Objective: At the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to reflect, develop, and refine personalized time and stress management habits using evidence-based strategies.
In the previous lessons, you have reflected critically on your priorities (Lesson 1), explored key time and stress management theories (Lesson 2), evaluated practical tools and strategies (Lesson 3), and begun applying them by setting a personalized SMART goal (Lesson 4).
Before reflecting on the knowledge acquired so far and using it to set and work on your habits, you are invited to reflect on the homework from the past week.
- Did you achieve your SMART goal from Lesson 4? Why or why not?
- What obstacles did you face? (e.g., procrastination, distractions, poor time estimation)
- How did your chosen strategy (Time Blocking, Pomodoro, etc.) help or hinder your progress?
Habit formation research shows that on average it takes 66 days to form a habit. Therefore, missing a day, or not reaching one goal doesn’t ruin your progress, since it’s consistency that matters more than perfect achievement already at the start. Therefore, even if your SMART goal didn’t work, adjust, don’t quit. This lesson will hopefully give you further information and inspiration on how to make that happen. And if you, indeed, reached your SMART goal, congrats, good job!:) Now let’s see how you could build some healthy, sustainable habits as well.
The Science of Habits
Research shows that habits form through a predictable “habit loop”: a cue (trigger), a routine (behavior), and a reward (positive reinforcement). For example, when your phone is buzzing (cue), you pick up the phone, unlock it, and probably end up scrolling the social media (routine), which ends up in a dopamine hit (reward). To change unproductive patterns, you first must identify these loops.
As mentioned, it takes an average of 66 days to form a habit (range: 18-254 days), where consistency matters more than perfection. In this case, an introduction of “tiny habits” may help with this. When you begin with habits that include only an absurdly small amount of dedication (e.g., “2 minutes of meditation per day”), you reduce resistance and maximize the possibility of continuing the progress in the period needed to develop a habit. Hereby, “habit stacking”, a pairing of new behaviors with existing routines, could come in, where the newly set habits could be incorporated in your already set daily schedules. For example, incorporating breathwork in your life would be much more likely to succeed, if you combine it with something you already do on a daily basis (e.g. brushing your teeth).
Image 1: Clear, J. (June 14th, 2025). Start small [Infographic]. James Clear. Reprinted from How to build new habits: This is your strategy guide. Retrieved [June 14th, 2025], from https://jamesclear.com/habit-guide
Environment design is equally critical. To make good habits inevitable, it is important to remove as much distraction as possible (e.g. keeping your phone in another room while working) and put yourself in an environment that cultivates the good, not the bad.
Exercise: Map one unproductive habit using the cue-routine-reward framework, then brainstorm how to disrupt it (e.g., turning off notifications to break the “phone pickup” habit).
Habit Challenges
Now, let’s put theory into practice. Choose one of these evidence-backed challenges to implement for the next 5-7 day:
- Pomodoro Mastery: Every day, study with structured intervals of 25/5 or 50/10 pomodoro time blocks and track the completed sessions with apps like Toggl.
- Time Blocking Trial: Every day, assign calendar blocks for tasks and organize your time according to the Time Blocking method, discussed in Lesson 2.
- Mindfulness Habit: Every day, take at least 10 minutes to practice your mindfulness. Use apps like Headspace for guidance.
- Screen Detox: Every day, reduce your screentime to under 1 hour. Apps like Forest block distracting sites. By eliminating the “cue” (e.g. message alerts), you can weaken the habit loop and help reduce the screentime.
At the end of each day, ask yourself:
- Did I complete the habit I wanted to?
- What made it easier/harder (e.g. “Time blocking worked when I did it after morning coffee.”)
- How did I feel afterwards? (e.g. “Mindfulness exercises helped me to calm down.”)
Long-Term Habit Planning
To keep your habits beyond this week, create a Habit Blueprint:
- Cue: Anchor to an existing routine (e.g. “Every morning when I pour my morning coffee I…”)
- Tiny Habit: Start small (“…I’ll open my planner and plan my day using time blocking”)
- Reward: Reinforce positively (“… and then enjoy my first sip of the coffee”)
The habit forming progress is more realistic and more likely to be achieved, if you make a plan for what you do, if something goes in an unexpected way. For example: “If I’m too tired to Time Block, I’ll just list my top 3 tasks instead”.
Task: Pair up with a classmate, discuss the habits you wish to develop, and the plan you made to get you there, and finally, celebrate the small wins!!
Sources
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones. Avery.
Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998–1009. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.674
Psychology Today. (n.d.). Habit formation. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/habit-formation