The key to being more productive is focusing on mini-habits — here's how to set them

13.08.2018 21:46

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On average, it takes 66 days to establish a new habit, according to health researcher Philippa Lally.
Even so, you don't need to establish unrealistic expectations to achieve your goals.
Writer Stephen Guise has coined the concept of setting "mini-habits" to maximize productivity.
A mini-habit, like drinking one glass of water or learning one Spanish word each day, exercises minimal effort for a big sense of achievement.
This method works because you're more likely to enforce your routine when it feels achievable.

Habits are confounding things. The more insidious ones derail your day, and even when you identify a good habit, making it stick can be a slog. In the 1950s, plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz proclaimed that 21 is the magic number of days required to form a new routine. His decree swiftly became the rule of thumb. In 2009, however, health researcher Philippa Lally's study said "Not so fast, Dr. Maltz." Lally and her team of researchers found that, in reality, it takes more than two months — an average of 66 days, in fact — to become one with your new habit.

The study also found that how successful the test subjects were with habit adherence depended on the individual and on the type of habit, with the more demanding ones, like running for fifteen minutes before dinner, proving more challenging to keep up. This isn't meant to be deflating news. On the contrary, habits can still be your greatest little allies on the quest for grand productivity. A way to make a habit stick, thus maximize your productivity, is to do a little less, exercising the least possible effort. Enter, the mini-habit, a concept coined by writer Stephen Guise in Mini-Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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