Practice

Habit practice exercises

Free — no account needed to read

Each exercise is a short worksheet you do about one of your own habits. With a free account your answers are saved privately and can be attached to a habit.

Habit Design Canvas

Design a new habit from scratch: the behaviour, its cue, the smallest version, friction, reward, obstacle and backup plan. (10 minutes)

• Desired behaviour — Something you could see yourself doing — not a result.
• Reason — Why does this matter to you?
• Cue — What will start it — a time, a place, or something you already do?
• Context — Where will it happen?
• Smallest version — The version you could manage on your worst day.
• Friction — What could make it harder — and what will you remove?
• Reward — What good thing happens right after?
• Obstacle — What is most likely to get in the way?
• Backup plan — If that obstacle happens, then I will…
• Measurement — How will you know you did it?

Cue Audit

Find what happens immediately before a behaviour — the cue you can use, strengthen or change. (5 minutes)

• Where are you usually?
• What time is it, roughly?
• What did you just do?
• Who is around?
• How are you feeling?
• Which of these seems to start the behaviour most?

Friction Audit

Find what makes the habit you want harder and an unwanted one easier — then change one of each. (10 minutes)

• What makes the habit you want harder? — Steps, set-up, distance, decisions, missing equipment.
• What makes an unwanted habit easier? — What is within reach, visible, already open or one tap away?
• One step you will remove from the habit you want
• One step you will add before the unwanted habit

Environment Audit

Walk through one space — a room, a desk, your phone — and redesign it to support the habits you want. (15 minutes)

• Which space are you looking at?
• What does this space make easy right now?
• Which habit do you want this space to support?
• What will you make visible or put within reach?
• What will you move out of sight or reach?
• The one change you’ll make today

Trigger Map

Map the recurring situations linked with a behaviour, to see the pattern behind it. (10 minutes)

• Times of day it tends to happen
• Places
• Feelings just before
• People around
• What happens just before
• What pattern do you notice?

Replacement Planner

For an unwanted habit: trigger → current behaviour → what it gives you → an alternative response. (10 minutes)

• Trigger — The situation that sets it off.
• Current behaviour
• What it gives you — The consequence — relief, a break, stimulation, company?
• Alternative response — Something that meets the same need in a way you’d choose.
• Your if–then — If [trigger], I will [alternative].

Minimum Version

Shrink a big behaviour into the smallest version that still counts. (5 minutes)

• The full version
• Break it into steps — List the steps from the very first movement.
• The smallest useful version — Often the first one or two steps.
• What a good day looks like
• When you’ll use the minimum version

Implementation Intention Builder

Write the plan: “If X happens, I will do Y” — plus one for your most likely obstacle. (5 minutes)

• If… (a specific situation) — A moment you’ll recognise: a time, a place, an action you’ve just finished.
• …then I will (a specific action)
• If this obstacle happens… — The thing most likely to get in the way.
• …then I will instead

Recovery Plan

Decide what you’ll do after an interruption — before it happens. (10 minutes)

• What counts as a miss for this habit?
• The first thing you’ll do after a miss
• The minimum version you’ll come back with
• Who or what will help you return?
• A message to your future self after a miss

Weekly Habit Review

Ten minutes to see what worked, what didn’t, and what to change next week. (10 minutes)

• What worked?
• What didn’t work?
• What changed this week?
• What obstacle appeared?
• What will you modify?
• What will you remove or pause?

Routine Design

Design or improve a routine: what starts it, the order, the transitions, and a bad-day version. (10 minutes)

• What starts the routine?
• The steps, in order
• What moves you from one step to the next?
• How will you know it’s finished?
• A short version for busy days
• A bad-day version (two minutes or less)