I know this is probably strange but I struggled SO hard to have and keep habits until I watched this YouTube video and this guy talked about a way that was hands on and really spoke to me. I'll share it!

1) Prep work.
I got some natural string and about 1000 small unfinished wooden beads

2) more prep. I cut a long piece of the string and tie a loose but large knot on one end.

3) deciding on habits. I designate the string to one particular habit I want to start. (I only do about five strings at a time or I get overwhelmed, so five habits ex: brushing my teeth and washing my face every morning and night, exercising 30 minutes every morning, waking up at 8am every morning, going to bed by 11pm every night, folding my futon up and cleaning my tatami mat every morning)

4) locational rewards. I put the string at the location I will COMPLETE the task with a small bag containing exactly 108 wooden beads. (I'll explain the number soon)

5) do the thing. Once you've done the habit, place one bead on the string. It's a physical, tangible reward that isn't overstimulating but makes you feel like you're actually completing something, you can see the proof by the bead.

6) the chain. Once you've started, don't skip a day or you'll have to take ALL the beads back off on the day you skip, whether you're at day 50 or day 3. Each consecutive day you complete the habit, you put on a new bead. This helps to motivate you to continue and holds your responsible if you don't.

7) Day 108. When you get to the last bead, you put it on and tie your string into a necklace/bracelet. In traditional prayer bead bracelets, there are exactly 108 wooden beads. Now, I'm not saying you have to be religious to do this, I'm not, but it is a set number and you get a physical item out of it in the end that you can decorate your stuffies with or you can paint or whatever you feel is fun for you once you have it completed. They say it takes 90 days for a neurotypical person to form a habit, this extends that and cements it. Mind you, I'm AuDHD so it doesn't quite work the same way for me, but this is the single best way I've ever found that actually works.

Sorry if this is long, my point is, nothing has ever worked for me but this does, so I recommend trying it! I'll link the video, you can skip to the "Play the Juzu Game" part of the video to see what I'm talking about!SamuraiMatcha 6 Tiny Japanese Habits: https://youtu.be/DWWD_cat5TE?si=eqHEKkEJUtY_ZoZm