Designing Wellbeing Experiments
You joined a gym in January but TRUTH: it’s just not your scene. You’re on your devices all day long and when the evening rolls around it’s more screen time to relax. Work is stressful and days are long. You’re tired, your diet’s not great, and you’re not showing up as your full creative self. Something just doesn’t feel right.
Time for an upgrade but where to begin? Shifting habits can feel big and overwhelming. It’s challenging to untangle dependencies and determine where to start. The best first step: anywhere you feel the clearest pull. You’ll gain insight and confidence through the doing. And the doing works well as small steps or what I like to call little wellbeing experiments.
Let’s walk it through.
Step 1: See the Future
Take a deep breath or two and imagine the most alive you. How are you feeling, what are you doing, who are you with and where? Write it down. Something like…
I wake up energized and excited to start the day. I prioritize time for my creative projects. I eat healthy and delicious food. I do something good for my body and mind every day. I exercise often. I’m not glued to my screens. I have outdoor play time with my partner. I feel more peace in my life.
Step 2: Identify the Themes
There are many directions you could take. Let’s start with unpacking your future vision to surface the wellbeing topics within. Break out the sticky notes for this part and write each idea down on a single note. (That’s how we designers like to roll.)
Start by deconstructing your vision. Something like…
- I wake up energized
- Excited to start the day
- Prioritize time for creative projects
- Eat healthy food
- Eat delicious food
- Do something good for my body every day
- Do something good for my mind every day
- I exercise often
- Not glued to screens
- Have outdoor playtime with my partner
- I feel peace
Next group like with like.
- I wake up energized
- Ready to start the day
- Prioritize time for creative projects
- Do something good for my mind every day
- Eat healthy food
- Eat delicious food
- Do something good for my body every day
- I exercise often
- Not glued to my screens
- Have outdoor playtime with my partner
- I feel peaceful
And finally, name the emergent themes.
Improved Energy
- I wake up energized
- Ready to start the day
Creativity/Productivity
- Prioritize time for creative projects
- Do something good for my mind every day
Diet/Nutrition
- Eat healthy food
- Eat delicious food
Movement/Exercise
- Do something good for my body every day
- Exercise often
- Not glued to my screens
Connection/Time in Nature
- Have outdoor playtime with my partner
Stress Reduction
- I feel peace
Step 3. Pick a Theme
Next, pick the topic you’d like to explore first. It could be the theme you feel most curious about, excited by or even the one that feels easiest. Don’t sweat it too much; the key is just to start. Save the others, you’ll loop back to them later.
I’ll go with Movement and Exercise for this example.
Step 4. Outline Your Long Term Intentions
Get those sticky notes out again. Look at the topic you’ve selected and think about where you’d like to be three to six months from now. List a single idea per sticky note.
You might come up with things like:
- I move around more during the workday
- I’ve found an exercise I enjoy and do it 3 nights a week after work
- My partner and I go hiking on the weekends
You’ll notice that each step gets more concrete and actionable as we go through the process.
Step 5. Brainstorm Experiments
Now pick one long term intention to work with. From our examples, I’ll go with, “I move around more during the workday.”
What are some activities, tools, and/or partnerships you could explore to shift this behavior?
Then back to the sticky notes, begin by listing all the things you might want to try. These ideas will become your wellbeing experiments.
A brainstorm of ways to sit less at work might include:
- Set up a break reminder on my laptop
- Have walking meetings
- Get a standing desk
- Get a walking desk
- Get a balance board
- Walk for half my lunch break
Step 6. Design Your Experiments
Pick the approach you’d like to try for the next week or so. From there you’ll get S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely) by breaking them into even smaller components.
In our scenario, we’ll look at “set up a break reminder on my laptop.”
Our action steps could be:
- Research break apps tonight
- Install app tomorrow
- Set the break reminder for 50-minute increments
- Take at least 4 breaks per day this week
- Evaluate results a week from now
To further support your success, anticipate the obstacles you might encounter along the way and what your counter-strategies are.
An obstacle might be:
I’ll ignore the break timer and keep working.
Some counter-strategies could include:
- Enlist other co-workers to use the break application with you
- Create a small reward: tea from the kitchen or a few minutes outside
- Use the time to walk over and connect with a co-worker
Also, consider your motivations? Articulate why this change is important, what are the benefits?
- I want to be more creative and productive and moving helps.
- My back feels better at the end of the day
- I want more exercise and even little breaks throughout the day count
Now that you have a specific experiment planned. Dive in and run your prototype. Remember there’s no failure, you’re simply learning what does and doesn’t work for you.
Step 7. Assess, Iterate and Expand
How did your wellbeing experiment go for a week? What worked well? What got in your way? What was different on the days it did work? How would you refine your approach for another go around?
Maybe most days you only took two of the scheduled breaks. What was going on? Maybe the reminder broke your flow at a critical point. How might you tweak this, maybe try longer breaks with less frequency next week?
You get the idea, keep refining your approach until it’s working for you. Sometimes it might require small changes or even jettisoning the approach altogether to try something new. Refine your experiment and try a new version next week. If it was a success, keep it going and tee up a new topic and new experiment next week. Keep iterating and working through your list.
It can also help to have a friend or coach to share your process with and keep you accountable. Make this process your own. For further ideas, on small habits and behavior change check out BJ Fogg’s work on Tiny Habits. Have fun out there!
