The Zen Habits weblog faces down the long, hard road we all take to break a habit, whether bad or just unproductive, and pulls out 13 reasons why they remain unbroken. Key among the counter-programming tools we have available are motivation, blogger Leo Babauta says, but one tip in particular helps keep your habit-breaking in league with projects and goals:
You have to write down your goal. Write a start date. Write an end date (30 days is a good time frame). Write down exactly what you're going to do. Write down how you're going to be accountable, what your rewards are, what the obstacles are, what your triggers are. More on these below. Main thing: put it on paper and stick to the plan (don't file the plan in your inbox, you piler you!
Keeping that paper in front of you, of course, is another matter, but the principal is a good one—many of us only truly remember things if we write while we think about it. How have you broken your own bad habits, and what didn't work the first time? Tell the tale in the comments.