One way to stay consistent with your replacement habit is to practice streaking, where you do it on a daily basis.
For instance, James Clear talked about how the “Seinfeld Strategy” can help you beat procrastination. The example he gave was how an aspiring comedian asked Jerry Seinfeld about his secret to success. The comedian told the following story:
“He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day.
He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my writing, I get to put a big red X over that day.
‘After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.’”
The point of this Seinfeld example is simple—you don’t worry about good or bad days. You don’t wait until you’re motivated. What’s important is you show up every day and do the work. In other words, the best habits are formed by not breaking the chain.
The “streak habit” works because you create permanent routines. You don’t worry about individual successes or failures. Instead, you focus on repeating the process day in and day out.
If you’re an aspiring writer, you write every day. If you want to eat better, you stick to a sensible food plan every day. And if you want to be more productive, you complete a small list of your most important daily tasks.
It’s not hard to form a habit when you have the “no-excuse” mindset. Simply focus on doing it—without fail—every single day and it’ll turn into a permanent routine.
Now, one of the challenges with “streaking” is what to do when you experience days when you feel a lack of motivation.
Fortunately, Stephen Guise provides a simple solution in his book, Mini Habits. One point he makes is it’s hard to build new routines when you focus on massive outcomes (like starting with a goal to write for one hour instead of five minutes). He feels (and I agree) that it’s better to make “micro commitments” and simply focus on doing a mini habit on a consistent basis. In other words, you focus on the streak, not the result.
As an example, let’s say you’d like to reduce alcohol consumption by replacing your drinking habit with a walking habit. Rather than committing to a 30-minute walking routine, you’d set a small goal, such as a five-minute stroll around the block. That way, when it’s cold, dark or rainy, it’ll be easier to get out the door because your obligation is only for a few minutes.
Of course, your goal is to ultimately do more of the replacement habit. The hard part is building a consistent routine, so it’s more important to stay consistent and complete the habit on a daily basis.
To get started with streaking, I recommend two apps. The first is Lift.do, which we’ve already discussed. The second is Chains.cc, which is based on the “don’t break the chain” principle. Try both and see which one works for you.
CASE STUDY
Consistency was an important part of the cellphone sabbatical habit. I used Lift.do for monitoring the action every day in June, only missing one of the thirty days.
At the same time, I also tracked a new habit: “read 15 minutes of nonfiction” every day. The idea here was to not only remove a negative routine, but to replace it with something positive.