I love building new habits. Also, breaking them. Here are the best ones I started in 2019:
Guided journaling
Every morning, I do guided journaling, using the Stoic Routine App. It helps me to reflect, letting off steam and re-focus on what is truly important. I’m practicing this for a full year now, and the benefits are great.
The two week project
I’ve started dividing my work into one or two week, singular projects. Having just one project is a great way to get meaningful work done. During a project, I don’t do anything else for the first 3-6 hours of a work day. Only after that do I take care of random busywork. This has helped me to tackle several things I have been dreading and putting off (some of them for months and years). And like with cleaning the basement, the hardest part is getting started.
Weekend planning
Each Friday evening, I take a blank sheet of paper, and make a plan for the weekend. What needs to get done or repaired in the household? What fun things could we do? What special wishes does anyone have? Unstructured weekends have been a major pain point for me, and this small habit fixed it: we clean, we repair, we have fun, we relax. What a great joy to spend weekends like this.
Saying no to inbox zero
I’ve stopped paying so much attention to my inboxes. I still clean them out occasionally, especially when I’m blocked, sick, or otherwise unmotivated. The rest of the time I cherry pick the most important things, and leave the rest. Instead, I focus on the most important tasks at hand and try to do them well. The bottom line is this: When you’re 80 years old, you won’t regret that you haven’t spent more time in your inbox.
Renegotiate my commitments
My task lists have a tendency to be full, and get fuller over time. It’s important to regularly review and renegotiate. Delete things. Move things to Someday/Maybe. Move the timeframe. The same is true for all other commitments: If you feel you lose control or are overwhelmed, then renegotiate. I have become much better at this, and want to improve even more.
What are the best habits that you recently started? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments.
The original version of this article was published on my blog.
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(Image credit: Flickr)