The easiest way to build good habits and break bad ones:
Use the 20 Second Rule.
If you want to do something less, add friction. Make it take more than 20 seconds to start.
If you want to do something more, remove friction. Make it take less than 20 seconds to start.
Here's why it works:
By default, we are lazy and seek short-term rewards.
Only through exerting conscious self-discipline do we get over these tendencies and make the hard choices that get us long-term results.
But in addition to self-discipline, there are two other huge factors that influence our behavior:
1) Habit
2) Environment
Habits can ingrain positive choices and make them feel easy, but they take time to form.
But you can make permanent changes to your environment with ease.
By changing your environment, you can ease the burden on your (limited) supply of self-discipline.
You can also intentionally design "default" paths for your daily behavior, which can speed up the formation of good habits...
...or help you break bad ones.
That's the crux of the 20 Second Rule, coined by @shawnachor in "The Happiness Advantage".
Everything you do takes a certain amount of "activation energy" to start.
Increase activation energy, and you'll do a thing less often. Decrease it, and you'll do that thing more often.
(20 seconds isn't a scientifically-derived amount of time - it just helps the rule have a punchy name)
For bad habits, just keep adding time & friction until the habit is so inconvenient that you don't bother doing it.
To build good habits, do anything you can to minimize the time and effort required to get started.
Make it effortless to begin.
Examples of increasing friction:
1. Log out of your social media accounts. Force yourself to log in each time you want to check them
2. Keep your phone in another room while you're working
3. Have separate Work and Personal computer accounts. Keep games off your Work account
Examples of decreasing friction:
1. To practice guitar more often, keep it out on a stand instead of locked away in a case
2. To work out more often, pick the gym that's closest to you - or get some equipment and build a home gym
You can apply the 20 Second Rule to anything.
Simply think about how you can add or remove friction as needed, then make the proper change to your environment.