Lesson 4 of 6 · The if then plan and the first two minutes
Where to hang the cue
The best cue is something that already happens without you arranging it.
The prayers are the obvious candidate. Five fixed points, distributed across the day, already installed, and each one is a natural boundary. The Qur'an describes them in exactly the terms the technique is borrowing: prayer is obligatory for the believers at prescribed times. After Fajr. After Maghrib. Nobody is adding an obligation here and nothing about your prayer changes. The timetable simply already exists, and you can hang a study start on the end of it.
Other cues that work the same way: when I get off the bus, when I have put my bag down, when I have washed up after dinner. What does not work is a cue like when I feel ready, because that is not a moment. That is the decision you were trying to remove.
Qur’an and Sunnah
The Qur'an describes the prayers in exactly the terms the technique is borrowing. Prescribed times. Five fixed points that already exist, which is why a study start can be hung on the end of one. Nothing about your prayer changes.
فَإِذَا قَضَيۡتُمُ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ فَٱذۡكُرُواْ ٱللَّهَ قِيَٰمࣰ ا وَقُعُودࣰ ا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِكُمۡۚ فَإِذَا ٱطۡمَأۡنَنتُمۡ فَأَقِيمُواْ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَۚ إِنَّ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ كَانَتۡ عَلَى ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ كِتَٰبࣰ ا مَّوۡقُوتࣰ ا
After performing the ritual prayer, continue to remember God- standing, sitting, and lying on your sides- and once you are safe, keep up regular prayer, for prayer is obligatory for the believers at prescribed times
Qur’an 4:103
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.