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Habit Rehab
To Make a New Habit Stick, You Need to Set a Reminder
This is part of a five-day Habit Rehab to help you start the year off right
Day 3:
One of the trickiest aspects of forming a new habit is remembering everything you need to remember in order to follow through on your aspiration.
Let’s say you want to attend yoga classes three days a week after work. Not only do you have to remember to go to the studio after your workday is finished, but you also have to remember to pack your yoga mat and a change of clothes before heading to the office in the morning. What seemed like a single new habit — going to yoga — may actually involve reworking several elements of your daily routine.
“Forgetting is a big issue,” says Benjamin Gardner, a habit researcher and senior lecturer in psychology at King’s College London. “So planning ahead and setting up reminders is a good idea.”
He recommends taking time to really map out the execution of your new habit, step-by-step. What will you need to do — and when — to ensure that you can follow through on your intended behavior? Once you’ve figured all that out, use the calendar on your computer or phone, reminder apps, or sticky notes — whatever you rely on to help you remember things — to set up appropriate alerts.
