Reflecting on my earlier post about reminders, there was one important angle I ran out of space to cover.
That’s the importance of giving yourself the option to turn off the reminder when it’s not right for you.
As I’ve mentioned, I am trying to establish a daily yoga practice to help me relax, sleep and build mobility. I do it just before bed which is always tricky as when we’re tired it’s hard to get started. So I have a phone reminder set. On Monday I chose to turn it off – I was tired from a busy day at my new job and a pleasant evening with friends, and had a busy day again the next day. So it was more important for me to get to bed in good time – plus I knew I was tired enough to sleep well without my yoga!
So I chose to turn the reminder off before it pinged, and gave myself grace to skip my habit that day.
It’s odd, but choosing turning off a reminder feels different to ignoring it. And the effect it has on your habits is different.
If you ignore a reminder or put it off until it’s too late, that undermines the habit you’re trying to build, and reinforces your image of yourself as someone who doesn’t keep your promises to yourself.
But if you consciously decide “not today”, you’re maintaining your commitment to the habit even while recognising it wasn’t possible that day.
It’s the difference between consciously turning your alarm off because it’s the weekend and you need a lie in, rather than leaving it on and keeping hitting snooze.
The habit still doesn’t get done, and you’ll probably want to fix that. But crucially, you’ll feel better about yourself, and be more likely to make it happen tomorrow.
What reminders might you need to give yourself grace to ignore?
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