Jerry Seinfelded one of the most memorable and hilarious TV sitcoms of all time.

He's also one of the most successful stand-up comedians of all time. And while there are

many different factors that contribute to his success, one is undoubtedly his dedication to writing.

In fact, one of the most famous productivity hacks, which is attributed to Seinfeld, is that

don't break the chain technique. The story goes that as a young

aspiring comedian, Seinfeld had a goal to write every day. He had a calendar in his apartment,

and every single day, no matter how he was feeling, he would write. When he was done, he'd mark a big

red X on that date on his calendar. Soon,

he had a chain of red X's on this calendar that served as a reminder of the effort he had put

in and the motivation to keep going. His mantra became, don't break the chain. In a 2020 New

York Times profile, Seinfeld talked about how he still writes every day.

In this episode, we're going to explore the motivational power of tactics like Seinfelds,

which are most often called streaks, and we'll look at ways to alleviate the demotivating

effects of breaking a streak.

Music to alleviate the demotivating effects of breaking a streak. I'm Dr. Katie Milkman, and this is Choiceology, an original podcast from Charles Schwab.

It's a show about the psychology and economics behind our decisions.

We bring you true and surprising stories about real choices, and then we examine to show about the psychology and economics behind our decisions.

We bring you true and surprising stories about real choices, and then we examine how these

stories connect to the latest research and behavioral science.

We do it all to help you make better judgments and avoid costly mistakes. When you upload it to Strava, you'll see a little red line that traces out the root of the person's taken.

So that's why it's a bit unusual when you run in the middle of the sea.

This is Tom Vickory.

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