The idea of 'systems-over-goals' was discussed in Scott Adam's book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. Here, I'd like to share three things to keep in mind when fiddling with the way your life works in the pursuit of some broad and significant outcome.
Firstly, do it everyday - if you can. We want to do things automatically as we are creatures of habit. The more ingrained it is into our everyday lives, the less we think about the fact we're doing something we wouldn't ordinarily do, be it working out, playing a new instrument, or reading books from a specific genre. That being said, we don't always have the luxury of a static schedule - we will skip some days, and that's ok.
Secondly, keep it simple and do less. Changing your life is hard enough, and we want to keep things small lest we run the risk of burning out. This happened to me as I was trying to engineer my life in the beginning of this year - I felt that my to-do list was unbounded in size and I didn't have anything under control. We should do simpler things, and do less. To that end, I'm giving atomic essays a try, and also confining my 'extra-curriculars' to finite time slots on a frequency that is not-everyday.
Lastly, remember your why. The things you do (or are trying to make yourself do) should fit into a broader story of who you are and who you're trying to be - it is easier to do things when they fit into your identity and your vision of who you really are.
Systems beat goals every time. However, we should be careful to not beat our schedules into the dirt. These recommendations will help counterbalance the instinct to over-engineer your life.
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