1. If You Want to Change a Failing Behavior, Replace It with a Sufficiently Similar One
This is a classic, and yet it's still one of the best tips of all. Whether you're facing addiction or procrastination, the simplest thing you can do is to do something that you like doing in the first place. It doesn't matter if you already do that thing, or if you're just doing something a little differently, a little better, or a little more often—what matters is that you're adding something new to the mix, something that takes your daily activity in a new direction.
It's also important to be very specific when replacing the old behavior with the new one. For example, if your goal is to write more, and you find yourself spending more time on social media, you might replace that time-wasting activity with a time-consuming activity, like writing a novel. You might replace the time-wasting activity by checking Twitter every 15 minutes for the next few hours, or by writing a novel on a single evening.
The key is to find a subset of activities, a small segment of activities, that add up to complete the whole you want to accomplish.
2. Replace a Failing Productivity Strategy With a Failing Productivity Technique
A surefire way to change bad habits is to make them worse. It's better, from a psychological standpoint, to be stingy with your willpower, forcing yourself to use it to a limited extent, rather than relying on it all the time.
Take distraction. If you want to stop listening to music or podcasts, and instead listen to something useful and productive while you work, do it right now. If you want to stop checking social media every few minutes and instead just do one thing at a time, get to it.
Why not a combination of these? Instead of trying to stop checking social media every few minutes, try setting aside 15-20 minutes a day to check Facebook. But after the time has elapsed, don't have another sip of coffee, or check Twitter.
When you do that, the pattern has been established—you're in a time-stressed situation, and you have a finite amount of willpower you can summon, so you turn to your addiction and let it take over. And that's how you end up checking social media. By restricting your willpower for a few minutes, you've put the habit in the starting blocks. You'll feel better, you'll be focused, you'll be more productive. You'll get better results.
Or, of course, you could just not do those things.
If you want to work better, focus better, be more focused, be more productive, avoid procrastination, etc. think of yourself as a chemical process. Instead of trying to strengthen your brain with more "mindless" activities like loud music or browsing the web, focus your energy on using the right "chemical" —your willpower —more effectively to power yourself toward your goals.
3. Read More
One of the most pervasive—and detrimental—habits is to work too much, or work too little. Even the ability to work less, or to work more strategically, is a major hurdle.
A good way to start is to increase your reading. At a minimum, read one book per week. If you're really serious, read two books per week. In general, more reading equals more focus, more inspiration, more productivity.
The most common excuse people give for not reading is that they don't have enough time. But why not make time, in between work and home, to read? You're never more relaxed, you never less busy, and you never more likely to succeed than when you have a book in your hand.
If you want to make sure you get the most from your reading time, be realistic with yourself. And be strategic about your choices. A book of non-fiction is going to be less accessible than one of fiction, but it will have more meat to it. Find the right book, read it, learn from it, then start all over again with another book. It takes time, but it's time well spent.
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