I remember the days when I used to write every day. I called it freewriting—writing continuously for a set period without worrying about structure, grammar, spelling, or ideas.
The results of daily freewriting were astonishing. It helped me generate tons of valuable content, kept my flow going, made me more creative, and reduced my stress about coming up with ideas and about whether I was writing well.
I did that for over a month. My freewriting days felt lighter than the times when I wrote “three times a week.”
How does writing every day feel easier than writing three times a week? Should it be the other way around? I should feel less stressed because I only had to put in effort three days every week rather than seven.
Shouldn’t more days of doing the thing mean more effort, not less?
That’s what most of us feel. But in this article, I’ll explain that the hard part is never the action. Instead, it is deciding whether today was a “yes” day or a “no” day.
For example, going to the gym three times a week means deciding whether to go today. But if you go to the gym every day, there is no need to make a decision. You just wake up and go to the gym — because that’s what you do every single day.
The Real Cost Is the Decision, Not the Action
Every time a behavior is optional, you don’t just do it or not do it. First, you have to hold a brief internal negotiation. That negotiation is invisible, but it’s not free.
Your willpower isn’t about the difficulty of the task itself, as most of us tend to believe. Instead, it’s about the number of times you have to decide whether to do the task.
Whether it’s a habit you are trying to build or one you are trying to quit, the process of deciding to take action kills the motivation to do it.
A rule you follow without exception requires a single decision made in advance. A rule you follow “usually” requires a new decision every single time you encounter it, which could be daily, or multiple times a day.
When you have the freedom to skip, it makes the habit harder to sustain, not easier. Flexibility sounds humane, but it actually has the opposite impact you are aiming for.
Let’s take a simple habit of flossing. When you do it sometimes, you tend to skip more days. But if you do it every day after brushing your teeth, you don’t have to decide “when” to do it. You simply do it every day. Isn’t that easier?
Why “Sometimes” Quietly Costs More Than “Never”
When you hear “every day,” it sounds extreme. It makes you feel you need to put more effort into a task. Instead, “most days” or “a few times a week” feels a wiser and more sustainable choice. They sound doable.
But the truth is that “sometimes” is actually more fragile because it comes at the cost of decision-making. And that decision, most of the time, makes the task harder to do.
Once you skip a day or two, breaking the rule starts to feel “free.” You start believing that you can do it another day. “What’s the big deal? I’ll do it tomorrow.”
For someone who’s on a diet, having one cookie today might not seem costly. But slowly, they start thinking, “Well, I already broke it today; I might as well eat some more.” But someone who just doesn’t consume sugar strictly doesn’t need to make a decision or have an internal debate.
When I was new to online writing, I only wrote when inspired. That didn’t help me produce consistent output. I had to wait for inspiration and decide whether that was worth writing. However, once I changed my habit to “writing 500 words daily,” I no longer had to wait. I did it even when, sometimes, my writing wasn’t good.
The Essential Identity Shift
In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear uses smoking to demonstrate “identity-based habits.” When offered a cigarette, if you say, “No thanks, I’m trying to quit,” you still identify as a smoker. Instead, if you say, “No thanks, I’m not a smoker,” this permanently shifts your core identity to align with your new behavior.
Identity isn’t just a nice motivational story; it’s a shortcut that reduces the number of decisions to zero. A person who runs won’t have to decide whether they will run today. It’s not a decision anymore; it’s just what’s true.
It took me a long time to identify myself as a writer. I used to call writing my side hustle. It felt awkward to adopt the label before the belief caught up. I never knew that I could call myself a writer, even if I’d only written a couple of blog posts. Once I shifted my identity and made it clear in my social media bio, I started writing more and showing up consistently — something that hadn’t happened before.
How to Build This Without Setting Yourself Up to Fail
It’s so easy once you get the hang of it. The rule is simple: keep it small.
For example,
- If you want to start working out, do 10 pushups every day.
- If you want to become a writer, write 200 words every day.
- If you want to lose weight, walk for 30 minutes every day.
Every action counts, no matter how small. One push-up counts. One sentence counts. One minute counts. What’s important is that you do it every single day.
The brain doesn’t distinguish much between a small daily win and a large one when it comes to reinforcing identity. What matters to your sense of self is the unbroken streak, not its size.
Read that again.
It’s not about doing it perfectly. It’s just about doing it.
Here’s the fun part: There are no specified rules for your thing. You can set your own rules. For example, if you want to become a runner, your goal could be to run at least 2 miles every day, regardless of the circumstances. You have to complete the two miles. When I was freewriting, my goal was to write at least 500 words daily. Some days I wrote exactly 500; some days I wrote 800. And some days, even 2,000.
Pick one thing you’d like to do. Not five, just one. Test this for two weeks before touching anything else. Start by doing it for 2 minutes every day. Then, grow slowly as you feel comfortable. I guarantee it will feel much easier once you start doing it every day.
Final Thought
Doing something every day is easier, not because the doing gets easier, but because the deciding disappears.
Being realistic, you might still miss some days, and that’s completely fine. After all, we are humans. We could get sick, might have to travel, or there could be an emergency. Life will interrupt. But even if you miss a day. Never miss it more than once. Add it to your strict-rule list.
As I said, the goal isn’t perfection. It is to reduce the amount of energy the whole thing costs you.
So, what’s one decision you’re quietly remaking every single day that you could simply stop making?
Want to read more helpful articles from me? Join my weekly newsletter here.
