bellebethcooper

- Start small. Focus on making the behaviour automatic (the definition of a habit) in its smallest form. It's easier to increase the time and effort spent once doing the behaviour is automatic. - Schedule the habit. My habits almost always fail if I don't figure out in advance when and where I'll do them. - Stack your habits. Using an existing habit (it can be something you didn't build on purpose like brushing your teeth, putting on your pyjamas, putting on your shoes before leaving the house, etc.) as a trigger to remind you to do another habit. This makes it easier to remember and build into a routine you already have. - Make it easy to do the habit and hard not to. If you need equipment, get it ready before you'll need it. Set up your environment to encourage you to do the habit. Keep things out of sight if they encourage you not to do the habit. Context makes a big difference in the early stages. - Build one habit at a time. Only when a habit is truly habitual (you do it without thinking) start focusing on a new one. I've failed at building habits every time I've tried to do more than one new habit at a time.

I've written a lot about habits. I'll link to some articles below that might be helpful. Many of them expand on the suggestions I mentioned above.

But a few things I've found really useful are:

The Momentum app, which lets you quickly check off habits in the iOS notification centre widget. [1]

Starting small until the behaviour of a habit is ingrained, then increasing the time and effort. Eg. start with a 15 minute run until you're used to running 3x/week, then increase your time gradually until you're running 45 minutes every time, rather than jumping in the deep end. It's easier to keep up a habit that's small and easy, and to increase the activity once you've made it habitual. [2]

Only work on one new habit at a time, because it will take focus and discipline at first. [3]

Once your habit is solid, develop others by stacking them together. [4]