Habits

A short summary of Atomic Habits

Make unconscious conscious.

• List your daily behaviors. Categorize as positive, negative or neutral.
• Find underlying motives behind behaviors.

System is better than goals.

• Show up without fail. Lost days hurt you more than successful days help you.
• Temptation bundling. Combine "what u need to do" with "what u want to do"
• Stack habits. After [this habit] i will [new habit]
• State your intention to act clearly. I will [behavior] at [time] in [this location]

1% increment every day.

• Small changes will roll up to a major behavior change over time. Have patience.

Prime your environment.

• Environment works better than motivation.
• Make things visible. Out of sight is out of mind.
• Make bad habits invisible or unattractive. eg. Put your phone in a different room
• Make separate zones. One space, one use.
• Find groups of like minded people.
• Reduce friction. Mediocre gym close by is better than a great gym 20 minutes away.
• Automate or prime the environment to aid a habit. eg. Have a night routine to set everything up which you might need to start on an activity on the next morning.

Make it easy, satisfying, attractive and pleasurable to do positive things

• Dopamine spikes due to the anticipation of something, not when we actually get it. Craving causes us to act.
• Find a 2 min activity. Gradually increase.
• Have small wins.
• Measure progress in a visual tracker.