Welcome to another edition of the Happy for Now list! This week I thought I’d lean into that New Year’s energy and share a few things I’ve found that make building habits a little easier.

Because we could all use a little help with that, right? Habit-building is hard. Adult behavior change is extra hard. But not impossible. I can look back and see things that I’ve changed over the years that have stuck. I went almost two decades of my marriage not making our bed each day. Now, I make it (or my husband does) every day. Now it feels weird if I don’t get to pull back the covers on a neatly made bed when it’s bedtime.

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So, what can make change a little easier?

Learn about habits in an easy-to-remember way

I know not everyone will want to sit down and read a book about habits, but I know there are some fellow nerds out there who will, so I’m passing along the rec that changed how I think about habit formation.

I’ve read a number of books about habits (Atomic Habits, The Power of Habit, Stick With It, etc.) and each has provided great info, but the one that stuck with me and that I go back and reread every few years is Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin (Amazon | Bookshop.org).

I think because she divides people into four categories about how we handle inner and outer expectations (Upholder, Obliger, Questioner, and Rebel) and then gives memorable names to different habit strategies and pitfalls (The Clean Slate, The Lightning Bolt, The False-Choice Loophole, The Strategy of Identity, etc.), it has stuck in my head longer.

Also, I like that even though she has researched the science and shares some of it, she also uses her own life and family as an experimenting ground and gives real-life examples of how she’s tried to implement these things. It’s supremely practical, which I love. For instance, I know that not every personality type gets the energy from the start of a new year, but I do. So I lean into that fresh start to launch new habits.

If you love the idea of the four tendencies, she also wrote a book just on that. And, if you want to get a feel for her style before reading, she shares a lot of this info on the Happier podcast.

Make it easier to track what you want to track

Most of us have heard some version of “we manage what we monitor” or the William James quote, “My experience is what I agree to attend to.” But they’re not just sayings. Science backs this up.

When we keep track of something or monitor it in some way, we’re more likely to continue that habit. We have so much going on in our lives that it’s very easy for things to fall off our radar. If we don’t pin those things (to mix metaphors) to that radar, most of us will forget.

Now, I’ll put in the caveat that tracking can become unhealthy in certain cases. I’ve had many a coaching session with a writer where I tell them to STOP tracking their word count for a while because they’re in burnout or overly anxious or the pressure is blocking them or they really need to focus on edits and edits often mean losing words. Tracking our food can make us more aware of what we’re eating, but for some, this could lead to disordered eating behavior. SO, take this with a grain of salt and know thyself.

But as someone who does get a lot of benefit (and enjoyment) from tracking things, here are some tools I’ve found helpful:

The Day One App for Reading and Movie/TV Tracking The Day One App main view

Reading is always a habit I want to keep in my life, and I love tracking it. I used to be a die-hard paper reading journal person. I loved the whole process of putting it together and writing my thoughts about books in it. However, once I started sharing more of what I read and watched in this newsletter, I needed a more efficient way to search and keep track. I also needed a place where I could write a messy, honest, private review. Writing my unedited thoughts in public online in a place like Goodreads was just not going to work as an author. Those are reader spaces plus it’s just awkward.

I did some research a few years ago and there are a lot of great reading trackers out there that are spreadsheet-style. Both the Currently Reading podcast and Sarah’s Bookshelves Live Podcast offer trackers to Patreon subscribers that will give you endless stats about your reading and cool charts. Also, recently I saw that at The Mindful Librarian created and shared a Reading Log that will provide data about her reading.

I love all the ways people are coming up with to track their reading, but spreadsheets are not my happy place. I like the idea of them, but I can never stick with that habit because it just looks so dry and…math-y. I’m visual. I wanted something pretty. That’s when I figured out I could use the Day One journaling app as a Book and Movie/TV tracker. I started this in 2022 and am still loving it.

I love that it’s visual, that I can easily search it, and that I can keep separate journals for each year. I also like that I can use it on my desktop and my phone and it syncs. It just works for me. There are multiple views you can use. I generally stick with the one above, but there are some fun ones I click on sometimes.

You can view your reading via the calendar view too Another view that puts the date on top of the pictures in your entries

You can also make templates for your journals so you don’t have to retype the information each time. Here are my templates for book reviews and movie reviews.

my book review template

my movie review template

You won’t get year-end stas with this system beyond the basics (how many you read/watched), but if you want something easy to use that’s visually appealing, I recommend it!

Tracking habits with the Streaks app Ones that are colored in are done. The number inside is how many days or weeks I’ve kept the streak. I reset some at the new year so don’t judge me, lol.

For other habits, I experimented this year with the Streaks app. There is something powerful about the “don’t break the chain” concept, and I love a checklist, so the Streaks app satisfied me on both levels.

Streaks is a simple app that lets you enter a habit you’d like to track, select how often you’d like to do it (daily, multiple times a week, weekly, monthly, etc.), and then each day, you press the little icon (which you get to choose!) when you complete the habit and it gives you a satisfyingly cheery sound and fills the circle with color. ←don’t underestimate the power of a fun sound and color, lol.

Hey look, as soon as I finish this newsletter, I’ll get to fill in that bottom right one and turn it full green!

It will also send you notifications that remind you if you haven’t done something that day. You can turn those off if need be. I only have notifications set for some of them.

You can make multiple pages and swipe through them. I divided mine by health habits and then the more work-related things, but you do you.

The app is dead simple to use, works on both my desktop and phone, and has been effective in keeping me on track with things.

This is my version of pinning stuff to my radar and it makes me happy to fill things in.

Decision Fatigue Reduction

As I’ve been setting up my goals and habits for the new year, I’ve been thinking a lot about decision fatigue. For instance, if I have to decide what I want to wear to work out, I may not work out because I get tired just from the deciding. So, I chose one standard thing to wear for exercise—black yoga pants and a T-shirt and done.

If I have to decide what’s for dinner, I end up waiting until I’m too hungry and then just fall back to the quickest most convenient thing (sloppy joes again, everyone!) So I’ve made the goal to meal plan at the beginning of the week, then I know what I need to prep in the morning. And when it’s time to cook, there’s no decision to be made so I actually make the thing I’m excited to make.

Speaking of cooking, I’ve mentioned I have a collection of 300+ cookbooks. Well, friends, that is a decision-fatigue extravaganza because which to pick? Then, which one of the 100 recipes inside? Do I have these ingredients? Ahh!

see the little number in the corner? Very high tech ;)

So I’m experimenting this year with a randomization system for my cookbooks so that a) I actually use my cookbooks (a goal I always have) and b) I don’t drown in decision fatigue. It may sound silly, but this week I labeled my cookbook shelves with numbers. Before I meal plan on Sunday, I’m going to pull a number and choose a cookbook off that shelf. I will have to make at least ONE recipe from that book.

This method won’t get rid of all the decisions, but it will narrow them down a lot. If it works well, I may consider using this with my TBR shelves (though that one makes me a little more nervous since I’m such a mood reader.)

Why am I sharing this? Well, I know most of you probably don’t have my cookbook affliction, but there’s probably somewhere in your life where you can reduce the decision fatigue. Where do you find yourself stalling out and getting overwhelmed? Which habits get derailed because of decision overwhelm?

For instance, a year or so ago, when I set a goal to have a healthy, protein-focused breakfast, I decided I would have eggs every day. So, literally every day I’m home now (well, 97% of the time), I have two boiled eggs topped with really fancy hot sauce. And I love it every day. And I have no decisions to make. It’s a grooved-in routine and habit now.

This makes my morning calmer, I accomplish my goal of having a healthy breakfast, and I’m not hungry until lunch because of the protein. Wins all around.

So I encourage you to think about if there’s a place in your life where you can cut down the number of decisions. A small change can make a big difference.

Alright, I hope you found something that will make you happy for now! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Are you trying to develop any new habits this year? Do you track your reading or anything else? What tips and tricks or apps have you found helpful? Are you feeling decision fatigue in some area of your life? Let me know in the comments!

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