How to handle routines?

achieve said:
I've been facing this problem lately.

A few weeks ago, I used my homemade 2-row, 7-column table to track a habit I wanted to develop in the next 7 days, ticking off when I finished and × when I didn't. But I found that this effect was really good at the beginning, but it was actually difficult to maintain it in the long run, especially when I wanted these habits to be able to do every day.

I now tend to stick with the form I just mentioned, but at the same time, I'm ready to try to turn the habits I want to do every day into things that I can do on autopilot, and I'm trying to minimize the resistance to doing those habits.

For example, I want to practice my instrument every day, and I plan to take it out and put it in a conspicuous place so that I can get it at hand.

This is also a "fool-proof mechanism", for example, if you want to take vitamins, then you can put it on the doorknob, so that you will inevitably take vitamins before you go out, etc.
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The book "Tiny Habits" is great to help establish habits like this. It is by Behavioral Scientist B. J. Fogg who has been running the Stanford Behavioral Science Lab for over 20 years.


Some suggestions I recall from the book:

1. Make it small. Start very, very tiny. If you want to practice your instrument every day, create a much tinier version of your habit, really tiny. For instance your initial habit could be simply to open the case of your instrument.

2. Make your habit very easy to do. The easier it is, the less resistance you will have to doing it. How could you make it easy to open the case of your instrument? What factors can you think of that would eliminate any friction or difficulty about opening the case of your instrument?

3. Decide on an anchor for your new tiny habit. An anchor is any behavior that you are already doing regularly every day. Some examples are putting your feet on the floor when you get up in the morning, or putting out food for your pet when you get home in the evening, or any other specific behavior you already do regularly.

You will do your new habit right after you do your regularly established habit (anchor behavior). The important thing is that it feels like a naturally right place for your new habit to fit into your life. Think of something you are already doing regularly that you would enjoy following with your new habit. Connecting your new habit to an already established habit encourages your new habit to develop. It helps it fit right in.

4. Decide how you want to celebrate right after you do your new habit. This is extremely important to being successful in doing your new habit. The author explains that we learn a new habit by feeling good about it. That is the secret ingredient. This good feeling is called "shine." You create "shine" by celebrating in whatever way feels comfortable for you. It may feel silly at first to celebrate doing a tiny thing, but it works, so have fun with this. I celebrate by raising my arms over my head and clapping my hands, and saying, "Yay! I did it!" You can smile, you can jump for joy, or whatever feels to you like a comfortable, pleasurable way to celebrate and feel "shine."

5. Here is the formula for developing your new tiny habit. Say this to yourself:
After I do my anchor behavior,
Then I will do my new habit.
Finally, I will celebrate.

6. Now replace your specifics into this formula in the blank spaces:
After I _____________________ (state the anchor behavior you will do),
Then I will _______________________ (state the new habit you will do).
Finally, I will celebrate by _________________ (state what you will do to celebrate and feel "shine.")


The book is quite well done, and it will help you go on from here.


Best wishes!
 
Mrs-Polifax said:
The book "Tiny Habits" is great to help establish habits like this. It is by Behavioral Scientist B. J. Fogg who has been running the Stanford Behavioral Science Lab for over 20 years.


Some suggestions I recall from the book:

1. Make it small. Start very, very tiny. If you want to practice your instrument every day, create a much tinier version of your habit, really tiny. For instance your initial habit could be simply to open the case of your instrument.

2. Make your habit very easy to do. The easier it is, the less resistance you will have to doing it. How could you make it easy to open the case of your instrument? What factors can you think of that would eliminate any friction or difficulty about opening the case of your instrument?

3. Decide on an anchor for your new tiny habit. An anchor is any behavior that you are already doing regularly every day. Some examples are putting your feet on the floor when you get up in the morning, or putting out food for your pet when you get home in the evening, or any other specific behavior you already do regularly.

You will do your new habit right after you do your regularly established habit (anchor behavior). The important thing is that it feels like a naturally right place for your new habit to fit into your life. Think of something you are already doing regularly that you would enjoy following with your new habit. Connecting your new habit to an already established habit encourages your new habit to develop. It helps it fit right in.

4. Decide how you want to celebrate right after you do your new habit. This is extremely important to being successful in doing your new habit. The author explains that we learn a new habit by feeling good about it. That is the secret ingredient. This good feeling is called "shine." You create "shine" by celebrating in whatever way feels comfortable for you. It may feel silly at first to celebrate doing a tiny thing, but it works, so have fun with this. I celebrate by raising my arms over my head and clapping my hands, and saying, "Yay! I did it!" You can smile, you can jump for joy, or whatever feels to you like a comfortable, pleasurable way to celebrate and feel "shine."

5. Here is the formula for developing your new tiny habit. Say this to yourself:
After I do my anchor behavior,
Then I will do my new habit.
Finally, I will celebrate.

6. Now replace your specifics into this formula in the blank spaces:
After I _____________________ (state the anchor behavior you will do),
Then I will _______________________ (state the new habit you will do).
Finally, I will celebrate by _________________ (state what you will do to celebrate and feel "shine.")


The book is quite well done, and it will help you go on from here.


Best wishes!
Click to expand...
Haha, it's a very cute and practical approach. Thank you for your warm reply and suggestions. I'll give it a try!
 
assdfd513213 said:
For example
- eat vitamins
- drink protein supplements
- (daily habit)
- exercise 1.5 hours

How are you dealing with items that don't big matter much even if you don't complete them?
But actually it should do on specific date...
How do you handle those?
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I handle routines by keeping them in my system the same way I handle other commitments — but with a lighter touch. In Todoist, I created a dedicated project for routines, and inside it I set up recurring tasks. That way, they simply appear in my Today view alongside the rest.

For me, it’s less about “must-do or fail” and more about giving myself a daily reminder. Some days I check them all off, some days life gets in the way — but because they’re anchored in a project with recurrence, I don’t lose track of them.

What helps is that they’re visible in the same flow as my other work, so I don’t need a separate app or list to manage habits. And if I skip one, it’s no big deal — the task just resets for tomorrow. That way, routines stay part of my rhythm without becoming another source of pressure.

By the way, many of those routines are affirmations I want to read first thing in the morning (the text just sits right in the task description). Another one is triggering a shortcut on my iPhone that sets alarms before all my appointments, since my phone is always on vibrate.
 
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Daily Vitamin Routine

I take vitamins three times a day. For people who grew up with depression values, it is possible to create this system by repurposing household items, without needing to buy multiple vitamin containers, and I have created a system like this.

I created a system with two large empty plastic spinach tubs (washed and dried) with large firm-fitting lids. Each spinach tub contains 8 round plastic lids (from medium-sized plastic jars). I line the plastic lids with waxed paper, which lasts a long time, to avoid potential toxicity.

Each tub contains all the vitamins for eight days. Each lid contains all the vitamins for one day. I put a plastic baggie into the tub I am now using. If any vitamins are not used (e.g., if I miss takng them), I put the vitamins in the baggie to be used later.

As you can see, I need to eliminate more plastic from my life. We are all getting a lot of plastic particles inside us from plastic, and some plastic can have toxicity, so you could do this system with glass containers, if you have any or can find any. However, glass can be contaminated with lead, so this is an if-fy solution.

I put all the vitamins into the lids in the spinach tubs every two weeks. I stack the tubs one on top of the other. I put the tubs in a convenient space for taking vitamins. I don't need a reminder to fill these tubs with vitamins because I will notice when the vitamins get low or run out. Every week, I exchange the positions of the tubs, since the top tub will be empty. I don't need a reminder, since I can observe this.

Every day when I wake up, I get out one lid of vitamins from the top tub. I don't need a reminder. I want to take my vitamins daily, so I remember, but just in case, I do have a morning routine checklist that includes putting out my vitamins for today.

Each lid contains three different servings of vitamins for different times of day. I separate the vitamins into different servings. I put each vitamin serving into its daily vitamin tub. I put on the tub lid. I have a spot for the three daily vitamin tubs. I put them in their spot.

Then I set an alarm to ring at the time I want to take the vitamins. After I take one tub of vitamins, I set the alarm to ring for the next tub of vitamins. I am very bad at remembering to taking my vitamins, and I like setting alarms, so I am sure to remember.

It would probably be more convenient to have one small vial for each vitamin serving (i.e., three vials for each day), which I do not have in this system. In that way, all the vitamins could be put out each week, or each two weeks, and at that time could be separated not only by day, but also by serving, so no work needed to be done daily.

Best wishes with your daily vitamin routine!

Emily
 
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