Habits
One of the simplest, lowest-effort ways to change your life is to build a habit.
How do highly disciplined people stay productive? Often, they have made useful actions habitual.
Habit building is a proven way to improve productivity. It saves willpower and helps discipline become natural.
Habit details
The habit card shows your check-ins for the current week.
Completion status depends on your settings. For example, you can set a habit to count as complete after five check-ins.
Edit a habit
Set a relationship for the habit in its settings. For habits without fixed check-in days, which are explained below, linking the habit to a goal can be an important way to check in.
You can set an end date for a habit you plan to build. A habit without an end date continues by default.
Check-in settings
Choose the check-in days in the habit's completion settings. For example, you can complete it on any two days each week or on two specific weekend days.
For a habit that needs to be completed on any two days, select the “2” option shown above and check in from the goal page during the week.
Habits with fixed days appear on those dates in the weekly to-do list on the Planner page. For example, if you choose Saturday and Sunday instead of any two days, the habit appears on those days in your plan.
Set a number of completions per day
For example, if your goal is to drink eight glasses of water, set eight daily check-ins. The habit shows as complete when you reach the target. Any extra check-ins appear as a number.
🔁 Ten habits to help you reach your goals
When you are building these habits, try to focus on one at a time and continue it for at least 30 days. Avoid common habit-building mistakes and give each habit time to take hold.
Habit 1: Capture
Capture everything. Carry a small notebook, or use a tool such as Elisi, to record tasks, ideas, projects, and anything else that comes to mind. This resembles the core of GTD. ZTD (Zen To Done) recommends keeping the tool small, portable, and easy to use. Write information down before you forget it, then move it from your notebook into a task list as soon as possible.
Habit 2: Process
Make quick decisions about incoming information to keep your inbox from overflowing. Unprocessed input is a common cause of procrastination. Decide what each item is and where it belongs. Process your inbox at least once a day, from top to bottom, using the GTD two-minute rule, deleting, delegating, filing, or scheduling each task.
Habit 3: Plan
Choose your most important tasks (MITs) for each day and week. At the start of the week, list important work and schedule it. Each day, choose one to three MITs. Your day and week will have direction, and you can focus on the work that matters most instead of working through a long list blindly.
Habit 4: Do
Focus on one task at a time. Execution is at the heart of time management and is a key part of ZTD. Work without distractions, avoid multitasking, and reduce interruptions.
Habit 5: Trust your system
Keep simple lists and review them each day. ZTD recommends avoiding complex systems and constant searches for new tools. Use a simple list to support execution instead of spending time playing with your GTD system or app.
Habit 6: Organize
Keep incoming information in one place. Process it, act on tasks, and mark them complete. A good system should make it clear what to do next, help you focus, and reduce procrastination.
Habit 7: Review
Review your system and goals each week. A weekly review gives you a chance to organize everything again and identify the tasks that matter most. Keep the GTD weekly review, but also review your goals. Focus on one goal at a time and make sure it is achievable.
Habit 8: Simplify
Reduce your task list to what matters. When every task is on one list, it can grow until you are exhausted from trying to work through it. Keep simplifying so that your list contains only important tasks and you do not need a complicated planning system.
Habit 9: Create routines
Set daily and weekly routines to simplify your work and personal life. Routines help you stay in control rather than letting tasks remain unfinished. Without a schedule, it is harder to say no to new requests and distracting websites. Set a routine and follow it to protect time for what matters.
Habit 10: Follow your passion
Do work that matters to you. When you genuinely want to do something, you are more willing to put in effort and time, and less likely to procrastinate. Keep looking for the things that energize and motivate you.