The Art of Stickiness

I've always loved idioms and puns — those simple joys that bring smirks and exaggerated nose-exhales to internet users worldwide. A goofy word-lover's best friends are context-dependent words, like "stickiness." If something's stuck to your new sneakers, you're unhappy; if you stick to your new coding-side project, you're thrilled. This blog post deals with the latter.

Speaking of this blog post, let's clarify expectations: there are countless self-help books out there with more sophisticated techniques and deeper research than you'll find here. What I offer instead is simply what works for me — anecdotes, examples, and tried-and-tested ways that help me make new habits stick. Just as the plural of anecdote is not data, the plural of data is not causality - I can only offer stories and you see what sticks with you (see what I did there?). I've personally never struggled with maintaining routines. I'm not saying this to brag (trust me, it comes with its own pitfalls), but to make a point: when you find yourself unable to relate to someone else's struggles, you either need to work on your social skills, or you might have insights worth sharing. How can your unique perspective help others get unstuck in their journey? This question drives me to share some of my routines.

Let's be more concrete: I've built a finance tracker I started using last year. Like most professionals without kids, I couldn't fathom how I manage to spend all my money. I tried automatic solutions like Finanzguru, but their classification quality left me underwhelmed. As a Notion power-user who catalogs most of my digital life there, I decided to build my own comprehensive system. There's no automatic import of transactions into my template — I manually enter all expenses from my banking app.

"Yuck," some might say, but I'll respond like any respected finance enthusiast: bookkeeping excites me (by the way, I'm so much fun at parties!). Having studied Finance, the discipline of clear record-keeping both exhilarates me and satisfies my perfectionist tendencies. Every Sunday afternoon (prompted by a weekly reminder), I sit down to enter and categorize my expenses and match them to their respective accounts. I've enhanced the process with custom Notion buttons that simplify repetitive entries. Actions like "Eating out" or "Online Purchase" come with pre-filled templates, automatically setting the account, expense category (like "Restaurants & Bars"), and linking to relevant Notion databases. This system lets me track expenses, observe behavior changes over time through Notion's built-in graphs, and make adjustments that create measurable real-life impact.

Let's look at another routine: learning piano, which I started about two years ago (ah, those New Year's resolutions). The easiest way to stick with it would be getting a teacher and leveraging the social pressure to practice. But, without a functioning finance tracker, I couldn't afford that investment at the time. So, I dove into the rabbit hole of online classes, learning apps, and reading materials. Easy enough, right? FALSE! While I get excited easily, I'm just as easily overwhelmed when challenges become intractable.

(Quick aside: This tendency is precisely why I write things down so much.)

Deep in the maze of unknown unknowns, I again turned to Notion to track practice times in a dedicated table, jot down learning insights and visualize my weekly progress. Daily reminders in my todo-list app nudge me to spend time at the piano, which I placed right next to my work desk. I've also exessivly used apps that motivate me through gamification — because I'm a sucker for those progress bars and achievement badges, Duolingo users know what I'm talking about. Knowing my weakness for addictive notifications, *cough* Instagram, I've learned to channel this dopamine dependency into something productive. When breaking a "study streak" feels worse than skipping practice, you know you've found a problem... er, solution for sticking with your learning routine. Let your addiction work for, not against, you.
I've also recorded my proud moments — pieces that took particularly long to grasp or were especially satisfying to master. This has given me a library of progress that lifts my spirits whenever I feel stuck.

So far this blog post sounds more like a Notion endorsement than a guide on how to make routines stick. While I don't hate this, let's distill shared principles to uncover patterns that make habits stick:

1. Find something that either solves a real problem for you, or that intrinsically excites you: If you naturally love painting, practicing daily might feel effortless. The key is that you can discover something exciting about most activities — and yes, cherry-picking the aspects you enjoy is absolutely encouraged. While mastering anything involves repetitive practice, your internal attitude shapes your enjoyment far more than the activity's inherent appeal. Even just pretending to be enthusiastic, giving yourself that fake pep-talk, can work wonders.

   I've deliberately chosen fields that excite me, and this enthusiasm has been crucial, especially during those critical first weeks and months when the temptation to "skip just this one day" threatens to snowball into complete abandonment.

2. Remove barriers to engaging with the habit: If your gym is across town, you'll find endless excuses to skip it. If you keep chocolate at home, your diet won't stick. Make the important decisions when you're in a determined mindset, and your future self will thank you when searching for sweets that your past self didn't buy. Remember: good habits, like bad ones, are just that — habits. They're not intrinsic to who you are, they don't define you, and you can change them whenever you choose.

   I've integrated these routines into my daily planning, giving them the same weight as work commitments. They are easy to access, so no excuses can (should?) arise. Even better if you can find an accountability buddy or workout partner.

3. Know thyself: We all have tendencies that repeatedly challenge us when we try to change. Yet these same tendencies can become your greatest allies. At the risk of sounding pompous — As Shakespeare noted, "There is nothin either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Rather than fighting your natural inclinations, discover them — even the ones you're hesitant to embrace — and learn to channel them to your advantage.

   I need to justify how I spend my time. Progress energizes me, and inefficiency drains me. While these traits might make it harder to casually pick up a hobby, they've become powerful companions for maintaining routines. I harness these qualities and stay motivated by measuring progress, constantly re-evaluate the routines by analyzing cost-benefit ratios, and bio-hacking my drive for achievement through gamified solutions.

I hope this article helps you get unstuck when trying to stick with a new habit. And if you ever feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, remember that instead of sticking to your guns, new routines might help you avoid getting the short end of the stick — and yes, I really do enjoy words that much. Thanks for sticking around and sticking it out, and 'til next time 👋

Published by Marc Luettecke

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