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If you're on TikTok as much as I am then you've probably seen people talking about the famous Atomic Habits. I'm going to share the top tips I learnt while reading, and what products I think will help both you and me along the way.
💥 Create an environment that works for you 💥
An environment that has everything in reach will make it easier to form daily habits without it being overwhelming.
For instance, if you want to be able to sleep earlier you'll probably want to make sure you can make your bedroom darker or have less screens around.
It can be difficult to start habits when the items that would help us are hidden away out of sight. Take a reading habit for instance, it's going to be more difficult to start reading if your books are shoved in a random drawer, or piled on top of eachother on a shelf you never walk past. James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, says that by creating visual cues you can draw your attention to the desired habit.
The point of this is to just make small changes to your environment, so if you want to start going to the gym you'd pack a gym bag and leave it by the front door so you see it before you leave. Or, if you want to drink more water leave a bottle near your tap so you remember to fill it.
Once you start building up these niche cues you'll soon find that you're doing these habits pretty much on autopilot. So if you're as forgetful as me, giving ourselves a head start is definitely a good idea!
💥 Here are some things that will make your environment more habit-friendly 💥
This gym bag has plenty of space for your belongings, and it means you can just grab it and go – simple!
Sit this desk planner somewhere that's always in view, so you can scribble down any important events or to-do lists if you want to become more organised.
If you like the idea of leaving a water bottle by your tap to drink more water, check out this one that has time markings so you'll remember to stay hydrated throughout the day.
🌟 Spend your free time being productive off-screen 🌟
It can be so easy to spend all of our time on our phones, but putting them down and trying something new can form a good habit.
We all have those moments where binge-watching a Netflix series takes priority over *everything* (I'm currently on season three of Gilmore Girls). In fact, we end up spending more time trying to stop looking at screens than actually doing so.
It can be easy for us to watch a show, scroll through TikTok, or see what's happening on Twitter whenever we're bored. In this book a solution is to manage our time more effectively, meaning giving ourselves a limit on when we have screen time and when we don't.
For me, I work from home meaning I look at my laptop screen a lot, and during breaks I find myself glued to my phone. That makes the concept of giving up this bad habit via a time limit seem almost impossible. Almost.
To make it a little easier there are a number of screen-free hobbies to do to encourage us to spend our little free time doing something different, and maybe forming a new habit. You can check out Buzzfeed's shopping article on screen-free activities, or...
🌟 Check out these products to keep screen time to a minimum 🌟
This yoga mat is a great way to help you practise mindfulness and will give you something else to focus on instead of your phone.
You might even want to consider a more creative avenue with this beginner-friendly embroidery set.
Or take in the scenic evenings of Venice with this-paint-by-numbers activity.
⌛️ Learn the two-minute rule ⌛️
“When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”
As we have already learned, making a good habit doesn't need to be difficult or take up too much of our time. This is why the two-minute rule is pretty much the goal of 2022, and is perfect if you're always on the go and don't have the time to start new things.
The meaning of this rule is that starting a new hobby shouldn't take up more than two minutes of our time, otherwise we'll be doing too much too soon. A new habit should never feel like a challenge, we're supposed to have some enjoyment.
So, if you want to read before bed, just start with finishing one page. If you want to study for class, just open your notes. If you want to fold the laundry, just fold one pair of socks.
Once you've mastered these 'easy' tasks you'll get into the rhythm of doing these actions, meaning soon you'll be reading that book and folding all your laundry without it feeling challenging. Instead, it's all a very natural buildup, and you've created a new habit. We often consume ourselves with the end goal, but if we break it down into something that's achievable in this very moment, we're onto a winner!
⌛️Here are items I would recommend to get you started⌛️
These jumbo sticky notes are perfect for you to scribble some quick notes when studying for two minutes, or are a much easier way for you to read over your notes in that time period.
To kickstart the reading before bed habit, this Colleen Hoover novel is a great place to start.
If you want to start waking up earlier, this Feather and Down pillow mist can encourage you to form a better bedtime routine, and it only takes seconds to do!
📝 Track your habits 📝
Keep a journal of what you did straight after you’ve done it. Once you see how many times you do something, you’re more likely to continue.
A great way to keep yourself motivated is through keeping a record of your day to day progress when forming a new habit. That way if you begin to feel discouraged you can see how far you've already come.
Journaling is a good way to get all of your thoughts down on paper which can be useful to reflect on. You can also keep track via a calendar and cross off the days you did something. The more you do this it acts as a reminder to keep on doing it.
I don't know about you, but I find it incredibly satisfying to cross something off a to-do list, and habit tracking helps us with this. You don't have to track everything you do, just what seems significant at the time.
As mentioned, reflection can be a really important tool where we ask ourselves what we did, what the outcome was, and what would we do differently next time. It gives us a chance to see the progress we're making, because we deserve to feel proud of ourselves.
📝 Just a few products that may come in useful 📝
Use this habit tracker to cross those goals off. It also gives you a weekly habits section so you don't feel too pressured on the day to day.
Treat yourself to a new A5 journal where you can put all of your thoughts onto paper, which will give you a chance to breathe and not get overwhelmed.
And what about these adorable cat pens? After all, you'll need something to write with!
🎁 Reward yourself with instant gratification 🎁
We are more likely to repeat a habit when the experience is satisfying.
Many decisions we make don't offer us any immediate benefits, so if we work hard it will take a few weeks to get a paycheck, and if we work out it will take a couple of months to see results. This can make it really difficult to sustain a habit because we aren't seeing instant results, so it often feels like these changes aren't working. Whereas bad habits usually give us rewards instantly, but then the ultimate outcome never feels as good.
We can switch this behaviour by rewarding ourselves when we participate in our good habit, as this shows it was worth doing and the effort paid off.
It is super important though that these instant rewards don't conflict with our actual goal. For instance, if your goal is to start eating home cooked meals instead of expensive takeaways, you don't want to reward yourself by spending serious £££ on getting food delivered. Instead, you'd reward yourself with a massage or a spa day from the money you've saved not eating out.
After giving yourself these little treats it'll soon become less and less important to reward yourself, and the habit itself will be enough. Basically, the more enjoyable our habit is, the more likely we are to keep it up – even if that means a little bit of self bribery!
🎁 Here are some things to treat yourself to 🎁
Give yourself a pamper evening with these Garnier vegan sheet masks!
If you're trying to make your bed every day, light this Yankee Candle once you're done because it smells soo good and your bedroom will feel much more zen.
Saving money by eating out less? Put the savings in this adventure fund jar so you can see how much progress you've made, and you can spend it on your next trip!
