So how do you go about building a habit of drawing daily? This post discusses some actionable tips on how you can go about doing so.

1. Plan a schedule

Before you dive right into your habit, plan a schedule and fix a time when you will fall back on your drawing habit every day. This time of the day needs to be dedicated to your drawing and no matter how busy you are, this time is not to be committed to any other task.

When you build a rhythm, plan a schedule, and stick to it, you are essentially training your mind and body to expect that same task at the same time every day. This is a great way to build up momentum and set yourself up for success at your new habit of drawing daily.

2. Get supplies you’re excited about

When it comes to buying a sketchbook and art supplies, it will help you immensely if you’re excited about starting to draw every day. The easiest way to make this happen is to invest in good quality accessories that you’re excited to start working with.

Do some research on the types and qualities of sketchbooks available. Every person will have a different taste and different requirements. It might take you some time and several rounds of trial and error to finally zero in on supplies that you work well with, but the journey will be worth it once you reach the destination.

3. Slowly increase the time

The important part of building any habit in general and a daily drawing habit, in particular, is to start small and slowly increase your time as you keep working.

Once you’ve set up a certain momentum and your mind and body know when it’s time to take up drawing every day, you can slowly start increasing the time you spent drawing. Initially, if you spent ten minutes each day, now you can spend fifteen, or even longer. Based on how passionate you are and how much time you can afford, you can set aside a time you’re going to spend on drawing each day.

4. Maintain consistency 

The crucial aspect of habit building is consistency. No matter how talented you are or how passionate about art you feel, it’s important to stick to your habit with dogged determination and not skip even a single day.

The simplest way is to mark off each day you managed to stick to your daily habit of drawing on the calendar. Take a red marker pen and mark a big red cross on the date you stuck to your habit. Seeing a long string of crosses on your calendar will inspire you to keep that streak remain unbroken and act as a huge motivator.

You can, of course, turn to technology to help you with it. Download a free habit tracker and do the same exercise you were doing with your calendar. The app will give you notifications and prompts to remind you if you missed it. This is a wonderful way to push yourself ahead on this journey of habit building.

5. Hold yourself accountable 

Having an accountability buddy works wonders when you’re trying to build any new habit. You need to talk about your ambition to trusted friends and family members. Ask them to help you keep track of your goals and simply check in with them every day about whether or not you were successful in stick to your new habit.

Another powerful way you can incorporate into your life is to get yourself an accountability coach. These are professionals trained in habit building and consistency. Having an expert to cheer you on and support you as you undertake this new journey can be an incredible resource most people often make the mistake of overlooking.

At the end of the day, it comes down to determination. Some days might be harder than others. But if you push through the worst of times, you’ll find yourself bestowed with unexpected rewards at random times. And after all, the best gift you can give yourself is an up gradation of your skills. Sticking to your new habit of drawing daily will help you achieve that.

Researchers from all over the globe have established that looking at screens at night might be sabotaging your sleep. Studies have shown that being exposed to the blue and white light given off by phones, laptops, and other electronic gadgets at night prevents our brains from releasing melatonin, a hormone that tells our bodies it’s nighttime. That means it takes us longer to fall asleep. Researchers think that so many years of delaying sleep can mess with our internal body clocks.

Experts suggest stopping using any device for roughly an hour before falling asleep. Assuming every healthy adult needs eight hours of sleep each night and getting up at 7 AM is a great habit, you need to fall asleep by 11 PM each night. That’s why you need to stop using any screen after 10 PM.

Yes, it’s a great habit and yes, it’s going to be super hard. But how are you going to achieve something like this? This post discusses how you can make sure you don’t use any screens after 10 PM each night.

1. Know this is going to be hard

No matter who you are or what you do, avoiding screens at night is going to be hard. Train your brain to understand this shortcoming of yours and don’t be too hard on yourself. 

Think of it as a challenge and gamify it so you can reward yourself with something you truly desire or crave so you don’t fall into the trap of not doing what you’re supposed to. Forgive yourself for not sticking to goals, but have the determination to keep pushing on. One bad day doesn’t mean you failed at the habit. One bad day means you simply need to pick yourself up and keep pushing ahead so you know you’ve got it in you to become the best version of yourself.

2. This isn’t the end of your social life

Another major reason stopping you from achieving what you want might be the fear of missing out on what’s going on in your social media channels. But contrary to your fear, staying away from screens is not going to hamper your social life. 

You can use the extra time to connect with your family, your pet, your children, or even catch up on reading a book. Sure, you aren’t being socially active when you’re reading, but books fill your head with exciting ideas that you can use as conversation starters when you next meet people.

3. Get an accountability partner

No matter how hard you’re pushing yourself, doing something so big and challenging all by yourself can get tough at times. To make sure you don’t lose motivation midway, have a friend who is working on the same sleep goals. If you stay with a friend or roommate, try and get them on board. This is a great way to ensure you get good sleep and take care of your body as well.

If you aren’t able to find a friend working towards the same sleep goals, you can hire an accountability coach to help you keep on track. They are trained professionals who will hold you accountable each day and make sure you don’t fall off the wagon even if you are demotivated.

You can also download a habit tracker where you check off the days on the calendar when you managed to stick to your goal of staying away from screens after 10 PM each night. You’ll soon start craving for an unbroken streak. This can act as a great trigger and a cue for your body and mind to start your habit immediately. Soon, the idea of scrolling through your phone for a few minutes before sleeping will no longer look so attractive. 

It gives you new ideas and helps your store information better. When you read a lot of books, you can connect the new ideas with the older ones already stored in your brain and you can form connections that will expand your intellectual horizons. 

That’s why reading is not simply a hobby. It’s a superpower. But even though we know how important it is to read books, we never manage to find time to fit in in our schedule. This post discusses some tips you can apply right now to read a book for thirty minutes each day without making any major changes to your schedule. Read on to know to build this amazing new habit that will result in rich dividends down the line.

1. Read before going to bed

A wonderful tactic to reduce your screentime as well as getting more reading done is to replace your phone with a book at bedtime. The next time you retire for the day, keep your phone in another room and take a book or an e-reader instead.

This way, you get some reading done before going to sleep and make sure that the time you would have otherwise spent mindlessly scrolling through social media is doing something productive.

2. Read after waking up

Another benefit of going to sleep with a book by your side is that you won’t have your phone at your bedside to check your notifications when you wake up the next day. Instead, you can pick up your book and start reading from where you last left the story.

Reading before starting your day is a great way to fill your mind with positivity and buzzing your consciousness with ideas.

4. Read while having meals

Practicing mindfulness while eating is great, but an effective way to get more reading done is to keep your e-reader propper up in front of you while having a meal. While this isn’t a great strategy if you share your mealtimes with family or friends, but can be a great way to dispel the loneliness and get the most out of your meal times if you live alone.

I’d have suggested keeping a book open while you eat, but turning the pages is hard with one hand, especially if you’re reading a paperback. And thus, having an e-reader solved the problem.

5. Set a reading goal

Websites like Goodreads are a great way to challenge yourself to read a fixed number of books each year. They have the option where you can set a reading goal each year and mark your progress as you complete each book.

Since Goodreads is a form of social media for book lovers, it’s also a great way to hold yourself accountable and meet fellow book-lover friends.

6. Track your reading habit

This is slightly different from the previous step. While in the previous step, you mark off each book you finish as you inch towards completing your reading goal; here, you congratulate yourself for sticking to your reading habit each day of the week. The former focuses on reading more books while the current one is focused on building a reading habit.

You can download a habit tracker and start marking how many pages you read each day. This will help you feel accomplished for small achievements and serve as an invaluable tool towards keeping you more accountable for your reading goals.

Waking up early is a great way to keep up your spirits and feel energized for the rest of the day by putting in minimal effort. So many people from across hundreds of countries have expressed interest to wake up at 6.30 AM every day. 

Even though this is such an important habit, several people struggle to accomplish this. This post discusses seven easy steps you can apply to your life right now to wake up at 6.30 AM each morning. These are science-backed tips you can add to your life from today onwards and watch the visible change it brings to your overall physical and mental health.

1. Shift your bedtime a few hours earlier

Getting up early might seem like such a chore, but sleeping early is much easier. Shift your bedtime a few hours earlier and see the magic for yourself. This will train your body to wake up early.

If you go to bed late each day, forcing yourself to wake up early might be a health risk as most adults need 7–8 hours of sleep each night. But going to bed early will make sure you don’t sleep less, while at the same time enable you to wake up early.

2. Don’t use any devices before bed

Keep your phone, computer, or iPad in another room before coming to bed. This way, you won’t be distracted and keep checking notifications each time you get reminded of something. Also, science has proved time and again that the light from screens damages the quality of your sleep.

You can get rid of this problem with a simple step: unplug all your devices before going to bed and keep them in a separate room.

3. Eat nothing at least 2 hours before going to bed

Late-night snacking could be your biggest enemy. It’s easy to confuse exhaustion with hunger, so even if you crave that delicious snack before going to bed, be strong-willed and say no to the craving.

Several studies have proven that late-night snacks can cause acid reflux and interfere with the quality of your sleep. They can also make you feel worse about yourself, leading to overthinking which might not let you sleep on time.

4. Sleep with your curtains open

While this might seem like an extreme measure, this is a great way to wake up early in the morning without having to set an alarm clock.

The natural light coming in through the windows would wake you up better than any alarm tone, and also leave you feeling energized and excited throughout the day.

5. Place your alarm clock across the room

Again, this might seem like an extreme step, but keeping your alarm across the room will push you get out of bed if you want to get rid of that annoying alarm tone the first thing in the morning.

As you get out of bed, you get a chance to stretch your limbs, while will help you rub some of that sleep off your eyes. This can also be an exceptionally valuable routine if you keep multiple alarms, and have to jump out of bed every five minutes to turn each of them off.

6. Set a night routine

A night routine might sound like a chore, but do it right, and it can be the biggest act of self-care you indulge in throughout the day.

A night routine can be something as simple as reading a book for thirty minutes each night. Or you can even incorporate elaborate tasks like lighting a candle, washing your face and wearing a face mask, etc.

It depends upon you what routine you pick. Either way, you’ll have something to look forward to each night, and the routine will train your body to feel tired and immediately fall asleep once it’s complete.

7. Track your waking up early habits

Using a habit tracker to mark the days you woke up early can be an excellent way to make sure you don’t fall off the wagon. Seeing a streak of several days would be an excellent motivation to keep pushing yourself. It can also serve as a reminder of what you are capable of and how much remains to be done before you can reach where you’re supposed to.

This article discusses five simple steps you can adopt right now to make daily journaling a part of your routine.

1. Know your WHY

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

While Nietzsche’s quote is on a deeper, more spiritual level, it can be applied to simple tasks. If you know why you want to journal, you’ll have a much easier time sticking to it and making it a part of your schedule.

Understand why you want to journal. Maybe you want to organize your day or outline your tasks for a fixed period, or maybe there’s an issue bothering you that you want to get off your chest. You can solve all these and more by journaling. Once you know your WHY, you can be rock-solid in your resolve and not get deterred by small hurdles along the way.

2. Decide on what to write about

Based on the core idea behind including a daily journaling habit in your schedule, you can decide what to write about.

For example, if your purpose is to get a clear idea about your goals in life and how to achieve them, you can go on an intense self-reflection journey by writing the answers to prompts like:

• What skills do I have that align with my goals?
• How do I achieve the goals within a short period of time?
• What else do I need to learn to turn my dream into reality?
• What are the steps needed before I can execute the next phase of the plan?

These are some examples, but you can keep thinking about similar questions and focus your energies on that manner. 

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3. Find a comfortable way that suits you

There are several ways to use a journal. Some use it as a planner, while others use it to write down ideas, to-do lists, and deep self-reflection prompts. You can find a way that works for you depending on why you want to do it. When you know the reason, the way to use your journal effectively will come to you automatically.

Pick a way that fits your schedule and stick to it every day. There’s no secret formula in succeeding in your daily journaling habit. All it takes is a bit of extra effort and some willpower.

4. Set aside a fixed time

Many people swear that mornings are the best time to write in your journal. Your head is clear, and you get a perspective on how you want your day to pan out. However, not everyone can afford the luxury to set aside a few minutes each morning to journal your thoughts. That’s why many daily journalers also do it in the evenings or at night right before going to bed. The argument is that you can sort through your thoughts at the end of a long day and focus on the most positive and uplifting ones.

You pick a schedule that works for you and sit down to journal at that fixed time. It doesn’t have to align with what the world says is right. As long as it suits your needs and fulfills your goals, you can make this a habit.

5. Hold yourself accountable 

Find a friend to do it with so you can keep track of your daily progress and make sure you don’t relapse. In case you can’t find anyone trustworthy, you can also hire an accountability coach from the directory here at coach.me.

You can also download a habit tracker for free to keep track of the days you managed to accomplish your daily journaling goal. Tracking your progress is a wonderfully effective way to hold yourself accountable.

A wonderful tactic to reduce your screentime as well as getting more reading done is to replace your phone with a book at bedtime. The next time you retire for the day, keep your phone in another room and take a book or an e-reader instead.

This way, you get some reading done before going to sleep and make sure that the time you would have otherwise spent mindlessly scrolling through social media is doing something productive.

2. Read after waking up

Another benefit of going to sleep with a book by your side is that you won’t have your phone at your bedside to check your notifications when you wake up the next day. Instead, you can pick up your book and start reading from where you last left the story. 

Reading before starting your day is a great way to fill your mind with positivity and buzzing your consciousness with ideas.

3. Read while having meals

Practicing mindfulness while eating is great, but an effective way to get more reading done is to keep your e-reader propper up in front of you while having a meal. While this isn’t a great strategy if you share your mealtimes with family or friends, but can be a great way to dispel the loneliness and get the most out of your meal times if you live alone. 

I’d have suggested keeping a book open while you eat, but turning the pages is hard with one hand, especially if you’re reading a paperback. And thus, having an e-reader solved the problem.

4. Listen to an audiobook while doing menial chores

When you’re occupied in tasks that don’t demand much mental space and energy, listen to an audiobook. This is a brilliant idea to make sure your mood stays upbeat while completing a chore you hate while also getting some reading done.

If you feel audiobooks aren’t your thing, many audiobook services provide a free 30-day trial. You can create an account, sign up for a free trial, and start listening to your favorite books today.

5. Join a book club

An in-person book club is a great way to read more books. However, if our city is in lockdown or you’re unable to step out of the house for whatever reasons, you can join an online book club.

Most book clubs have a simple agenda — they assign a specific book each month and have timely discussions based on various chapters and characters. This is a great way to reiterate what you’ve learned while at the same time finding other book lovers to befriend and bond with.

6. Set a reading goal

Websites like Goodreads are a great way to challenge yourself to read a fixed number of books each year. They have the option where you can set a reading goal each year and mark your progress as you complete each book.

Since Goodreads is a form of social media for book lovers, it’s also a great way to hold yourself accountable and meet fellow book-lover friends. 

7. Track your reading habit

This is slightly different from the previous step. While in the previous step, you mark off each book you finish as you inch towards completing your reading goal; here, you congratulate yourself for sticking to your reading habit each day of the week. The former focuses on reading more books while the current one is focused on building a reading habit. 

You can download a habit tracker and start marking how many pages you read each day. This will help you feel accomplished for small achievements and serve as an invaluable tool towards keeping you more accountable for your reading goals. 

There are infinite ways to journal and here are a few that you can try today:

Gratitude Journal

Gratitude journals are as simple as they seem: write down the people, places, things, or moments that you’re grateful for each day. You can write about one thing, many things, and even micro-journal using the note feature on Lift. Practicing gratitude daily makes you a better person, too: people who keep gratitude journals are more likely to do good deeds for friends and strangers than people who don’t.

Write Three Positive Things Each Day

Reflecting on the positive moments of your day has been shown to decrease depression and increase happiness. It’s takes just a few minutes every night to keep up this kind of journal. Pro tip: sharing your positive moments with your partner can be a great bonding exercise (Lift’s CEO Tony does this).

Keep a Food/Meal Journal

Food journals are traditionally used in diet programs to help people track what they eat, but food can be a great prompt for writing about the many human experiences that revolve around food, too. You can write about the conversation you had with a colleague over lunch, a new cooking adventure in the kitchen, or your Missed Connection at the coffee shop.

Write About Your Feelings

Writing is a free form of therapy. It’s easy to live your life in autopilot without pausing to reflect on how you feel. Taking a moment every day to write about your emotions can help you process them and understand the impact that daily decisions have on your happiness.

Write About Important People in Your Life

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be surrounded by everyone you loved? For 10-30 minutes each day, you can have that experience by writing about them. Make a list of people you who you treasure in your life–family, friends, even strangers–and then write entries about what you remember about them.

Write Gratitude Letters

This is the gratitude journal version of the Important People journal: write letters to people thanking them for making a difference in your life. This can be a very emotional exercise, so keep that in mind as you pace yourself (and keep a box of tissues handy). You can keep these letters to yourself, or if you’re brave, send them out.

Make a Dream File

Spend 10-20 minutes each day writing about your dreams and how you’re achieving them. What are your goals in the next week, year, or decade? What do you want to achieve in your lifetime? What goals would you shoot for if you didn’t care about what other people thought and didn’t have to worry about money or responsibilities? Write these thoughts down. Forcing yourself to write down your goals is usually the first step in achieving them.

Keep a Traditional Diary

Keep all of the options open by writing a traditional diary. Write a chronological list of what happened today or hone in on a specific moment. I always found that naming my diary helped the writing flow better, since I much prefer conversation to any other type of communication (even writing!). My diary’s name is Rupert and he’s been a supportive force since 2004.

We just added Questions & Answers to Lift where you get advice from other journal writers or give some yourself. If you have a question about journaling or advice to give, please share it. Here’s one popular question: What is the best time to write in your journal?