I finally read ‘Atomic Habits’
One of my favorite discoveries this year so far is the Libby app, which lets you borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your local library for free. I’ve mainly been using it to borrow “fun” fiction (like Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Pineapple Street). But recently, in between fiction titles, I decided to finally take a look at Atomic Habits, which breaks down how to change habits through small, consistent steps.
It’s been on my “at some point” reading list for a while and after finishing, I’d say it’s worth a read. It goes by quickly and has helpful bullet point summaries at the end of each chapter for easy reference. As someone who already thinks about habits a lot, it was cool to see the author pinpoint the nuances of why habits are powerful as well as how to build good ones and break bad ones.
There are a lot of concepts, studies, factoids, anecdotes, etc. throughout the book, but the one nugget that has stuck with me the most is the simple idea that you can build a habit by associating it with a specific time and location. In other words, by deciding “I will do [this behavior] at [this time] at [this place].”
If you’ve read this newsletter for a while, you might know that I’m always trying to find ways to reduce my screen time. One very small way that has happened lately is in fact by tying the behavior of not looking at my phone to a specific time and place.
In this case, it’s not looking at my phone when brushing my teeth at the sink in the morning or at night. (It sounds so ridiculous — toothbrushing is not a particularly convenient position to be in for feed scrolling! — but alas, it was something I used to do.)
Anyway, but now I’ve trained myself to leave the phone out of morning and nighttime toothbrushing. Hooray, baby steps :)
— Jenny
A few more things
All my notes from Atomic Habits. A great bossa nova album for stormy summer days. How our household approaches meal planning (part 1). Ode to: my 3 most used bags. A pasta salad recipe I enjoyed recently.