Underrated coping skill: kudos charts
This is the fourth post in the Grey Thinking series, Five of the most underrated coping skills.
If you don’t know what a “kudos chart is” – it’s a sticker chart. You know those charts that your mom made when you were five that had actions like “make bed” and “brush teeth” on it? Yep, those. I heard someone refer to them as “kudos charts” on twitter several months back, and since my current chart is not actually using stickers, I’m going to go with that terminology.
My explanation is simple: a kudos chart worked for me when I was five, and twenty years later it is still a helpful tool.
What kind of things do I have on my kudos chart?
- Follow meal plan
- Take calcium supplement
- Get 7+ hours of sleep
- Go through the mail
- Blog
That’s not all, but you get the picture – it’s a mixture of eating disorder goals and regular life tasks. I never have more than 7 goals, for three main reasons:
- then I’m not really focusing on the important tasks
- it gets cumbersome to remember and record too many things
- only seven fit on my chart
Not only do I get satisfaction of checking off items each day, but at the end of the day / week I add up all my “kudos” for my “kudos score.” It’s a quick and satisfying way to motivate myself… and I think that other people could definitely benefit from such a tool.
The Kudos chart is a great idea because it helps keep track of positive “baby steps” that can easily be minimized or forgotten. I also like the idea of keeping a small but focused goal list.
http://www.FamilyInsights.net
I like this! Great idea.
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ps-at work someone was talking about having a chart for our goals and progress and she said, “and we could put a sticker once we complete one…”
and I had to refrain from saying out loud, “I used to have sticker charts for my eating disorder recovery! AND stickers in my food log! (where I would also get gold stars for self-care)”