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How I build new habits

A fellow IndieHacker I chatted with this week inspired me to write this down.

I've read books on the subject of habits over the years  -  Atomic Habits most recently, The Power of Habits almost a decade ago. Sometimes the challenge is not in knowing the principles but in applying them concretely to your own context. Here are the principles I've applied successfully when building a new habit:

  1. Start small  -  in the action and duration. So 30 days instead of whole year. Treat it as a short-term experiment not a long term commitment. First do the thing then evaluate and optimize.

  2. One habit at a time  -  add a new habit to my day only when current one becomes automatic behavior requiring little mental effort.

  3. Implement some form of accountability  -  public or private. Being accountable to myself has worked best for me (although now I am experimenting with public accountability). In practice this is a simple piece of paper with a habit grid on it, usually in a location where I'll do the habit action (e.g. on nightstand for bedtime habits, etc.).

That's it. Once I decide, no negotiations with myself! No analyzing until the experiment period is over.

Example - I will post on IH everyday for the next 30 days.

That could be my habit statement. I need to add enough clarity to be able to answer the question "Do I get a checkmark today or not?" So in this case, what counts as a 'post'? I am deciding that a post could be an article/essay, comment on someone else's post, or a post asking questions. Do I include weekend? Yes I am deciding to do this on weekdays as well weekends. That's it. Next I make my empty habit grid and stick it on my wall.

An aside, about "quality control" for the checkmarks: the above implies that I can write a one word comment and get a checkmark for that day. Am I okay with that? Yes I am okay with that possibility and putting less pressure on myself. If I show up to the community consistently and some days I am only able to post a few words I am okay with that.

My goal behind this habit is to show up everyday and do something I've never done before, which is share more publicly and connect with other on the Internets (online community or general social media). I used to pride myself in being anonymous. Currently if you try to look me up, you won't find much. My goal is to slowly change that, and this is one of the habits to serve that goal.

There is a lot more to say about habits and my specific experiments with it, so I'll keep writing more on this topic!

  • Bhumi

P.S. If you care to join in the fun of public habit building, you can do the following! 1. Decide on a habit that you want to commit to building publicly
2. Share your habit statement and/or upload a pic of your empty habit grid
3. Share updated pic in 7 days, 14 days, and so on. Here is an example of another habit I am working "meditate for 5 mins everyday for next 30 days"

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  1. 1

    I like the paper way of visualization you have chosen.
    I used to do it in an app, but the checkboxes are inside the phone. The progress is not visible until you click on it,

    I will create such a paper table too. Right now!

    1. 2

      Yes the habit grid post-it has been effective so far. Ironically I am building a simple web app to track habits haha - something I need to keep track of all of it, but will probably combine it with physical paper. I don't know yet, will see! :)

      1. 1

        I would definitely test your app. Who knows, maybe it will be more useful and cool, than paper.

        1. 1

          Okay cool. I'll keep you posted! The basic functionality is there but my UX and design is lacking :(

          1. 1

            Any chance we can check out the app?

  2. 1

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