> And another thing was making the habit small at the start.

Absolutely this worked for me.

I have had good success sticking with "any exercise today" and "any project work today", even 5 minutes.

Try reading "Atomic Habits", but honestly the main points that stuck with me are: hack the cue, craving, response reward cycle.

1. Make it small, something you can do every day no matter what. 2. Set up a reward for each time you do the task