talk.
“But I think it’s meaningful and I can help a lot of people, so I choose not to post them to the public later. Once you have formed a habit you don’t need to ‘clock in’ any longer.”
Self-discipline
Wu, the English learner, said even though the basic practicing requirement is 30 minutes a day, she aims for about an hour each time. The system, which uses artificial intelligence, gives her practice assignments according to her English ability and also assesses her progress.
“The most important thing is still self-discipline, but I will keep using the app because it not only supervises me to finish the assignment but it also has a correction function,” she said. “If my pronunciation is not standard or I speak wrongly, the system will ask me to repeat until I get it right. And the reward system also encourages me to keep learning.”
She said it felt awesome to practice your English and get your payment back because of your perseverance.
After running every day for a year, Wang’s habit was formed.
“I feel uncomfortable if I don’t run now, and it’s like breathing and drinking water that do not need pressure from others,” he said.
Wang stopped posting daily records last year. He had clocked up 2,400 km by the end of last month, and said he expected it might take five more years to reach his goal.
“Although it’s possible I cannot finish the 6,400 km on the next leap day, I’ve successfully developed the running habit,” he said. “Maybe I will use the method to develop other habits, like swimming or learning English.”
Wang said he plans to keep running and will set mileage goals as long as the diameter or circumference of the Earth in future.
Boasting among friends is a good way to supervise you while forming a habit. It’s a kind of supervision from others. Even though I was tired or lazy to move sometimes, I finished my daily task and clocked in.” Wang Qimeng, doctoral student at Tsinghua University