Making Habits Stick With The iPad

Good habits are the key to a successful life. Bad habits can take you to dark places or keep you stuck. Learning to create a new habit and how to make it stick is a valuable tool that you can use to mold your life. But how can you complete a new habit in the long term? And how can you use your iPad Mini 6^th generation?

1. Start Small

A new habit feels big. Whether you want to wake up at 5 am, read more books in a year, work out more or start a second business, starting it can seem monumental. It feels like a tiny step at the foot of a mountain, which can be overwhelming. You see yourself slogging through or doing everything to motivate yourself to commit. However, motivation is not the key. Starting small or baby steps is. Research has shown that the best way to pick up a new habit is to make it so small that there is no effort. Start by reading one page a day or waking up just 15 minutes earlier. Do only one push-up or 15 minutes of your workout. The smaller the action, the less you need the motivation to do it – especially at the start.

2. Increase It Slowly

An urban legend says Albert Einstein referred to compound interest as the world's eighth wonder. He is quoted as saying that those who do not understand it will end up paying for it. This concept perfectly applies to a new habit. Practicing your new habit daily while slowly increasing it will help you gain compound interest. Start by adding one extra minute to your meditation routine, read two more pages daily, or extend your workout by five minutes. Slowly increasing your daily habit eliminates the need for motivation or willpower.

3. Section Your Habit

Once you increase your habit daily, it will quickly add up. It might even feel too overwhelming sometimes. The best way to make your routine manageable is to break it up. Is a one-hour workout too much to handle? Try sectioning it out into five, or even 10, smaller reps. Instead of ten chapters a day, read five in the morning and five in the afternoon. Are you changing up your food routine? Don’t eat all your protein in one meal – spread it throughout the day.

4. Be Patient

There will be times when you slip up. Or forget. Or fail to show up. That's ok. It happens to everyone—the difference between those who succeed and those who don't is that the former prepare for failure. Successful habit creators know they will fail and plan to get back on track. The faster you get back on track, the quicker you will continue building up the habit. Consistency is one of the critical components of being successful. Combine it with patience, and you've got a winner. Patience will help you make progress. Do it slowly and at a pace that works for you. Sometimes that pace might be even slower than what you predicted. If that is the case, go for it.

5. Use Technology

Your iPad Mini can give you the support you need to make your habits sustainable. You can do this through apps, setting up the desktop, and creating shortcuts.

• Widgets are your friend but are highly underrated. They are way more critical than shortcuts. A widget gives you the information you need at a glance without you needing to open the app. So, for example, adding widgets to your home screen will act as a visual cue to remind you to do something. Put your fitness app as a widget to remind you how many steps you walked today and how many you need to complete.
• Arrange your wallpaper. Use your iPad Mini’s wallpaper to organize your most essential apps on the main screen, Or you can even pop it on the iPad's dock for instant access. Studies show that keeping an object within your line of vision will help act as a constant reminder and help strengthen the habit.
• Use habit tracker apps. These apps have been designed to help you create a habit with the least amount of resistance possible. You can find hundreds of these apps in the App Store. Some provide daily or hourly reminders and a checklist or literature. Some apps also give you access to coaches, professionals, or a support team. 

Related Reading: iPad Accessories: Ins and Outs of the Apple Pencil

The Pomodoro method is a proven successful method to help build a habit. Start by setting a timer for 20 minutes and focus on completing that task without any distractions. Once the time is up, stop and take a break for five minutes. Then set the timer for another 20 minutes. This technique helps you focus entirely on any task while fostering a feeling of accomplishment and discipline. Also, remember the importance of investing in a high-quality iPad Mini 6^th generation case that will protect your device. The Zugu iPad Mini cover gives you ultimate protection while transforming into a kickstand case with eight adjustable angles.