Forming new habits can be great.
They can help make our lives easier, smarter, and better.
But working on too many new habits at any one time can do more bad than good. That can get overwhelming fast, and can cause all of the new habits to fall off of our list.
Trying to do too much has a tendency for becoming exhausting, frustrating, and ultimately causes people to just give up. This is why creating new habits is such a challenge.
But there's the flip side of this coin to factor in too.
Do too little, and it can become dull and boring. We need a bit of a challenge to keep us engaged. If you have ever been bored with something, you know pretty well how true that fact is. This fact holds very true for building habits.
Can't do too much, because that will become overwhelming. But can't do too little either as that can get boring.
This is why, when it comes to working on forming new habits, I've tested multiple different options over the years.
What I have found is that the optimal number of daily habits to track at any one time is...
Five.
Three works quite well too.
So here's what I recommend. Start by tracking three new habits at a time, and see how you get on.
Do this for at least a week.
If you can do this without any sort of feeling of pressure or overwhelm, then increase it to five habits. Use a habit tracker to stay on track.
You can download one from your phone's app store, or you can use the plain old pen and paper method and track it that way.
Keep it simple, but also keep it interesting.
That's what I've found works best when it comes to sticking with new habits.
Make your life fun,
Salek
P.S. What you just read about is one of my most recent findings for making life just a bit easier, and better. And if that is a topic you are interested in, here is a talk for you to check out > Adopt These 5 Practices to Improve Your Own Life and That of Others