"Changes that seem small and insignificant at first will produce tremendous results if you stick with them." - James Clear, Atomic Habits
In order to achieve our goals, we need a system. You have to build habits and stick with them long enough for them to work their magic. You may hear this often, but it's so true!
It was one of the most popular books in 2019 Atomic Habits by James Clear. It is a practical guide on how to get rid of bad habits and build good ones. In it, the author explains why small, everyday habits lead to great success. If you haven't managed to read the book yet, we highly recommend it. But don't just read it - put into practice everything you've learned from it! Until the moment you succeed, let these 9 micro-habits that can concretely improve your life help you to success.
Wait for your reactions
We know, the world is spinning very fast these days! But that doesn't mean we have to react quickly to everything. Learn to say: “I will let you know later.”, "I'll get back to you with my answer.", etc. Instead of saying yes to every offer and later finding out it doesn't fit your schedule, take a few minutes to think it over. This will save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run.
Force yourself to do a task you don't like
Choose a small task each day that you don't want to do and force yourself to complete it - whether it's washing the dishes, making the bed, exercising, or making dinner at home instead of ordering food out. It can be anything. After doing this for a few days, you will realize that the task itself is not a problem. The problem is in your postponing things to the next day, to the next "right" moment. So take the first step and do the work. After doing smaller tasks for a few days, you can jump to bigger ones.
Spend a day away from social media
The days are coming when your smartphone is literally an extension of your arm. You pick it up for no reason and "scroll" through social networks for the next hour without even realizing it. No one is saying you have to give up these networks. If you learn to use them in moderation, they can be very useful - Facebook is great for events, Instagram can be a source of inspiration. So instead of deleting them, set a day when you won't use them. This will reduce the time you spend on the phone, and at the same time you will realize that you do not miss anything if you are "offline" for a few days.
Prepare for the next day the night before
Prepare your clothes, pack your bag (men may not understand this, but women have a long list of things that go in their everyday bag). Write a to-do list and check your calendar to see if you have any meetings or calls. Do what you can to make the next day as easy as possible. Having a plan makes things easier and faster. This is no magic, it is pure logic.
Be aware of what you eat
When you eat and work/read/watch a movie at the same time, you tend to eat more than you need. Also, you don't enjoy food as much as you should. You're not even productive. In principle, lunch or dinner should not last more than 10 to 15 minutes. So when did we become so busy that we don't even have 10 minutes to take care of our bodies? The next time you eat, do just that: eat! Of course, you'll be tempted to pick up the phone, but slap your fingers. And the simple fact that we have to convince ourselves that we don't need our phone at lunch/dinner should raise some questions in us.
Use a timer for your tasks
The Pomodoro technique could also be called the bible of productivity. It became famous because it works! It is a time management technique developed in the late 1980s that uses a timer to break tasks into time intervals of around 25 minutes. There is time for a short break between them. First decide what you are going to do, then set a timer for 25 minutes, work on the task and stop when the timer goes off. Tick the task. If you have less than four ticks, take a short break (3 to 5 minutes), if you have four or more ticks, take a longer break (15 to 30 minutes). Of course, you can adjust the technique according to the task itself, i.e. its scope, and the time interval can be longer or shorter.
Put the phone in another part of the room
If you have your phone next to you while you sleep, you're more likely to hit snooze until it's almost too late to get out of bed. And for most of us, getting up is more of a problem than waking up. And that's why this method works. When your phone is across the room, you need to stand up and take a few steps to make it stop ringing. Then you may start to realize that you are also thirsty and that you have quite a few tasks to complete today. And so the bed doesn't look so inviting anymore.
Set a spending limit by setting a waiting period for purchases
If you are an impulsive buyer, this might be the right solution. The next time you see something you like in a store, don't buy it right away (unless it's something you really need). Better wait a few days to see if you still have this product in mind. If you're still dreaming about those shoes or dress after three days, buy them. But if you completely forget about them, then you have saved money that you would have spent on that impulse purchase.
But you can use another technique that works especially when it comes to sales or discounts. Always ask yourself “Would I pay full price for this product?” If the answer is “Yes.” then pull out your wallet if the answer is yes "No.", then step away.
Write down every idea that comes to you
Statement "I will remember." should go down in history as the biggest lie we tell ourselves. Of all the things we hear, do, see during the day, we end up forgetting more than half. So get into the habit of writing down everything, even silly things that may seem unimportant to you.
The main reason people fail to achieve their goals is that we make drastic changes instead of reaching for small, everyday habits. To do this, you only need to follow these two simple rules:
Quit the bad habit
Make a list of all the bad habits you have that you want to get rid of. Instead of going to war with yourself and trying to get rid of them all at once, pick just one and focus on it. Take small steps. Smoke one less cigarette. Buy one less unnecessary item each week. Stop eating that thing you want to give up. Only after you manage to give up one bad habit, start working on another.
Get into a good habit
The same goes for the good habits you want to acquire. Do not suddenly try to drink two liters of water a day if you have only managed to drink one glass so far. Instead, try drinking two glasses of water a day and increase slowly. Add another type of vegetable to the plate. Add an extra minute to your run. Read one more page every night. Pick something you struggle with and slowly increase the time you spend building that good habit. Once you feel it has become your habit, start working on the next one.
"We do not rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems.” So make sure you have a well-established system for each goal.
