Why Daily Habits Stick (and Weekly Ones Often Don’t)
So I’ve been abit quiet with OYB since I injured myself (see my Linkedin if you want to see what happened) and I know its partly to do with being super busy at Celtic Bookkeeping with onboarding new clients and new staff, but on my first proper day off in weeks, my creative brain finally got thinking what else is stopping me? And I think alot comes down to the science behind building habits and how easy or hard they are to keep….
So let’s talk habits.
If you've ever tried to build a new one, you know the thrill of a fresh start ("This time, I'm really going to stick to it!") followed by the all-too-familiar slide back into old routines.
But here's the thing most people don't realise: daily habits are way easier to stick to than weekly or monthly ones. Seriously.
Let’s break it down.
💡 Habits Are Easier When They’re Part of Your Rhythm
Your brain thrives on patterns. Doing something every day gives your brain a clear signal: this is part of our routine now. Whether it's brushing your teeth or checking your calendar, daily habits become part of your flow. There's no "Should I do this today?"—you just do it.
Compare that to weekly habits. With only seven opportunities a month, it’s easy to forget, postpone, or just not get around to it. Same goes for monthly habits—they’re often too infrequent to gain traction before life gets in the way.
🧠 Frequency Builds Familiarity
The more often you do something, the less mental effort it takes. Think of habits like a path in a field: the more you walk it, the clearer it becomes. A daily habit carves that path quickly and consistently. A weekly or monthly habit? That path never really gets formed.
🚫 Weekly Habits Invite Negotiation
Let’s say you’ve committed to writing a blog post every Friday. Sounds great… until Friday comes and you’re slammed. “I’ll do it tomorrow.” Then Saturday’s busy too. “Maybe Sunday.” And suddenly, it’s next Friday and nothing got written.
With daily habits, there’s no wiggle room. You either did the thing today, or you didn’t. It’s much easier to track and much harder to skip without noticing.
🔁 Daily Doesn’t Mean Huge
People often resist daily habits because they think they need to be big or time-consuming. Not true!
Want to build strength? 10 pushups a day is a great start.
Want to improve your finances? Review one expense a day.
Want to write a book? 200 words a day adds up fast.
Daily habits thrive when they’re small, consistent, and achievable.
🧩 Make It Easy to Succeed
Here are a few tips to build solid daily habits:
Start tiny. You can always scale up later.
Tie it to an existing habit. (E.g., journal after brushing your teeth.)
Track it. A visual tracker or simple checklist can work wonders.
Forgive slip-ups. Life happens. Start again tomorrow.
Final Thought
Want to build a habit that actually lasts? Don’t aim for big, dramatic gestures once a week or once a month. Instead, do something small every day. Your future self will thank you.
I’m going to turn my weekly habit of working on OYB into a daily habit and see if I can get it to stick - hopefully this way I can break all this posting into smaller tasks and stop avoiding the jobs - like posting on social media - that I am not so confident about and actually do them.
So have a think, what new habit would you like to work on?
Chris the tortoise - slow and steady wins the race!