“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”
~ Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
This quote by Warren Buffett is a powerful metaphor about the nature of habits and how they can gradually influence our lives without us realizing it until it becomes difficult to change them.
Poor habits, such as procrastination, multitasking, or unhealthy eating, may start as minor issues but can eventually become major obstacles to success. Similarly, good habits like regular exercise, prioritizing tasks before jumping on your to-do list, or doing a daily review can compound over time to yield benefits.
When it comes to productivity, developing positive habits and breaking negative ones can make a significant impact on our ability to achieve our goals and manage our time effectively. Consistently engaging in productive behaviors, such as focusing on high-priority tasks or maintaining a clutter-free workspace, can lead to better results over time.
One effective method to cultivate these productive habits is the "Don't Break the Chain" technique.
Some people call it the "Seinfeld Strategy" because they think the comedian Jerry Seinfeld came up with it, but he clarified a decade ago that he had nothing to do with creating this technique.
What is the "Don't Break the Chain" technique
The idea behind this technique is to focus on consistency and to avoid breaking the chain of successful days.
Here's how it works:
- Choose a habit or goal you want to work on, such as writing, exercising, or learning a new skill.
- Get a calendar or create a habit tracker where you can mark off each day that you successfully complete your chosen task.
- Set a daily minimum for your task, such as writing for 30 minutes, exercising for 20 minutes, or learning for an hour.
- Each day that you complete your task, mark an "X" on the calendar or fill in your habit tracker.
- Your goal is to create a chain of X's or filled-in days, representing your streak of successful habit completion.
One important point to keep in mind with the "Don't Break the Chain" strategy is that you need to find a task that is both achievable and meaningful.
If you set your daily goal too high, you risk becoming discouraged if you can't meet it consistently. For example, aiming to write 5,000 words every day for your novel might be unsustainable in the long run, especially if you have other commitments.
At the same time, you have to make sure that your task is meaningful enough to help you make progress.
If your aim is to become a better writer, choosing to read about writing techniques each day may be helpful, but actually sitting down and writing, even if it's just a few paragraphs, is likely to be more effective in the long run.
Here are some ideas for tasks that are perfect for the "Don't Break the Chain" technique:
- Spend 30 minutes daily on online courses to improve professional skills.
- Write 500 words per day for your company blog or newsletter.
- Allocate 45 minutes daily to brainstorming ideas for new projects or initiatives.
- Practice a foreign language for 20 minutes.
- Reach out to 5 potential clients or leads.
- Take 10 minutes daily to write down what you did during the day and what can be improved.
- Run for 3 km.
- Don't smoke or drink alcohol.
Why is it an effective technique to build habits
It's incredibly simple
The "Don't Break the Chain" method doesn't require any complicated setup or tools. The concept is easy to grasp: just complete your task every day and visually track your progress by marking each successful day on a calendar. There's no room for confusion or excuses. This simplicity lowers the barrier to getting started and staying consistent with your habit.
It activates your brain's reward system
Every time you complete your task and add another "X" or checkmark to your calendar, you get a small but satisfying sense of achievement. This feeling of accomplishment activates your brain's reward system, releasing dopamine, which reinforces the positive behavior and makes you more likely to repeat it in the future. Over time, this repetition helps cement the habit and makes it feel more automatic and effortless.
It leverages the power of loss aversion
The idea of maintaining an unbroken chain becomes increasingly compelling over time. As your chain grows longer, you become more invested in preserving it. The thought of breaking the chain and losing your hard-earned progress can be a strong motivator to push through procrastination and stick to your habit, even on days when you don't feel like it. This is because humans are naturally loss-averse. We tend to feel the pain of losing something more intensely than the pleasure of gaining something equivalent.
Variations of the technique
The "Don't Break the Chain" technique is versatile and can be applied to various frequency goals, not just daily habits. The core idea is to establish a consistent pattern and avoid breaking the chain of consecutive instances, whether it's days, weeks, or months.
Below are some variations of the technique.
Weekly chain
Instead of trying to do something every single day, you can set a goal to do it at least once every week. This could be useful for habits that are harder to do daily. For example, you could set a weekly chain for reviewing your budget, practicing a new skill, or calling a family member to catch up.
Alternate day chain
Some habits may be too intensive or time-consuming to realistically maintain daily. So you can alternate between doing it one day and skipping the next. If you did the habit today, you'd skip tomorrow, but do it again the day after that. This pattern continues, with you never skipping the habit two days in a row.
Three times a week chain
Instead of aiming for a daily habit, you can complete the desired task a minimum of three times within each week. The specific days can vary, allowing for more flexibility compared to a daily chain.
This variation can be applied to goals, such as:
- Exercise routines (e.g., hitting the gym or going for a run at least 3 times a week)
- Creative pursuits (e.g., writing, painting, or practicing a musical instrument)
- Learning or skill development (e.g., studying a new language or practicing coding exercises)
- Household tasks (e.g., meal prepping or deep cleaning specific areas)
If the 3 times a week chain feels too easy or too challenging, you can adjust the frequency as needed. You could increase it to 4 or 5 times a week, or even transition to a daily chain if the habit becomes well-established.
Monthly chain
Certain activities or goals are better tracked on a monthly basis rather than daily or weekly. So as long as you complete the habit at least one time during each calendar month, you're keeping your chain going.
Examples of tasks fit for a monthly chain:
- Send out a monthly newsletter to your clients or followers
- Update your portfolio or website once a month
- Pitch a new project or idea to your boss or team each month
- Organize and declutter your workspace every month
What to do if you break the chain
If you break the chain, the most important thing is not to get discouraged or give up entirely. Breaking a chain is fairly common, especially when first starting a new habit or routine.
The first step is to take a moment and reflect on why the chain was broken. Was it due to unforeseen circumstances beyond your control, a lack of planning, or perhaps the frequency you set was unrealistic for your lifestyle? Identifying the reason, without dwelling on it excessively, can provide valuable insights.
Once you've pinpointed the cause, the most crucial action is to restart the chain immediately. Don't wait until the next scheduled instance or a new week/month to begin again. The sooner you get back on track, the easier it will be to regain momentum and prevent further lapses.
Throughout this process, it's essential to remind yourself of the "why" – the original motivation for starting this habit or routine. Reconnecting with the benefits and positive impact it has on your life can provide the push you need to get back on track and stay committed.
Get some friends to help keep you accountable. Having a workout buddy to go to the gym with makes it way harder to just skip out. Or if you're trying to read more, tell your family about your reading goal and let them check in on your progress. You could even join and post updates in online communities.
Some good communities on Reddit for habit support are — r/NonZeroDay for motivation to take small steps daily, or r/theXeffect for the specific "don't break the chain" technique.
When other people know about your habit, it adds some helpful peer pressure. It's much easier to slack off if you're just trying to go it totally alone. A little support from others helps provide the motivation to stick with it, even when you don't feel like it some days.
Using tools like habit tracking apps, or daily planning apps (like Sunsama), or physical representations (like marking an X on a wall calendar) can be incredibly helpful. These visual cues reinforce the chain and also serve as a constant motivator to rebuild and maintain it.
Most importantly, don't be too hard on yourself. Habits are hard to change for a reason. When you slip up, move past the guilt quickly.
Using Sunsama to build consistent habits
Sunsama is a daily planning app that helps you plan a calm and focused day. It's designed to help you prioritize tasks, stay focused, and work on your goals. You can use Sunsama to make progress on your goals with the "Don't Break the Chain" technique:
1 — Create a task: Add a task in Sunsama for the habit you want to build or the goal you want to achieve.
Add a specific label to your task, making it easy to filter it in the list of various other tasks. For instance, in the example below we've created 'writing' as a label.
2 — Set it to repeat: Use the built-in "Repeats" feature in Sunsama to set the task to repeat daily.
Set a desired time and save your task.
3 — Do the task: When the scheduled time for your task arrives, enter into focus mode to ensure you make the most of your dedicated time and don't get distracted. Use Sunsama's built-in timer to create a sense of urgency.
Take advantage of the notes section within the task to track your progress, jot down ideas, or list questions that come to mind. This keeps all relevant information in one place and helps you stay focused during your dedicated writing time.
4 — Mark your progress: Simply mark the task as completed in Sunsama each day you achieve your target.
By filtering tasks with your label ( "#Writing" in our case), you can quickly see your progress and assess your streak for the "don't break the chain" strategy within Sunsama. This helps you stay motivated and accountable as you work towards building a consistent writing habit.
You can also:
- Add an emoji (like ✅) to the task title or notes when you complete the daily goal.
- Update a streak counter in the title or notes (e.g., "Day 5: Write 500 words for blog").
During your daily or weekly planning sessions in Sunsama, review your "don't break the chain" tasks and assess your progress. Celebrate your successes and learn from any challenges you face.
Give Sunsama a try for free (no credit card required to sign up) and experience how its intuitive daily planning tools can streamline the "Don't Break the Chain" method into your regular routine.
