Last Monday (2/8) I had the opportunity to host an event at Ness Labs, as part of the CreatorSpark accelerator, and chose “Building Good Habits” and the main theme. The idea was to share some tips and tricks on Building Better Habits, combining with some of my personal experience over the past year on doing so. I am not an expert on the subject by any means, but thought that by sharing this, I may spark an interest and maybe help you find ideas to implement in your own life.
Disclaimer: most of the ideas you’ll see here were inspired by reading the book Tiny Habits (which I did early on in the pandemic), and can probably been seen in other well-known book like Atomic Habits and The Power of Habit.
Choosing Your Habits:
When it comes to starting a new habit, there are some questions that I always like to ask myself:
WHAT is the habit you want to start?
WHY do you want to do this?
WHEN do you intend to do it?
HOW are you going to do it?
what is the FREQUENCY of this habit?
What is the AMOUNT?
Which AREA of your LIFE does it relate to?
You don’t have to necessarily answer every single of these questions, of course, but I highly recommend you to do so. And Be as specific, detailed, and intentional as possible. By doing so, you will have a resource to go back and remember why did you want to start this in the first place. And if you already have a few habits going on in your life, I also recommend you to stop and try to answer these same questions. It can be an interesting way to make sure they still make sense to you.
Here’s how one of my own habits look like, as an example:
» WHAT: Meditation
» WHY: to be more mindful and less anxious
» FREQUENCY: daily
» HOW: using the breathing app on the Apple Watch
» AMOUNT: 5 minutes
» WHEN: 1x in the morning and 1x in the evening
» AREA of LIFE: health
To give you some more ideas, here’s how I organize the information of my current habits in a Notion database:
When starting a NEW habit:
Brainstorm as many different ways as you can do that specific activity;
Think about which one(s) makes more sense to your current lifestyle;
Which one is so easy that you could try and start right now?
What is the tiniest amount that you can do every day, that will still make you feel accomplished, especially in the long run?
Always be realistic and honest with yourself!
Sticking to your Habits:
In order to make new habits stick, one of the most important things is to make sure that whatever you are trying to start makes sense to you and your lifestyle. Reading about other people’s habits can be very inspiring, but waking up every morning at 5:30 and starting the day with exercising may just not be for you.
If you are not convinced that a specific new habit will be good for you, think about it as a 30-day challenge! Or whatever duration you feel comfortable with, in this case. It’s a great way to try something new and reflect on it at the end of the challenge.
But again, always start small! Or tiny, in this case. And look for as many different (and interesting) ways of doing it.
→ Real-life example #1: Exercising
Before the pandemic, I used to have a pretty active life walking (and biking) around NYC almost every day. But quarantine forced me to isolate myself and I knew I would have to find ways to keep exercising on a regular basis. Since that was never the most appealing thing for me to do, I decided to look for different ways to do so and keep things always fresh by alternating activities. I started by using different 7-minute workout videos on YouTube, then introduced long walks outdoor (when the weather was getting warmer), then got back to playing ping-pong a couple of times a week, and lately I’ve been using the RingFit Adventure game (on Switch), as a way to keep things back indoor, but still having some kind of fun with it.
The bottom line is: even though “exercising” is a daily habit, the type of activity I’m doing is constantly changing!
→ Real-life example #2: Reading
I’ve never considered myself an avid reader, but the last time I’ve read this much was probably when I was in college, preparing for my final thesis. Here are a few things that helped me being consistent with my reading habit:
Diversify the content that you are reading. Try to alternate genres, styles, subjects.
Mix and match books with articles! In my case, I try to read books at night and articles in the morning.
If you prefer to read physical books, always have a small pile of books in your nightstand (or next to your favorite reading spot), to keep you interested and make it easier for you to remember to pick up the book and read.
If you prefer reading digitally, make sure you have a reading list that is always updated and easy to access, knowing that you’ll always have a new book to start as soon as you finish the current one.
Track your reading progress, to keep you motivated to finish the books you start.
But at the same time, don’t forget that you don’t have to finish every single book that you start! If it’s not resonating with you, just forget about it and switch to something else. Unless you absolutely have to read it for school or work, of course.
Bonus tip: if you like to read e-books, the app Libby will be a game-changer (if available in your location), trust me!
Tracking your Habits:
This can be a great way to keep you motivated, especially until the new habit really becomes part of your routine. Here are 3 ways to do so:
Using an app on your Phone, Tablet, Computer, or Watch. Two apps that I recommend are Streaks, my ultimate favorite app to track my habits in a simple and intuitive way, and Habitica, if you are into RPGs and especially if you have a friend or two looking to build new habits with you!
Adding them into your existing system. Whether you use an app like Notion or Roam, a task manager like Things 3, a spreadsheet, or even a physical journal, this could be especially helpful if you don’t want to introduce yet another app in your life.
Using a wall calendar. This can be great if you are looking for visual cues in your environment, to hold yourself accountable and be reminded in the physical space too. A few interesting resources if you are going the calendar route:
I love this template by Austin Kleon!
The 2 Day Rule, as seen in this video by Matt D’Avella;
Using a physical journal, as seen in this video by Thomas Frank.
Bonus: you can always mix and match all of these, of course! In my case, I track all of my habits using Streaks, but have some of them repeated in my Notion system, as well as a calendar in my fridge to keep track of my workouts.
All of that to say that you should do as much as you can to make the new habits more obvious to you in your life and your environment, both physical and digital. Here’s a screenshot of my iPhone homepage, for example, where every single time I unlock my phone, I see a widget with the progress of my daily habits at any single time of the day:
Stopping a BAD habit:
When it comes to trying to stop bad habits, I always go back to some of the same questions I proposed at the beginning of this post:
WHAT is the habit you want to stop?
WHY do you want to stop it?
FREQUENCY: are you wanting to slow down or stopping completely?
HOW are you going to do it?
The trick is (again) to be very specific and intentional about it. Here are some ideas worth exploring, taking from the book Tiny Habits:
Write down a habit that you’d like to stop. Be specific!
Think of ways you might remove (or avoid) the prompt to do so;
Think of ways to make it hard to do it;
Think of ways to reduce your motivation to do so;
Select your best ideas from steps 2, 3, and 4.
Experiment!
Reflecting
Whether you are working on starting new habits, or stop bad ones, reflecting is the best way to check-in with yourself. So at least once a month, try to slow down and ask yourself these questions:
What’s working? What’s not working?
Are these habits still making sense in your life?
Can you make any adjustments moving forward?
Is there room to add a new habit?
Any habits to try and stop?
Don’t force a new habit just because other people do it if it doesn’t make sense to your current lifestyle!
And last, but not least: don’t forget that there’s still a pandemic happening outside, so be kind to yourself! 🤗