Research
How long does it take to form a habit? Not 21 days
In the study usually cited, a daily habit took a median of 66 days to become automatic, with estimates of 18 to 254. The 21 days is from a 1960 self-help book.
8 min read
Blog
Notes on habits, plans and time
What the studies found, where the popular numbers come from, and the thinking behind a calmer list.
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Opinion
Why streaks make you quit, and what to track instead
Streaks help while they last, but a missed day resets them to zero and makes stopping more likely. Track a completion rate instead: it survives a bad week.
9 min read
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Research
Implementation intentions: the if-then plan that beats willpower
An implementation intention is an if-then plan: if situation X arises, then I will do Y. What the research found, when it works, and examples to copy.
9 min read
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Research
The Zeigarnik effect: why unfinished tasks keep you up
The Zeigarnik effect says unfinished tasks stick in memory. That part replicates poorly. What holds: open tasks pull at you, and a specific plan quietens them.
8 min read
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Research
The planning fallacy: why everything takes longer than you think
The planning fallacy is underestimating how long your own tasks take, even when similar ones ran late. What the thesis study found, and how to estimate better.
9 min read
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Tips
How to do a weekly review in 15 minutes
A weekly review in 15 minutes: sweep for 5, triage for 5, pick 3 outcomes for 5. A timer-sized take on David Allen's GTD review, with a checklist to copy.
6 min read
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Tips
Tiny habits: how to start when motivation runs out
Tiny habits means shrinking a habit until refusing feels absurd, hanging it on something you already do, and counting the small version as done.
5 min read
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Tips
Schedule your energy, not your hours
Energy management for knowledge work: note how sharp you are each hour, put thinking and deciding in your best hours, routine work in the rest, and guard them.
9 min read
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Tips
How to plan your day in three lines
Plan your day in three lines: one thing that matters, one that's due, one that's quick. Write them the night before, park the rest, and finish the day.
7 min read
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Opinion
Do you need to wake up at 5am? No
No. Waking at 5am suits early chronotypes, but for night owls it mostly costs sleep, and adults need 7 hours or more. What makes a routine work is repetition.
8 min read
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Essay
Do it on a date, or by a date
An appointment happens on a date and a deadline happens by one. Filed under a single due field, they look equally urgent. Two columns on paper fix it.
4 min read
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Essay
That weekly task is a habit in a costume
A to-do that keeps coming back was never a task. It is a rhythm, and judging it pass or fail makes a kept routine look like a weekly failure. Refile it.
4 min read
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Essay
Consistency has a shape
A checkbox records one day. Consistency belongs to a month, so draw it as a band: a dip then reads as a dip, not a verdict, and a kept rhythm reads as a form.
4 min read
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Essay
Your productivity system is procrastinating
Tweaking your setup feels exactly like working and produces nothing. A system's job is to disappear. One question at the end of the day tells you which you did.
3 min read
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Essay
Late is not a failure state
Done late is still done. Scoring a missed date as half-credit makes people drop things they were close to finishing, and running late is the normal case.
5 min read
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Essay
The features we refuse to build
A product is defined as much by what it declines. ogoria refuses leaderboards, badge counts, streak-loss warnings and confetti: each buys a metric with trust.
5 min read