Give habits time, and it’ll mould our lives before we know it. Think about it: these repetitive actions shape our daily lives from when we wake up and check our phones to when we have our first and last meal.
But how do micro-habits differ from the habits we know?
Micro-habits are tiny, easily achievable actions that we can seamlessly integrate into our daily routines without much effort. They act as the building blocks toward bigger goals or habits. They’re an almost imperceptible behaviour change that, when consistently practised, can lead to long-term results.
For instance, imagine drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning. It’s a small step, but it helps you stay hydrated throughout the day. In contrast, a habit like drinking 4 litres of water daily is broader and represents a bigger goal. While micro-habits focus on small, manageable actions, habits are about larger, more significant behaviours.
Breaking down larger goals into tiny, consistent steps makes them less overwhelming and easier to stick with over time.
Replacing habits with micro-habits in our daily lives can make big, daunting tasks more achievable.
Let’s talk about why micro-habits can make a difference:
1. Ease of implementation
As we know, micro-habits are smaller in comparison — so it only makes sense when we say they are easier to begin following through. They minimize resistance, making it easier to start and maintain new behaviours.
When you focus on a few key specific actions, you tend to stay focused without feeling overwhelmed by the bigger goals. This clarity keeps distractions at bay and makes progress feel more manageable.
You don’t have to dive into ambitious plans right away that could make a massive change to your daily routine. Doing so usually leads to counterproductivity, as consistency will be short-lived.
Instead, start with simple changes that naturally fit into your day and set you up for success.
2. Builds grit and sustainability
To quote Simon Mignolet, “Momentum is an amazing thing when it is working in your favor.” Starting and completing small tasks creates a sense of accomplishment and productivity. When progress is made, no matter how small, it builds momentum over time and strengthens your commitment to your goals.
I like to think of it as starting a positive cycle where each small achievement motivates you to keep going, even through challenges.
There might be initial discomfort faced at the beginning, but that’s only natural.
And if you miss a day in following through, it’s easy to get back on track the following day because the effort to restart is minimal. This flexibility helps you avoid the guilt and discouragement that often come with breaking bigger habits, making it easier to stick with your goals in the long run.
3. Long-term impact
It goes without saying that consistency is key to seeing long-lasting changes.
Consider the cumulative impact when your goal is to read a whole book of 730 pages. It can be daunting, but having a micro-habit to read at least a page a day — you would have completed the book in two years! It may seem trivial, but it gets the job done in the long term as long as you’re consistent.
By focusing on micro-habits, you’re laying the foundation for a “new normal” in your lifestyle. These small, consistent actions significantly improve your lifestyle and well-being over time.
You’re setting yourself up for long-term success and a healthier, more fulfilling daily routine.
With that said, how do we create effective micro-habits?
1. Identifying areas of improvement
There’s this quote that I particularly like and find this to be true. It says, “Everything starts with yourself – with you making up your mind about what you’re going to do with your life” from Tony Dorsett.
Self-improvement begins with ourselves, identifying our strengths and weaknesses. Only by knowing that can we focus on areas that need improvement and work on them. Having a goal is an imperative first step before developing any micro-habit plans.
2. Start small, not big.
Starting small is not only incredibly effective, but it allows us to follow through habits more easily. The goal is not to achieve the plan as quickly as possible but to accomplish the goal realistically without falling short. Taking manageable, less overwhelming steps is a good start — that’s how you know you’re on the right track!
The beauty of starting small is that it allows you to adopt the approach that works best for you as you progress. It’s okay for things not to work the first few times you set your goals. Because as time passes, you make subtle changes that fit better to be more efficient and even celebrate the small wins and milestones.
3. Consistency over intensity
The saying “Success is the sum of small efforts — repeated day in and day out.” by Robert Collier is a good reminder to keep in mind when working on micro-habits. It’s natural to want to do as much as possible, but this is counter-productive and will lead to potential burnout quickly. Instead, we want to focus on consistency — creating that momentum of small wins daily.
By doing so, we stay committed to the plan, building mental resilience and a sense of achievement.
4. Community support
As social beings, humans need a community to belong to. And that is no exception when trying to build the discipline to follow through.
Sometimes, laziness and doubt kick in, and you just want to skip your micro-habits, but all you need is a little nudge in the right direction and be accountable for the micro-habits you had planned to complete.
And that’s where your accountability partner encourages you to complete it consistently!
Find a close friend, a spouse, or a family member to be an accountable partner who could support you and keep you on track.
5. Find a tool to help you track your progress
Consistently sticking to a routine can be tough, especially without seeing any progress, let alone results, for a long time.
What better way to build discipline than finding the right tool to help you track your progress? Tools can help you monitor if you’re on the right track to hit your target within a specific timeline.
You could use popular in-demand tools like Notion and Airtable to help keep track of your to-do lists, milestones, and timelines. The best part is that you could do that just by using the free plans.
Not only will seeing progress build momentum, but you will also know if you need more time to achieve the bigger picture you had set. That brings us to our next point.
6. Adjust as you see fit
Everyone’s target, routine, micro-habits, and discipline are different. So, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula for crafting the perfect micro-habit planner.
Once you have a tool that tracks your progress and timeline, and if it doesn’t align with what you had planned, you could either revise your initial plan, change up your micro-habits and frequency, or revise your timeframe.
It’s important to make tweaks that work for you, as long as you do not give up and consistently follow your latest micro-habits plan.
7. Bonus Tip: Visual cues at the right location
Leveraging visual cues at the right location is a great way to follow through with your micro-habits.
What are visual cues at the right location?
Say your goal is to eat healthily, and your micro-habits are to consistently eat fruits and vegetables at least once in the morning and evening.
You could place your fruits where you commonly are in the morning and the evening.
This can indirectly help in conditioning the mind to avoid procrastination when working on your micro-habits just because you do not have to go out of your way and because of how accessible it is to follow through.
Start small, think big, and watch as these micro-changes lead to a major transformation. Consider the SMART approach for a more comprehensive and actionable guide to setting up your micro-habits.
I hope you find this guide helpful to your journey of integrating micro-habits to help achieve a larger goal. If you haven’t already followed our social media pages, please do so to meet like-minded people like you! Our social media platforms are now on Facebook and LinkedIn!
