Science says that it takes a minimum of 66 days for a new habit to become automatic. I wonder if it takes a longer or shorter time to re-form old habits.
I have been letting go of several habits this summer, and it doesn’t really feel that great. Some of those habits were very good for my mental health and, starting now, I am going back to a few tools that I used to keep myself on track.
My Bullet Journal
I started keeping a Bullet Journal at the beginning of the year as some of you might remember. I really liked it, and while it took a little getting used to, I felt that it was a great addition to my day to day life. Unfortunately, this summer has not been kind to me time and energy-wise, and so I haven’t really used it much. I ended up making simple one-spread months to keep track of my work hours and special events, but I recently got the urge to start using it more again. So, I went ahead and set up the first weekly spread for September with a slight travel (with a dash of Cabin Pressure) theme, but not too many bells and whistles. Bringing it back slowly, I will probably keep it pretty minimal for the rest of the year, but I already have some interesting ideas for next year, when I’ll get a new journal. I might even start setting it up during autumn, to give myself plenty of time to plan it out.
Habitica
This is a website/app that has helped me a LOT! I have a soft spot for anything that gamifies regular things in my life, and Habitica literally makes your life a game. You do damage to bosses by completing daily tasks and keeping up good habits. You also lose health by missing out on a daily task or doing bad habits. And the best part is that you decide on the daily tasks and habits yourself, from your own life and what you need to do. As for me, I have a few basic daily tasks such as brushing my teeth and eating (because yes, some days I need the reminder), but I also have some me-specific things that I try to do on a daily basis, such as writing, keeping up my streaks in Pokemon Go and updating my Bullet Journal. I also have a more long-term to-do list there with things concerning my book in progress, things that I know that I need to do along the way. All in all this app has helped me keep my life on track and it felt really good to reinstall it. I can’t even remember why I stopped using it in the first place, and while I am still in the process of updating my lists of tasks, I already feel that it helps keep me accountable. I mean sure, you could tick off a task without completing it if you want, but the only one seeing it would be yourself, so what’s the point?
4theWords
The best site to keep me writing, hands down, no competition. I found it during NaNoWriMo 2 years ago, and have been using it on and off since then (this post is drafted over there in fact). Like Habitica, it takes something that I was doing anyway and making a game out of it. You fight monsters by writing, which is absolutely brilliant. Each monster has its own individual wordcount goal and timer, so you can choose one that suits you at that moment. If I only have half an hour, I can pick a monster with that time limit and get started. There are also ones with longer timers of course, I think the longest I’ve seen is 24 hours. In other words, whatever works for you, 4theWords has it.
The only thing that might scare people off this site might be that you need to pay a subscription to use the writing part of it, but that doesn’t bother me at all. If I can help keep this site going by paying a small sum every now and then, I’ll happily do it.
So, these are a few things that I use to keep my life on track, and I’m really happy that I decided to pick them back up. Things do happen in life, and sometimes you don’t have the time or energy to keep up with habits like these, but I’m going to try to keep them going from now on. And if I’m not able to complete them every day, that’s okay too, as long as I pick them back up again.
What are some of your habits that keep you motivated and productive?