When a habit lives on my to-do list, I have to remember it and talk myself into it every day, and eventually I don’t. A system takes the decision away.

An example I want to copy

Instead of remembering to take a cold shower, I make every shower a cold one, so the habit happens whenever the trigger does. Daily planning works the same way if I keep it under five minutes and tie it to a set time.

What’s next

I haven’t turned most of my other habits into systems yet, so that’s the next experiment. I’ll note where a system doesn’t fit, because some habits probably need a bit of conscious choice.