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Atomic Habits
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January Book: Atomic Habits by James Clear
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I finished this one last month, it had been on my list for quite some time. I'm finding the habit tracker super valuable. It's showing me who I "really" want to be. Do I want to be someone who wakes up early? Eats healthy? Reads more? etc...Also the "never miss two days in a row" has been a helpful mantra!
I got it in a Summarized version because I can't buy it at the moment, hope it will be ok!Should be done with it by the end of the week
I finished reading it on my way back from holidays. I read listening to the audiobook recorded by the author himself. I think I'll use some of the suggested technics to consolidate some good habits I'd like to have.
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- What has been the most difficult for you when creating new habits? How can you get over this?
- Which strategies discussed in this book have you used already or want to use? How will these strategies help improve your life/business?
- What habit trackers do you use if any? Tell us about it. Personal and work life.
- Give one example of a bad habit you will delete from your life. How do you plan on doing so?
- Are you currently using any of the following strategies discussed in Atomic Habits in your present life?
-- Habit Scorecard (+/-/= list of actions)
-- Implementation Intention (I will X habit on Y day/time at Z place)
-- Two-Minute Rule (A new habit should take less than two minutes)
-- Habit Contract (More formal document agreeing to work on a habit and accountability if you falter)
I just finished the book and I liked it. while I won't apply it to business, I found the lessons useful to my everyday life and have made small changes here and there that I'm liking.- the most difficult part about creating habits has been consistency. I went through a massive weight loss in 2015, so every time I want to try something I feel like the only way to do it is to give it 100% of my free time and effort which I did for the weight loss. this is not feasible right now since I've gone through a lot of changes in the past few years and need to adapt. now, I'm using the two minute rule to get small things done which is more effective for me since I feel accomplished and can fill up my habit tracker.
- strategies I have been using the two minute rule, stacking habits, making a ritual out of things, and habit tracking. the two minute rule I use to be more organized, so I give myself two minutes to clean up something and then stop. the stacking habits and ritual I do with working out, as soon as my fiancee starts playing league of legends I will put on my workout gear and workout for however long one of his matches lasts. and habit tracking really helps me feel like I did something. I have trouble remembering what I did, so tracking is something that is good for habits and for work reviews :)
- I use habit trackers on my bullet journal, so I have small calendars where I mark with an x the days that I have done my habit. I have to say that my German language habit tracker is currently empty, but my workout and watercolor painting ones are doing okay.
Finished the book yesterday. I really enjoyed it, and found it very helpful. Many of the items discussed were things that I already knew. However, I don't read these kinds of books for their novel insights (although it's always a plus if there are some). I use them as a way to keep myself in the right mindset to keep working on my habits. That being said, there were definitely some new ideas in this book, and I will probably do a re-read of it soon.- Which strategies discussed in this book do you want to use? How will these strategies help improve your life/business?
The Two-Minute Rule intrigued me. I have tried to start running regularly in the past but kept failing to actually stick to the habit. While reading about the Two-Minute Rule I realized that I have been making the running habit too hard. I started out running for 45 minutes, mainly because I felt that others would judge me if I only ran for a very short time. People would see when I left the house, when I returned, and keep track of how long I was away. Writing it down like this makes it pretty obvious that it’s kind of ridiculous that I thought anyone would do this. When I see a runner on the street, all I think is that they’re doing a great job, I’m not keeping track of their route or speed, or judging them in any way. So maybe I should treat myself the same. It doesn’t matter how long or how far I run, but just that I run.
I’ll be trying the Two-Minute Rule by putting on my workout clothes and running in place for 2 minutes. Once that habit is established, I’ll start slowly building up.
- Give one example of a bad habit you will delete from your life. How do you plan on doing so?
Mindlessly scrolling on my phone during my daily commute by train.
I will be trying to Make It Invisible, and Make It Hard.
My bike pass, which I need during my commute, is in my phone sleeve, and I keep my phone in my pocket for easy access to the bike pass. This means my phone is literally right within reach, so it’s very easy to grab it and start scrolling.
I will remove my bike pass from my phone and keep only that in my pocket. My phone will be tucked away at the bottom of my backpack. I would like to replace the scrolling with reading instead, so I’ll put my e-reader in an easy to reach location in my backpack.
I've found Clear's framework of "Make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying" to be pretty helpful. So, for example, I was trying to get into the habit of taking a multivitamin daily and found that putting the vitamins and water right beside my bed meant it was both obvious and easy. His description of how much environment affects you was a bit disquieting though. My work environment isn't the best (there is quite a bad culture of "Well technically that's X's responsibility" or "When I said A, I assumed you would know to also do B") and I'm concerned that I'm going to internalize these bad habits.
The habit that I'm trying to delete from my life is scrolling on Twitter when I should go to bed. I'm trying to replace that with the better habit of reading before bed. Telling myself that I just need to read one page every night has been mostly working so far.
In terms of habit tracking, I've found a combination of 100 Days Of Code and my GitHub streak to be a really motivating habit tracker. I really doubt I would have completed four rounds of 100 Days Of Code if I didn't have the satisfaction of seeing the GitHub heat map turn green. And I agree with Clear not to think of daily habits in all or nothing terms. If I miss a day or two of programming because of travelling, the important thing is that I come back to the habit and pick it back up.
I found the book interesting, I read while listening the audio version (by the author himself by the way). I'm experimenting with the "after/before this do that" idea and with is "Implementation Intention"
The first one is working quite well for now, I'm reading more as an example. The second is a little more complex as I'm trying to transform in habits what are currently recurring to-do.
The general idea of changing just a little is overall good.
I think I have to read the book as second time before starting to implement something more.
I am a bit behind in podcasts and catching up on the book club reading. I really enjoyed this book and how actionable it made each section. I have read other habit books but like how the author includes the reverse for each action to approach bad habits. The advanced tactics section really helped me to reflect on my current career search. I think I have found the right field I want to work in but need to bring in aspects that better align with my personality to find the right role.
Thanks for suggesting this book!
We'll publish a bonus episode on the last Wednesday of each month where we discuss the book and would love to include your comments that you post within Goodreads.