I saw an article in the Business section of my local paper the other day regarding the stock value of the company Fitbit, which went public in June.  If you’re not already wearing one, a Fitbit device is an exercise tracking system worn on the wrist that counts steps, calories burned, heart rate, and even sleep.  The financial long term prediction for Fitbit, according to the financial expert, was not particularly positive, despite an initial run up in value.  The reason?  After loyally using them at first, most Fitbit consumers stopped wearing their wrist band by the 6 month mark.  After finding out how many steps or calories they burned in the first few weeks, Fitbit users no longer found the feedback useful or interesting anymore.

I thought about this article in light of what I know about change.  Research has tended to show the opposite effect.  “Self-monitoring,” as it is called, is usually one of the most helpful things to do when working towards a goal.  In fact, studies have shown that just by writing down everything you eat, people tend to lose weight.  Or by keeping a log of activity, people tend to exercise more.  Or keeping a spreadsheet of what tasks you have accomplished in completing a project helps to keep you on target.  Tracking what you do brings awareness to your behavior.  It helps you identify your progress in reaching a goal and helps you stay on course.  Feedback regarding our actual behavior is motivating and provides useful accountability in working toward our goal one day at a time.

So, in the face of all this, and despite the eager attitude of Fitbit customers who have spent a fair amount of money, why are so many wristbands piling up in our homes?  The answer I think is burn out.  After the initial learning, we get tired of seeing the same information over and over again.  We already know how many steps we take in an average day or what our heart rate range tends to be.  There is nothing new to learn and so the information feels tiresome.  It may even be discouraging when our initial hopes for improving our effort plateaus.

Human nature tends to operate in a paradoxical way.  We actually fairly quickly adapt to changes in routines, while at the very same time we’re extremely attentive to what is new.  In fact, it’s just because we habituate to what is constant that we have the energy and mental alertness to perceive what is new.  If we had to constantly monitor everything, we would never notice a potentially useful or dangerous change that may be critical to our survival.  So once information becomes repetitive, it tends to lose its value in our priorities.

So, how do we avoid this feedback burn out?  The answer seems to involve keeping the information novel in some way by making it more lively and interactive.  One way to do this is to keep changing your goals.  Challenge yourself to do things in a different way each week.  Using the Fitbit example, one week try to set a new goal for your step count.  The next, see if you can increase the time you are in your heart rate range for cardiovascular health.  Or alternate weeks of using the Fitbit.  Another way to keep yourself engaged in feedback is to review your information with other people.  Using the food journal, for example, it might helpful to discuss your food log with a partner each week, reducing the urge to simply write things down (or even skip writing something down) without reflecting on your habits.  Talk with someone about your progress, your food habits, and your pitfalls.  And don’t forget rewards.  A great way to keep something interesting is if you have something invested in it.  Make a list of potential rewards and give them to yourself whenever you reach a milestone that is important for you.  Make the rewards meaningful and fun.

Change is a lot of work.  And to stay constant in our change, we have to keep change changing!