Building better habits requires reminders. You need something to help you keep your new habits at the forefront of your mind until they’re cemented in your brain. Even a simple rubber band can help.


Personal finance site The Debt Myth describes how to use a rubber band to build new daily habits. The concept is simple: place a rubber band on one wrist every day. Always start with the same wrist. After you’ve successfully done something towards your daily habit, move the rubber band to your opposite wrist. This gives you a constant reminder about where you are with your new habit each day. The Debt Myth describes this trick in the context of paying down debt:

The key is to move that band each day so that you form a habit and make continual progress. (Even if you did multiple money-related things the previous day.) The rubber band acts as a daily reminder of your biggest goal, and when you move it you’re essentially rewarding yourself for taking your daily step in the right direction.


This trick can work for more than just paying down debt, though. You can use it for working out, eating better, learning a new skill, or any other daily habit you want to build. The best tricks are often the simplest. If you have a rubber band laying around, you can give yourself a daily reminder of your habits.

How This Ridiculously Simple Method Can Help You Get Out of Debt | The Debt Myth via Rockstar Finance

Photo by Lauren Coolman .

Contact the author at eric@lifehacker.com .