1. Stick to natural deadlines
Have you ever tried to give yourself a non-existent deadline to increase your productivity? If so, you know that this approach rarely works. That said, real hard deadlines do spur us into action.
It is because of this feature of the human psyche that we often prioritise unimportant tasks with pressing deadlines over serious projects that we still have time for. This can be remedied with natural deadlines.
Let’s say you decide to get your health checked this month and you need to get your test results the day before your doctor’s appointment. You’re not a big fan of giving blood, so you put off the procedure until later. At the same time, you want to sort out all the readings with the doctor, which motivates you to get everything done on time. Plus, your doctor praises you for being conscientious, and that makes the desire to maintain the habit increase even more. That’s what it means to follow natural deadlines.
2. Observe your behaviour
Analyse how you behave, what you repeat time after time and how to turn it to your advantage. Note when you perform actions that you would do well to turn into a habit. Every day, week, month? Or only when the kids are away on holiday and a loved one is on a business trip? If you’re already slowly learning a habit that you want to fully implement into your life, it’s time to reinforce it.
