When I’m struggling to do something and need a nudge, I’ll try to create a ritual around the thing such that it feels special, and I’ll invest in small things as a physical symbol of that specialness.
A recent-ish example was my to-do list. For years I’ve struggled to keep it up to date, and would inevitably get overwhelmed before declaring task bankruptcy (and/or switching tools).
Something that started to help was writing things down on paper and keeping it in front of me, rather than hiding them away in digital tools. It was helping, but it wasn’t really sticking.
To make it special, I bought some Analog cards from Ugmonk. Worried that I’d just give up after a couple weeks, I only bought the cards, not the holder. If I stick with it, I thought, I’ll get the holder.
After a few weeks, I’d stuck with it longer than my notebook, but it didn’t quite feel special enough. The card eventually got buried under other items as the day passed, and I’d forget about it for a while.
I had just enough evidence to commit a little more, so I bought the holder. A few weeks later again, and these little cards, propped on their stand, feel like a completely invaluable part of my day.
It feels like a small indulgence to sit down every morning, slide a fresh card out of the holder, and fill it out. It feels special to prop it up, facing me, without anything else getting in the way.
It might seem a little silly that the exact form of paper could make such a difference, but it does. Making it special made me want to do it, and that’s all that really matters to me—the outcome.
I could, of course, just “try harder”, but I think that most of us spend enough time beating ourselves up. Sometimes, it’s nice to do the opposite. To make a small moment a special one, just because.