{"id":12,"date":"2018-04-23T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timingapp.com\/blog\/optimize-your-life-habits"},"modified":"2025-07-17T16:20:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T14:20:33","slug":"optimize-your-life-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timingapp.com\/blog\/optimize-your-life-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimize Your Life Using the Science Behind Building Habits"},"content":{"rendered":"

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You\u2019ve been tracking your day and your time management skills are improving\u2026 now what? It\u2019s time to make this new you stick, with scientifically proven methods to build new habits.<\/em><\/p>\n

Building and maintaining habits is hard. In fact, it\u2019s so hard that Stephen Covey\u2019s book on creating them is the number one bestseller<\/a> in self-help on Amazon. It seems like the world badly wants more willpower \u2014 to get fit, rich, and more productive. That building habits is hard is the bad news, but the good news is that you no longer have to go off guesswork when trying to develop them. If you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed by our last article on creating routines that work<\/a> to structure your day, and be more productive, then you need to know the science behind creating habits.<\/p>\n

For decades, researchers have been looking into habits, willpower, and productivity. We can finally say that there are techniques that are scientifically proven to build new habits. We have information at our fingertips that makes this a simpler and less painful process than ever before. But what\u2019s myth, and what\u2019s tried and tested? Don\u2019t just be another statistic of someone who failed to keep your new routines: turn them into habits that will last a lifetime.<\/p>\n

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Plan Your Habit Building Around Hits of Dopamine<\/h2>\n

A common misconception of habit building is that it revolves solely around repetition. \u201cIf I do XYZ for 30 days, it will become a habit\u2026\u201d, no matter how unpleasant that new habit is. The reality, though, is that if you\u2019re forcing yourself to do something purely to try and turn it into a habit, it\u2019s probably not going to stick unless you have willpower of steel. And if you do have willpower of steel? Then relax, it\u2019s not necessary. Expert on behavioural psychology and author of The Power of Habit), Charles Duhigg<\/a>, says that failure to adopt new habits is often a case of not understanding the structure of how they\u2019re built. Why are bad habits so much easier to create than good habits? It\u2019s simple: they release endorphins.<\/p>\n

Is Virtue Its Own Reward?<\/h3>\n

What happens when you smoke a cigarette, or snort a line of cocaine? You get an instant rush of pleasure, even though you\u2019re destroying your health in the process. Now compare that to trying to meditate for thirty minutes, assuming you don\u2019t already have a meditation habit built. You\u2019re twitchy, distracted, your mind wanders, you get bored\u2026 and you\u2019re going to struggle even more on day two, because yesterday was so difficult. Yes, in the long-run meditation will start providing its own reward<\/a> and you\u2019ll find it easy to maintain \u2014 but that doesn\u2019t help you start today.<\/p>\n

So how do you hack your brain, and make yourself more productive? Does this mean you have to start smoking while you meditate? Thankfully, nothing so drastic. Develop a rewards based system, like something as simple as a square of dark chocolate after a workout, or a coffee with a friend. The danger here is choosing something that you won\u2019t be able to switch off from. Playing 15 minutes of video games after 90 minutes of working, for example, won\u2019t do the trick, as you\u2019ll find yourself getting wrapped up in the very thing that\u2019s meant to keep you focused in the long run. You\u2019re going to find your timing goes out of the window, and you\u2019ll wind up being even more frustrated with yourself.<\/p>\n

Measure Out Your Time in Fixed Amounts<\/h3>\n

The simplest solution is to measure your time out, and set alarms and reminders. If your day is running to a schedule, then you simply won\u2019t have time<\/em> to carry on for longer that you should. Personally, I like the Pomodoro technique<\/a> for this. Twenty-five minutes is just enough time for me to get immersed in something, but it\u2019s short enough that I know I don\u2019t have time for procrastination. The five minute break after every twenty-five minutes is enough for a cup of tea, to reply to a friend\u2019s message, or to get up and stretch\u2026 but not enough to get totally immersed in something else. By using a time tracking app like Timing<\/a><\/em>, you can set yourself Pomodoro alerts<\/a>, and also track exactly what you were doing. Simple.<\/p>\n

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Be Realistic in Your Expectations of Yourself<\/h2>\n

If you have the Flu, you\u2019re not going to run up a mountain. So why do you set yourself drastically unrealistic goals when you\u2019re trying to build new habits? Have you ever decided you\u2019re going to run a marathon this year, when you don\u2019t even run? Or build a million dollar business when you don\u2019t have even one client right now? Big goals are great, but not if you don\u2019t already have the habit infrastructure required to achieve them. There\u2019s going to be too much friction in the way, and without some major motivating factors, you\u2019re simply setting yourself up to fail.<\/p>\n

Build on Existing Habits With Habit Stacking<\/h3>\n

A simple way to create new habits that last is to add them into your daily routine. In 2007, a study was conducted<\/a> to show that newborn babies have considerably more neurons than adults. When we\u2019re born, we\u2019re blank canvases full of potential, with no synaptic links between our neurons developed. In layman\u2019s terms: we have no habits. As we grow and develop, our brains strengthen certain pathways, and remove others. We develop thousands of habits. Brushing our teeth, showering, the order in which we get dressed every morning. The concept of habit stacking is based on utilizing the existing synaptic bonds between certain neurons in our brain.<\/p>\n

In Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less<\/a>, author S. J. Scott writes: \u201cLinking habits together is a way of getting more done in less time, resulting in a positive change in your life. As you perform the stacked actions every day, they become part of your daily routine.\u201d His rules for habits you stack are that they take no more than five minutes, and fit into your daily routine. In this way they\u2019re extremely repeatable, and you reduce the friction that exists in habits wildly outside what you already know. Create simple checklists and routines to both remind yourself of your new habits, and give yourself a sense of satisfaction when you tick them off. The more your new habit fits into routine, the easier it will be to complete. Don\u2019t forget to track your time<\/strong> so you know exactly what you\u2019ve accomplished each day.<\/p>\n

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We Don\u2019t Have a Finite Amount of Willpower\u2026 but We Do Need to Use It More<\/h2>\n

For years, there has been a myth that willpower is something we can use up, like tokens at an arcade. When our tokens are gone, that\u2019s it for the day until we go to sleep, and wake up with a fresh lot. Studies conducted since a seminal study on human willpower<\/a> in 1998 suggest that willpower isn\u2019t just finite, but that all willpower stems from the same area of the brain \u2014 the theory being that this is why it can be \u2018used up\u2019. This is called the theory of ego-depletion, a theory that is ironic in its simplistic reasoning. Don\u2019t eat cookies when you\u2019re a child, and you\u2019ll be more successful in life later on. We now know, however, that the theory of ego-depletion is flawed. So why is it still being touted as the way to be more productive?<\/p>\n

When researchers attempted to replicate the original study on ego-depletion, they found it impossible. They didn\u2019t just fail to replicate it once, but again, and again, and again. In July 2016, the result of this research was published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science<\/a>. It made it clear that there was no evidence that ego depletion exists.<\/p>\n

Flex Your Willpower Muscle<\/h3>\n

Does this mean we can eat all the cookies we want, and still be successful? Not quite. Like any muscle you\u2019d work on in the gym, you need to flex your willpower in order for it not to wither away. Quite the opposite of the ego-depletion theory, in fact. The more you use your willpower, the more you\u2019ll have. Kelly McGonigal, Stanford psychologist and author of The Willpower Instinct<\/a><\/em> says: \u201cWillpower is the ability to align yourself with the brain system that is thinking about long-term goals \u2014 that is thinking about big values rather than short-term needs or desires.\u201d Which brings us back to habits. Create the habit of working towards the future, rather than the short term, and you\u2019ll find your willpower becomes stronger.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the habit of willpower itself that creates a stronger mindset, though. Studies have shown<\/a> that lifestyle changes like meditation and a plant-based diet also result in greater willpower. Naturally, the more changes you successfully make to your daily routine, the easier you\u2019ll find it to continue making them. For instance, a disciplined gym routine will help you in your work life, and vice versa.<\/p>\n

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Time to Take Action<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no time like the present for setting intentions and taking action to make habits stick. Start by taking some simple actions.<\/p>\n