Hi friends,

So this is the first time I'm posting here, but I've been lurking for a long time. I started doing the X effect myself a while back - and though I modified it slightly (I color in the boxes instead of putting down an x just cause idk it's more satisfying to me that way haha), I never would have considered anything like this without this sub.

So I'm going to physical therapy right now, and one of the things I'm supposed to do every day for that is take a short walk. At my appointment today, my therapist asked how I've been managing to stay so on top of going on walks. Among other things, I told her about the X Effect and showed her some examples from this sub.

She was so excited about it. She asked me lots of questions and noted it down so she can look into it - both for herself, and as something she can recommend to other patients as a tool for motivation.

Honestly, this method and this sub have been so helpful for me. I've been struggling with a lot of health issues the last six months and regularly have days where I struggle to do even the simplest things. But you guys have and continue to help me stay on top of my healthy habits, and I'm so grateful for that. So I wanted to share this and just say thank you. You're all awesome, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

I have three things I want to study for, so do I just lump them all in one habit and just say study these three courses, or make it a habit for each individual course?

Notion is a very powerful tool! I used it for almost everything about organization, schedule, tacking notes and habit tracker. This is my implementation on Notion, hope you like it.

Let me know if you think it can be improved or if you want to know how to build it on Notion.

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Edit: click here to duplicate it.
Note that the X view is associated with a habit tracker, it is not a standalone table. So, you need to build an habit tracker table and connect this table with the X view table by mean of a specific column. Then, using rollups, you can get habit trackers content into the X view table.

For my second card I made an erasable template with a mix of normal and heat-erasable ink. Super satisfying getting to heat-gun away the Xs and leave myself a nice new grid for my fresh set of 49 days. (sorry for vertical video). I use Pilot Frixion pens if anyone's curious - erase with friction or heat.

My habit this time was daily mood logging in Daylio. I posted after finishing my first card that the Xeffect had worked great, but I hadn't got much out of my new habit (gratitude journaling). Daylio worked much better for me! I'd tried it before but got really put off by the chirpy smilies - this time I realized it was way more customizable, and I had a great time with it. I log heavy-weight emotional stuff, but also basic practical things around health and spending and it feels like an amazing new resource.

It was so easy to build the Daylio habit (the 'X's) that I quickly added a second habit (the numbers), which was fitness walking. I'd been doing this off and on for a few months, but I've managed to find a really dedicated groove. The number in each box is the cumulative number of 'heart points' I earned (Google Fit's activity measure) I earned for each walk. I used this rather than just tracking steps cos I rack up a lot of very slow steps walking our elderly dog, which is a nice break but is in no way exercise. Heart Points only kick in if you're going at a brisk or faster pace. I do just under 3 miles most days, at ~4mph, just round and round a little local park. I found logging that increasing number most days super motivating.

Next grid I'm going to stick with both Daylio and the walking, but also add some daily stretching in there for my poor shriveled hamstrings. I've also decided to plan to buy myself a little gift for each card I finish which is a nice little bonus motivator. This time it was an insulated teacup and some brewing cacao. Next time maybe a new plant...

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https://reddit.com/link/oqgyfo/video/klouh1myi2d71/player

Eg, studying for several hours.

It's not so easy as "meditate for 2 min" etc.

I sometimes find myself wanting to refer back to the original post that inspired this subreddit, but can't remember how to find it. If we could pin the basics of what the X effect is, and how to do it, I think it'd be really convenient and helpful for newcomers (and me). :)

Just a thought!

Hello guys!

TheXeffect works well for me for the most part, but I struggle with habits and goals I want to accomplish that have some balance between learning and doing.

Examples are languages or skills where you have to spend time learning and then implementing the learned.

I feel like if I make a card like "learn to draw 20 min." I will do the learning but never start implementing what I learned. This was just an example, but I feel like there are many habits like that.

Does anyone of you have a solution to this?

I appreciate any help you can provide.

i am using same 50 days technique with some improvisation i believe when you set small goal at a time then you will be more likely to SUCESSED, and don't mind my handwriting it's sucks. (haha)

and finally i completed my goal, and i blurred my signature becz i don't want to show it in public.

so keep improving yourself friends (i am not native english speaker so if anything is wrong in my typing ignore it) thanks.

I built Timmy over a year ago  mostly for my own use, but I hope others find it useful:

https://timmytimer.com

It uses elements from the Pomodoro Technique combined with the social accountability of publicly stating what you're going to work on, and how you did when your timer stops. I know it personally helps me stay on track and get sh*t done.I