In this post I will try to recall some tips I found useful in several books I read recently. I started my bullet journal last month and I tried several ways to keep me focusing on things i have to do instead of procrastinating. If you have trouble in getting things done or you just want to change your bad habits, then I hope you can get something from this post.
- Use a habit scorecard: record your daily habits, and mark them with”+””-“”=”; “+”stands for a good habit that you want to keep in the long run; “—“stands for a bad habit that you want to get rid of; “=”stands for a neutral habit.
- Make the cue obvious: first, you should design your environment. For example, if you want to drink more water, then keep the water handy. Second, you should set your plan like this:
I will HABIT A at TIME in WHEREorI will HABIT B after HABIT A(A is your habit you already have). - Make your new habits easy: do not set your goals too high. Keep it simple and easy at first such as do 5 push-ups when you are tired or just read for 25min.
- Make it attactive: pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do (creat a motivation ritual. Do something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.);join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior.
- Make it satisfying: give yourself an immediate reward when you complete your habit.
- Reduce exposure: keep your snacks, phone, anything that distract your attention away from your study spot.
- Compound interest: keep in mind
1.01³⁶⁵ = 37.8 - Use pomodoro: keep focusing on the process instead of what you have to finish for just 25 minutes!
These tips I mentioned above can be found in book Atomic Habits, and if you want to dig deeper A Mind For Numbers will do you good too.