At the beginning of 2019, I bought a five years diary book for myself. With this diary, I can record my daily events and remember those of previous years at the same time. It has a separate page for each day of the year, and each page is divided into five sections for me to fill in on the same date over five successive years. I really want to keep track of my life, reflect my days and see how I grows in five years. But it is so hard to write it on a daily basis. I always forgot to write it and had to make up for previous days. It kinds of lose the point when I do that. In order to develop this tiny habit, I created a system based on my motivation, ability and the triggers to do it.
Motivation: My motivation is to see how myself grows by looking at my diary 5 years later. I also want to have one moment to reflect at the end of the day. I believe writing diary helps me have a clear mind of what I have done and what I want/will do. Ability: I have very high ability to write a diary everyday. Even if I am so tired at some days, I can still write few lines or even few words instead to summarize my day. Trigger: Instead of putting it on my study desk, I put it next to my bed, right below the light switch with a bright purple pen attached to it. So every night before I go to bed, I will always see the diary first and write it before I sleep. I also convinced my roommate to buy the same diary book. So seeing her writing the diary is also a trigger for me to do the same.