Habit System with If-Then Implementation Plans

Prompt

Act as a behavioral design partner. Build a tiny system around 1-3 habits. Use implementation intentions (if-then), environment, and a review. Do not medicalize. Do not promise identity rebirth.

Inputs:
- Habits I want: [1-3, current baseline]
- Why now: [Trigger]
- When my days actually run: [Wake, work, meals, kids, commute]
- Fail history: [Where this died before]
- Environment: [Home, office, phone]
- Constraints: [Health, travel, money, no-shame rule]
- Tracking I will really do: [Paper / one checkbox / none]
- Social: [Who notices]
- Horizon: [Two weeks default]

Generate:
1. Scope: Which habit is the keystone this cycle. Which one waits. 6-8 sentences. If all three are huge, cut to one.
2. If-then plans: For each kept habit, 2-3 implementation intentions: If [cue], then [tiny behavior]. Include a travel version and a bad-day version that is smaller, not zero, unless Constraints say rest is the plan.
3. Environment: 5 friction cuts (make it easier) and 3 friction adds (make the old pattern harder). No shopping spree. Use what is in Environment.
4. Stack: Attach to an existing stable habit from When my days actually run. Name the host habit. If none is stable, use a time+place cue instead and say it is weaker.
5. Two-week experiment: Success definition that is count-based, not mood-based. What we will not change mid-week. Midpoint check question.
6. Relapse rule: One missed day is data. Two-line restart script. No punishment work.
7. Tracking: The minimum checkbox. A weekly 5-minute review prompt.
8. Anti-goals: 4 things this system will not try (5am club, streak worship, public shaming).

Constraints:
- No em dashes. No "atomic" as a brand voice. No invented medical advice.
- Tiny behaviors under 2 minutes for the bad-day version.
- If Fail history names shame, do not add public streaks.
- Write for a skeptical adult, not a morning-routine influencer.

Instructions

Replace every [bracket] with your details before running. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

Examples

Example Input

Habits I want: (1) write 30 min on weekday mornings, baseline 0 this month; (2) walk 20 min after lunch, baseline 2x/week; (3) stop opening Slack in bed, baseline every night
Why now: board packet week showed I have no morning writing muscle and sleep is junk
When my days actually run: wake ~6:45, coffee, train or desk 9:00, lunch 12:00-12:30 at desk, dinner 19:00, phone in bed 22:30-23:30, lights out ~23:45. Partner in same apartment.
Fail history: 30-day streak apps made me quit after one miss. 5am attempts died. Gym in January died. Shame spirals.
Environment: phone charger is on the nightstand; laptop on kitchen table; running shoes by the door; office days Tue/Thu
Constraints: no gym spend; travel 2 days next week; partner does not want a lecture; bad knees on some days, walk can be slow
Tracking I will really do: three checkboxes on a paper card, not an app
Social: partner can know; no public posting
Horizon: two weeks starting Mon Aug 24, 2026

Example Output

1. Scope
Keystone: Slack-in-bed, because it is stealing the sleep that would make morning writing possible. Keep a tiny writing behavior, not 30 minutes. Park the 20-min walk as optional bonus, not a scored habit, for these two weeks (travel + knees + you already do it 2x). 30-min morning writing as a demand would repeat January. Cut to: phone out of bed, plus 5-10 min writing after coffee.

2. If-then
Phone: If it is 22:25 and I am still on the couch, then I plug the phone on the kitchen table. If I am already in bed and unlock Slack, then I stand up and walk the phone to the kitchen (bad-day: airplane mode on the nightstand, still not Slack). Travel: If I am in a hotel, then the phone charges on the desk, not the bed.
Writing: If coffee is poured at the kitchen table, then I open the packet doc and write one ugly paragraph (bad-day: 2 minutes, three bullets). Travel: If hotel coffee is in hand, then three bullets in notes, not Slack.
Walk (bonus, not scored): If I stand up from lunch, then I walk to the corner and back. Knees bad: stretch in the hall 2 minutes.

3. Environment
Easier: charger moves to kitchen tonight; laptop already on that table; paper card on the kettle; shoes stay by the door; hotel desk charger on the packing list.
Harder: delete Slack from the phone home screen (not the account); nightstand has a book, not a cable; laptop not in the bedroom.

4. Stack
Host: coffee at the kitchen table (stable). Writing attaches there. Phone attaches to 22:25 on the couch, which is weaker than coffee but tied to a clock. Do not attach to 5am.

5. Two-week experiment
Success: 10 of 14 nights with phone not doing Slack in bed, and 8 of 10 weekdays with at least 2 minutes of writing after coffee. Walk uncounted. Do not add a gym. Midpoint Sunday: count checkboxes, not mood. Next week travel: hotel rule still counts.

6. Relapse
One miss: check the box empty, write nothing mean. Restart: "Phone in kitchen tonight. Coffee paragraph tomorrow." No extra walk as punishment.

7. Tracking
Paper card: two boxes per weekday (phone, write), one box weekend (phone). Review Friday 4:00, 5 min: count, one sentence on the cue that failed.

8. Anti-goals
No 5am. No streak app. No public post. No 30-min quota until these two weeks are done.