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Pressuring yourself into forming daily habits

grant says:
Recently I've been using Remember the milk to build some habits that I've had more or less a hard time building (either because of forgetfulness or laziness).

For example, I try to take Omega 3 supplements every evening before dinner, but sometimes I forget.

I also try to meditate every day, but some days I find watching an episode of Friends on Hulu much more appealing. Having a task asking if I meditated gives me the small nudge I need in order to sit down and clear my mind.

So this is my setup:

1. Create a new list named "Habit Building"
2. In this list, enter all the habits you wish to get into, in the form of a question. For example, "Did you meditate?", and "You took Omega-3 before eating dinner... right?" (or however you can phrase it as to up the guilt-factor)
3. Set the tasks to repeat daily, with the due date set to 3 months from now; this way, these tasks won't clutter up your Today and This Week lists.
4. Create a task named "Check habits" Make it repeat daily and due today, with the time set to about 10 minutes before you usually to go to bed.

And this is the execution:

1. Wait for your "check habits" task to show up at night to remind you to review your habits.
2. Open the task and complete it
3. Review your lists of habits. Allow yourself the "reward" of completing the items you succeeded in doing.

I find myself more motivated, because if I don't meditate, I have Bob T. Monkey to answer to later that night!

Happy habit forming!
Posted at 1:17am on October 9, 2014
progress4ward says:
Trying this out starting today. Set up & ready to go! Nothing else seems to work, maybe this will. I like the fact that it's not another app or website to keep up with. And, since it's in rtm, it will give me a chance to look over tomorrow's to-dos! Curious if it's still working for you.
Posted 8 years ago
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Thanks for sharing this, grant! You're this week's Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner. :)
Posted 7 years ago
test.ios001 says:
1
Posted 4 years ago
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