WHAT IS AN EXPERIMENT IN A BOX? An experiment is a way to test an idea: does something you think will have a particular effect in a particular condition have that effect? For example: if you are a coffee drinker, you may wish to test the concept that not drinking coffee after 1pm means feeling more refreshed the next morning. For a week, you may commit to making sure you don’t drink any coffee after 1pm. You may pay attention to how you feel over the course of the week, and notice that by about day 4 you are feeling more refreshed in the morning.
You now have some new, tested information about how coffee may be affecting your sleep quality.
These are exactly the kinds of experiments an XB supports. The XB provides you with tools to explore health practices, to figure out how those practices can work for you: some may work better than others; some may be easier to implement than others. The XB gives you the space to find out.
EXPERIMENTS ARE SHORT AND SPECIFIC! An XB only lasts a short time - most are 5-7 days - just enough for your body to get a sense of whether or not the approach is having a noticeable effect. An experiment doesn’t ask you to commit to something forever. It says: try it, check it out, and if it works, keep it!
EXPERIMENTS ARE NOT LIFE! Some experiments may seem a bit odd - we have one to help folks explore how vegetables affect energy and mood where we suggest to have a green vegetable each time you eat for a week. Now after the experiment, you may never eat that way again - but that’s ok: an experiment is not “normal” - it’s sometimes a little weird to be able to focus on the particular effect of the new thing you’re trying. But after the experiment, you have new knowledge that you can draw on when shaping your own eating practices.
One of the comments we’ve had from folks carrying out the Experiments in a Box is that it gives them permission to take the time to explore something.
As one Experimenter said “I’ve heard that 8 hours of sleep a night is good for you, but if I hadn’t tried that as an experiment in a box, I would never have really found out. IT’s changed my life”
Not all experiment experiences may be that profound, but we hope they do help to give yourself permission to try something in this focused way, for just enough time to find out - how does it feel; do you feel better?
More Information about our study is provided in the Support URL, as well as contacting information.
Additional Information:
Title of study: Experiments-In-A-Box (XB): A Technical Model For Cultivating Personal Health Heuristics
Reference number: ERGO/FEPS/62021