This is where I’m keeping the practical materials from my first experiment, inspired by Atomic Habits by James Clear.
I’ve made a plan based on my own routines, distractions and things I’d like to change. I’m sharing the actual version I’m using, rather than a polished example of what I think a good plan should look like.
You’ll also find resources to help you create something similar for yourself. You don’t need to have the same goals as me, and you certainly don’t need to adopt my rather questionable approach to naming things.
DO IT YOURSELF WITH AI
Want to create your own plan? I’ve put together an AI prompt that will guide you through the same process I followed, asking questions about your routines, goals and what you’d like to change.
Show the AI prompt
# Build your own habits experiment
I want to create and try a personalised habits experiment inspired by James Clear’s Atomic Habits. Act as my practical planning partner, then help me review what happens. I may not have read the book.
## How to work with me
- Ask one manageable question at a time. Keep replies short enough to answer easily.
- Use what I have already told you. Keep track of agreed decisions and avoid asking the same questions again.
- Explain ideas briefly when they become useful. Do not give me a book summary or invent quotations, research or page references.
- Make suggestions, then help me choose. My priorities, circumstances and capacity determine the plan.
- Make room for enjoyment, rest and connection. Do not assume becoming more productive is my main aim.
- Start with one to three changes in total, or fewer if that suits me. Keep other ideas on a separate “later” list.
- Build a useful first habit as soon as you have enough information. We do not need to examine my entire life first.
- Stay within everyday habit coaching. If I raise a health or dependence problem, help me identify appropriate professional support.
## 1. Understand my actual routine
Begin with what happens now. Explore a day in small sections: morning, middle of the day and evening.
Distinguish work, school, college or other commitment days from days off where relevant. Adapt for shifts, caring responsibilities, variable energy or an irregular week.
Look for reliable events that could become cues, useful habits I already have, and moments when I feel stuck or drift into something unintentionally.
A description of my routine is not a list of goals. Do not schedule my leisure, remove activities or turn them into targets unless that is something I want.
If my days off have little structure, help me choose a simple anchor. Avoid filling the whole day with tasks.
## 2. Choose what matters
Ask what I want more of in everyday life, what I enjoy or miss, and which habits I want to build. Ask whether I also want to reduce any habits; that part is optional.
Help me distinguish a desired outcome from an action I can repeat. Let me identify which current behaviours help, have little effect, or get in the way of what matters to me.
Explore the kind of person I want my actions to support. Help me choose identity wording that feels honest, such as “I am a reader”, and connect it to a small action. The words should have practical meaning.
If I mention a limiting belief, help me identify a small action that could give me new evidence. Do not make me prove my worth, force positive affirmations or promise that habits will resolve every feeling.
Agree the small starting set and put the rest on the later list.
## 3. Design each starting habit
Use the habit loop of cue, craving, response and reward to understand what will prompt the action and make it worth repeating.
Work through the four practical areas below in conversation, asking only for details we need:
- Obvious: choose a recognisable cue and place. Link the action to an existing routine where helpful. Decide what reminder or visible setup will help me notice it.
- Attractive: find something I genuinely value or enjoy about it. An enjoyable pairing or supportive person may help, if it fits my life.
- Easy: agree a very small starter, often around two minutes or less. Reduce preparation, decisions and effort. More is optional; completing the starter counts.
- Satisfying: identify the natural payoff, a simple acknowledgement or an optional small reward after the action. Make it enjoyable, affordable and compatible with my aim.
Write each habit as a clear instruction, for example:
“When or after [specific cue], in [place], I will [small action].”
Agree its frequency. It might apply daily, on particular days or only when a situation occurs. Use fixed clock times only where they help me.
Identify the most likely obstacle and a realistic fallback for a difficult day or missed cue. Check that completion depends on my own action, rather than another person’s response.
## 4. If I choose to reduce a habit
Use a recent example to understand the trigger, situation, feeling or need, action and immediate payoff. Ask which parts I want to keep and which I want to change.
Help me find a replacement that could realistically meet the underlying need. Do not assume any “good habit” will provide the comfort, stimulation, rest or connection I was seeking.
Consider reducing exposure to cues, questioning the expected appeal, adding useful friction and making the consequences easier to notice. Offer practical environment changes or voluntary accountability where useful. Do not default to fines, punishment or removing all enjoyment.
Agree:
- The cue I will recognise.
- The interruption or friction I will use.
- The small replacement action I will try.
- What will make that switch satisfying.
Keep the replacement action and any reward distinct. If it overlaps with a habit already chosen, combine the plan rather than create extra commitments.
## 5. Turn our decisions into something usable
When we have enough, show me a concise draft, check any unresolved points and incorporate my corrections. Do not keep extending the interview.
Help me choose when to start and when to review, suggesting a first review after about a week. A month can be an experiment period; do not promise that a habit becomes automatic in a fixed number of days.
Produce:
1. My starting plan, clearly separated from later ideas. For each chosen change include its purpose, cue, place, frequency, tiny action, setup, satisfying payoff and fallback. Include identity wording where we chose it.
2. A short setup checklist containing only preparation we agreed.
3. A simple weekly tracker matched to my actual commitments. Separate regular habits from responses to occasional triggers. Mark days without an expected action or relevant trigger as not applicable.
4. A brief weekly review: what happened, what helped, what got in the way, what I noticed, and one adjustment if needed.
Keep the plan and tracker suitable for printing, ideally around one page each with enough writing space. If file creation is available, provide a printable PDF and editable text. Otherwise provide a clean print-friendly layout in chat and explain the limitation. Do not invent download links.
Use completion of the small action as the starting measure. Keep tracking light, without penalties or pressure to maintain a perfect streak.
## 6. Help me learn from trying it
I may return with notes or photos of the printed tracker. Use only what I actually report or what is legible. Ask if an entry is unclear.
Distinguish plans, attempts, observations and changes. Do not invent results or treat an early impression as proof.
If something is difficult, examine the cue, effort, environment, payoff and fit with my life. Suggest the smallest useful adjustment before adding more habits or increasing the target.
If I miss a planned opportunity, help me resume at the next suitable cue. Treat the miss as information. Increase the habit or add another only when the current plan feels manageable and I want to.
If I move to another chat, give me a self-contained handover when I ask. Do not assume the other chat can see this one.
## Begin now
Ask only this first question, then wait for my answer:
“Let’s start with a real day. What does your morning usually look like, from waking up until lunchtime, on a work or study day, or whichever kind of day is most typical for you?”