So interesting! And actually so valuable to have a better understanding of how our minds work, why we behave as we do, and how to hack those systems in order to build better habits. This post reminds me a lot of Atomic Habits, which I read a few years ago now, so it's a perfect reminder. My writing practice evolves as I learn, so I am always tweaking my workflow. I'll keep your points about the progression from learning to habit-forming in mind when I tweak my routine.
You’re the second person here to recommend Atomic Habits! So I think I need to bump it to the top of my reading list.
I’ve tried to make certain writing habits well, into a habit such as morning pages. But then, I don’t think that I’ve ever stuck to doing MPs for at least 10 weeks every day, there’s always been a day off here and there.
And I agree with you, we have to tweak our workflows accordingly, and that feels particularly true when we have to motivate ourselves.
If you'd like to learn about habits, read Tiny Habits and Atomic Habits. Two great books that changed my life.
The reason why exercising is so easy for you is there are 3 things that make a habit: MAP
Motivation
Ability
Prompt
First something prompts you: maybe you get off of work.
Then you wonder if you should workout. Since you already know how to workout the Ability part is very easy. It takes very little mental energy to think about what it takes to workout compared to a beginner.
Finally motivation. Motivation fluctuates up and down. Since you have made the ability easy you just do it without thinking now and require little motivation.
You’re exactly right about ability in relation to habits. Now, the cognitive load associated with many of the strength training movements I am familiar and comfortable is negligible. Although that’s not to say, there’s zero mental energy involved. And making exercise a habit is very different to eating a banana a day (seems I’m obsessed with them as that was the first example that came to me just now).
I think motivation is really interesting area, as you say, it fluctuates and can be very personal.
Thanks for the book recommendations, I’ve heard of Atomic Habits but not Tiny Habits (both in my readme list). MAP is a great acronym too.
I'd say Atomic habits is more introductory where Tiny Habits is more in depth and written by one of the researchers often quoted in Atomic Habits. Both are good.
I enjoyed this post very much mainly since I'm interested in human behavior, eating fruit, and habit forming. I'm trying to break a habit right now which I'm finding difficult and challenging yet motivated to take it all the way and giving myself some grace to deal with my failures along the way. New changes/challenges are not easy but that would be boring if they were, right? I'm learning more about myself in this process and new possibilities post habit breaking, no matter how small.
Thanks Linda, I am glad that you enjoyed the post and that you could relate to some of the themes. And as you say, (and I love how you phrase this) 'give myself some grace to deal with the failures along the way.' So true!
This is a helpful insight into habits, makes a lot of sense. One of the best habits I have adopted is putting out my exercise clothes and shoes the night before - whether I am swimming, running, gyming, paddleboarding or whatever - it's always out ready for the next morning. Thanks for sharing I just subscribed.
Yep, I'm jumping on the Atomic Habits bandwagon here! I've been proselytising about it since I read it about 18 months ago. Just brilliant. I started getting up at 5:30am every weekday to do morning pages in September '22, and because of Atomic Habits it was easy to stack my new exercise habit on top of that. For nearly 18 months now I've got up at 5am every day, written my pages, then changed into my workout gear and spent 30 minutes on my elliptical. I love that there's no brainwork involved. There's no question of whether I'll get up when the alarm goes off - it's just what I do. I don't have to think about whether I've got anything interesting to write. I write regardless. I don't think about whether I'm in the mood to exercise. I just exercise. And by 6:30am, when I wake my boys up for school, I've already ticked off two big things from the daily to-do list. I'm not sure you need to read James Clear - you're already so onto it when it comes to habits! - but it's a really motivating read if you decide to give it a shot.
Haha that's excellent and it's interesting how you use the word 'stack' in relation to habits. Starting small but making them stackable!
Also, when you take a break like go on holiday and then return home, how 'easy' is it to return to your habit? For me, it's definitely a sliding scale, the longer the time that I am away, the more challenging it is to return to e.g., getting up in the morning to exercise. However, that kinda makes some sense too in that we are out of the habit, and so we need to get back into it.
"Stack" is James Clear's word 😊. It's all about habit stacking. The book was genuinely life changing for me!
Yes, I have the same sliding scale - the longer I'm away, the more challenging it is to return to my habits. But I've been doing it for long enough now to recognise that there are peaks and troughs, and that's OK. It's never about whether I feel like doing things any more, it's just about doing them, so when I get back from holiday I just get straight back into it. Once I start writing I know I won't stop until I've done three pages, and once I get on the elliptical I know I won't get off until I've done 30 minutes. So if my habit is to start, I know I'll finish. And yes, it definitely helps if it's something you enjoy! I love my writing practice and the treat of watching something on Netflix while I'm on the elliptical helps me maintain the exercise habit! Taking out the brainwork and making it easy and enjoyable are key.
I have moved Atomic Habits to the top of my reading list, I am going to see if I can get a copy from my library :)
I love how we can make some things automatic and have less thinking involved. I know that this works both ways (and it could be unhealthy too), but I love how you have made your morning routines - habits!
I think there has to be a small part of you that likes whatever you are trying to do. I've stuck with yoga for decades because I enjoy it. Obviously this can grow into dislike, these things fluctuate, but it feels like you're less likely to stick with something if you hate doing it! I think this is why the 'small steps movement' became so popular. You can walk for 10 minutes and then you find you like it, so you keep walking, kind of thing.
It is interesting that system 1 = bad, system 2 = good. Sometimes, I overthink and the best decisions are the quicker ones. Truly depends on the person. My husband has to explore all options, whereas I simply want to grab what looks like the best one. Thanks, Sarah!
I read somewhere that when we want to nurture a good decision or habit it’s useful to keep some cues around it in our surroundings. For example I want to read at least three pages of a book in a day then best to keep the book out in front of you on the table. You are more likely to pick it up. Interesting post Sarah!
Completely, cues are super helpful as is the access or convenience to the cue (or cues). I have to leave things out e.g., books or bananas (I feel like there were a lot of banana related references in the post haha!)
It is something that I took for granted for a long time (I'll just remember to do X), but the fact is that I can't! I operate a lot better day-to-day with some structure and also when there are some things that I don't need to think about too much.
It sounds like I am more like you, and my husband sounds like yours when it comes to some decision making ☺️
I really like how Thalia put it earlier in the comments about ability being part of the process too. Whatever we are trying to do, whether it’s yoga, strength training, or something else, enjoyment does come into it for many actions, particularly of the physical activity variety. A friend of mine enjoys running 50km each weekend, but I’m like, enjoy! But I won’t be joining you with that one 😂
So interesting! And actually so valuable to have a better understanding of how our minds work, why we behave as we do, and how to hack those systems in order to build better habits. This post reminds me a lot of Atomic Habits, which I read a few years ago now, so it's a perfect reminder. My writing practice evolves as I learn, so I am always tweaking my workflow. I'll keep your points about the progression from learning to habit-forming in mind when I tweak my routine.
You’re the second person here to recommend Atomic Habits! So I think I need to bump it to the top of my reading list.
I’ve tried to make certain writing habits well, into a habit such as morning pages. But then, I don’t think that I’ve ever stuck to doing MPs for at least 10 weeks every day, there’s always been a day off here and there.
And I agree with you, we have to tweak our workflows accordingly, and that feels particularly true when we have to motivate ourselves.
If you'd like to learn about habits, read Tiny Habits and Atomic Habits. Two great books that changed my life.
The reason why exercising is so easy for you is there are 3 things that make a habit: MAP
Motivation
Ability
Prompt
First something prompts you: maybe you get off of work.
Then you wonder if you should workout. Since you already know how to workout the Ability part is very easy. It takes very little mental energy to think about what it takes to workout compared to a beginner.
Finally motivation. Motivation fluctuates up and down. Since you have made the ability easy you just do it without thinking now and require little motivation.
You’re exactly right about ability in relation to habits. Now, the cognitive load associated with many of the strength training movements I am familiar and comfortable is negligible. Although that’s not to say, there’s zero mental energy involved. And making exercise a habit is very different to eating a banana a day (seems I’m obsessed with them as that was the first example that came to me just now).
I think motivation is really interesting area, as you say, it fluctuates and can be very personal.
Thanks for the book recommendations, I’ve heard of Atomic Habits but not Tiny Habits (both in my readme list). MAP is a great acronym too.
I'd say Atomic habits is more introductory where Tiny Habits is more in depth and written by one of the researchers often quoted in Atomic Habits. Both are good.
I enjoyed this post very much mainly since I'm interested in human behavior, eating fruit, and habit forming. I'm trying to break a habit right now which I'm finding difficult and challenging yet motivated to take it all the way and giving myself some grace to deal with my failures along the way. New changes/challenges are not easy but that would be boring if they were, right? I'm learning more about myself in this process and new possibilities post habit breaking, no matter how small.
Thanks Linda, I am glad that you enjoyed the post and that you could relate to some of the themes. And as you say, (and I love how you phrase this) 'give myself some grace to deal with the failures along the way.' So true!
This is a helpful insight into habits, makes a lot of sense. One of the best habits I have adopted is putting out my exercise clothes and shoes the night before - whether I am swimming, running, gyming, paddleboarding or whatever - it's always out ready for the next morning. Thanks for sharing I just subscribed.
I do the very same thing, exercise clothes are out the night before. I don’t want to faff in the morning - I just want to get out and go.
And I’m really glad you enjoyed the piece! 😊
Yep, I'm jumping on the Atomic Habits bandwagon here! I've been proselytising about it since I read it about 18 months ago. Just brilliant. I started getting up at 5:30am every weekday to do morning pages in September '22, and because of Atomic Habits it was easy to stack my new exercise habit on top of that. For nearly 18 months now I've got up at 5am every day, written my pages, then changed into my workout gear and spent 30 minutes on my elliptical. I love that there's no brainwork involved. There's no question of whether I'll get up when the alarm goes off - it's just what I do. I don't have to think about whether I've got anything interesting to write. I write regardless. I don't think about whether I'm in the mood to exercise. I just exercise. And by 6:30am, when I wake my boys up for school, I've already ticked off two big things from the daily to-do list. I'm not sure you need to read James Clear - you're already so onto it when it comes to habits! - but it's a really motivating read if you decide to give it a shot.
Haha that's excellent and it's interesting how you use the word 'stack' in relation to habits. Starting small but making them stackable!
Also, when you take a break like go on holiday and then return home, how 'easy' is it to return to your habit? For me, it's definitely a sliding scale, the longer the time that I am away, the more challenging it is to return to e.g., getting up in the morning to exercise. However, that kinda makes some sense too in that we are out of the habit, and so we need to get back into it.
"Stack" is James Clear's word 😊. It's all about habit stacking. The book was genuinely life changing for me!
Yes, I have the same sliding scale - the longer I'm away, the more challenging it is to return to my habits. But I've been doing it for long enough now to recognise that there are peaks and troughs, and that's OK. It's never about whether I feel like doing things any more, it's just about doing them, so when I get back from holiday I just get straight back into it. Once I start writing I know I won't stop until I've done three pages, and once I get on the elliptical I know I won't get off until I've done 30 minutes. So if my habit is to start, I know I'll finish. And yes, it definitely helps if it's something you enjoy! I love my writing practice and the treat of watching something on Netflix while I'm on the elliptical helps me maintain the exercise habit! Taking out the brainwork and making it easy and enjoyable are key.
I have moved Atomic Habits to the top of my reading list, I am going to see if I can get a copy from my library :)
I love how we can make some things automatic and have less thinking involved. I know that this works both ways (and it could be unhealthy too), but I love how you have made your morning routines - habits!
Yes, mindfulness is great but for me some healthy habits are best done on autopilot 😊
Completely agree ☺️
These are great!
Thanks Paolo :)
I think there has to be a small part of you that likes whatever you are trying to do. I've stuck with yoga for decades because I enjoy it. Obviously this can grow into dislike, these things fluctuate, but it feels like you're less likely to stick with something if you hate doing it! I think this is why the 'small steps movement' became so popular. You can walk for 10 minutes and then you find you like it, so you keep walking, kind of thing.
It is interesting that system 1 = bad, system 2 = good. Sometimes, I overthink and the best decisions are the quicker ones. Truly depends on the person. My husband has to explore all options, whereas I simply want to grab what looks like the best one. Thanks, Sarah!
I read somewhere that when we want to nurture a good decision or habit it’s useful to keep some cues around it in our surroundings. For example I want to read at least three pages of a book in a day then best to keep the book out in front of you on the table. You are more likely to pick it up. Interesting post Sarah!
Completely, cues are super helpful as is the access or convenience to the cue (or cues). I have to leave things out e.g., books or bananas (I feel like there were a lot of banana related references in the post haha!)
It is something that I took for granted for a long time (I'll just remember to do X), but the fact is that I can't! I operate a lot better day-to-day with some structure and also when there are some things that I don't need to think about too much.
And thank you for the feedback, it means a lot.
It sounds like I am more like you, and my husband sounds like yours when it comes to some decision making ☺️
I really like how Thalia put it earlier in the comments about ability being part of the process too. Whatever we are trying to do, whether it’s yoga, strength training, or something else, enjoyment does come into it for many actions, particularly of the physical activity variety. A friend of mine enjoys running 50km each weekend, but I’m like, enjoy! But I won’t be joining you with that one 😂