Habits: The Strategy of Scheduling

The Strategy of Scheduling, of setting a specific, regular time for an activity to recur, is one of the most familiar and powerful strategies of habit-formation—and it's one of my favorites. Scheduling makes us far more likely to convert an activity into a habit (well, except for Rebels), so, for that reason, I schedule even some slightly ridiculous habits, such as "Kiss my husband every morning and every night."

Habits grow strongest and fastest when they're repeated in predictable ways, and for most of us, putting an activity on the schedule tends to lock us into doing it.

Scheduling also forces us to confront the day's limits. I remind myself that I have plenty of time for the things that are important to me—but not for things that aren't important. It's tempting to pretend that I could do everything, if only I got the "balance" right, but scheduling requires choices. Scheduling one activity makes that time unavailable for anything else. Which is good—especially for people who have trouble saying "no."

Every week, Eliza and I go on a "Wednesday afternoon adventure" (though we're not particularly adventurous, and usually end up at a museum). Especially now that Eliza is in the tricky teenage years, I want to make sure we have some pleasant time together each week. So I put our adventure on the schedule, and if I'm asked to do anything that would interfere, I say automatically, "I'm not available at that time." Scheduling makes activities automatic—which builds habits.

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Gretchen Rubin is the co-host of the top-ranked, award-winning Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast. One of the most thoughtful and influential voices on the subjects of happiness, habits, and human nature, she’s the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including “The Happiness Project,” “The Four Tendencies,” and “Better Than Before”. She lives in New York City with her family.
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