I have found it tremendously useful to start out my workout routine by dancing. Dancing is so fun that I am always looking forward to doing it. I want to dance, and I frequently run into the problem that it is hard to stop. After dancing I do the rest of my workout routine which is very boring in comparison. But it is really not a problem to get started on them after the dancing.
I expect this because I have developed a habit, i.e. my brain saved a procedure “execute workout” which is a sequence of instructions that I run through, without thinking about them. Because there is no decision point, you don’t need to make the right decision. Doing the right thing (continuing the workout) becomes automatic.
The difficult part is to start the workout. Starting the workout by dancing solves this problem. I expect this technique to generalize widely. If you want to do some activity regularly, then start it with something very fun. This overcomes the barrier to starting. Engraining the habit that encodes the activity itself will then be much easier.
It might not be required that all the activities are related to each other. Maybe it would work to watch one episode of your favorite TV, and then do some boring workout, as long as you are very consistent about stopping and then doing the workout long enough for the habit to form.
With dancing and sports, this is relatively easy to form the habit. You are either gonna do the boring workout immediately after dancing or not at all because showering twice would be a waste of time (at least that is how I feel about it). Therefore I recommend looking for synergies like this in other habits.
I have found it tremendously useful to start out my workout routine by dancing. Dancing is so fun that I am always looking forward to doing it. I want to dance, and I frequently run into the problem that it is hard to stop. After dancing I do the rest of my workout routine which is very boring in comparison. But it is really not a problem to get started on them after the dancing.
I expect this because I have developed a habit, i.e. my brain saved a procedure “execute workout” which is a sequence of instructions that I run through, without thinking about them. Because there is no decision point, you don’t need to make the right decision. Doing the right thing (continuing the workout) becomes automatic.
The difficult part is to start the workout. Starting the workout by dancing solves this problem. I expect this technique to generalize widely. If you want to do some activity regularly, then start it with something very fun. This overcomes the barrier to starting. Engraining the habit that encodes the activity itself will then be much easier.
It might not be required that all the activities are related to each other. Maybe it would work to watch one episode of your favorite TV, and then do some boring workout, as long as you are very consistent about stopping and then doing the workout long enough for the habit to form.
With dancing and sports, this is relatively easy to form the habit. You are either gonna do the boring workout immediately after dancing or not at all because showering twice would be a waste of time (at least that is how I feel about it). Therefore I recommend looking for synergies like this in other habits.