Seems like a great idea/book, but I've never managed to make any of the advice work, despite trying pretty hard. I suspect this has something to do with having ADHD. In general there are a ton of productivity books out there that seem to be great advice, but are missing some steps that make it possible to implement for some people with ADHD.
In the same category, I also love the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport, but also haven't gotten much real world traction from it.
Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg might be a better book for you. The key to building habits is to start with a habit that is ridiculously small and once you feel like you've got that locked in, you can add another ridiculously small habit on top of it.
e.g. To build a flossing habit, floss just one tooth a day. Once you've got into the habit of pulling out floss and flossing just one tooth, you can move onto flossing two teeth and so on.
If at any point you feel resistance to doing the bigger habit you're trying to build up, you can always revert back to doing the initial tiny habit of flossing just one tooth.
I'll take a look at it, but after years of basically trying every productivity hack and book on the planet with no success, I've decided to mostly limit myself to productivity tools written by and for people with ADHD. Is there a specific reason you think this version is more effective with ADHD?
A small habit isn't easier for me, because the difficulty of the task isn't the obstacle: I simply don't seem to have the part of the brain other people have, where they can choose what they are going to be doing.
It feels sort of like people are trying to tell me I could just walk through a doorway if I exercised a tiny bit to get in good enough shape to just walk a few feet like they do... but actually I have a brick wall where everyone else has a doorway, and I'm already 10 times stronger than they are from trying to push against a solid brick wall for years, but still can't walk through a brick wall.
I think there needs to be some feedback that the goal is sustainable, one tooth a day to an adhd mind is just as bad as not doing anything as it's still a very tall staircase to climb. Too granular a step
There is a reward at the end. That is an important requirement for this method.
It’s easy to try this out in a little more structured way and with assistance. Tiny habits [1] has a free five day program where you can try it and seek assistance from a person trained in this method. I tried it and it didn’t really stick for me, but I wouldn’t say that it was a total waste of my time. I could relate to the advice and I plan to read the book sometime.
In the same category, I also love the book "Deep Work" by Cal Newport, but also haven't gotten much real world traction from it.