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Post by fitin14 on Jan 25, 2023 12:21:43 GMT -5
thanks so much peacemama, I will check these out. Its good to have a few options!
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Post by ermabom on Jan 25, 2023 13:56:01 GMT -5
I realized that I was still hung up on my own habit and forgot to talk about the 2-min rule or make it easy -
Meds: I stack with brushing my teeth for my inhaler and with dinner and coffee in the am for my tablets. i fill the containers once a week so I know if I’ve taken them or not
Exercise: if I don’t feel like exercising, I tell myself I’ll walk for 5 mins on the treadmill. I usually end up doing a full workout but maybe not as difficult as I might have done otherwise. Still beats sitting on the couch.
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Post by ermabom on Jan 28, 2023 10:32:46 GMT -5
A little more in Make it Easy and Obvious: I pulled out a couple of insulated containers that I had bought for loose tea back in the day when I made tea at work. They keep the tea hot for hours - in fact I can rarely drink tea freshly made from them because it stays close to boiling for a long time. I make a couple of cups of herbal tea around 4-5 pm. I drink the one that cools faster around 7 pm and take the other one upstairs with me. I drink that during the evening and it is usually done by 9 pm. That has kept me from snacking for the past 3-4 evenings.
The part about 'easy' is that it is easier for me to make the tea when I'm making dinner. Then it is easy to just drink it.
The 'obvious' is that the cups are just sitting there on the counter, with the tea made.
Sipping the tea satisfies my need to 'eat' something and keeps me from coming downstairs for any reason. It also fills me up along with the water I drink before dinner.
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Post by peacemama on Jan 30, 2023 12:48:40 GMT -5
Here's a helpful tip: rather than focusing on the results of a habit, focus on how it makes you feel. -James Clear
January 30: The 4th Law – Make It Satisfying Hi all! I hope you are doing well. January is already coming to a close. Who finished the book? Who is still reading? How’d the month go for you?
Throughout the month I reflected on the habits I wanted to implement or change; however, I felt I was often still caught in the motion, rather than action, stage. After reading the 4th Law, I reworked my habit tracker to better align with how I want my mornings to flow. Previously I had been attempting an eat-the-frog approach that wasn’t working for me. I wanted to launch my day with more calming energy, so I've been trying on habits that would allow me to start my day feeling centered and provide momentum. These new habits feel better aligned to the energy I want to foster.
Here's my new first hour morning routine. (It sparkles with tidbits of Clear’s 4 Laws.) • 2 minutes: Drink 16 oz of water upon waking and refill the tumbler after it’s empty • 10 minutes: Take a jaunt to the neighborhood pond with our mini dachshund • 5 minutes: Sit at my office desk and create a 24 Hour No BS plan • 20-30 minutes: Complete Yoga with Adriene and check off the session on the printed calendar • 10 minutes: Make the tea I set out the night before and sip while listening to the Silk+Sonder Daily Ritual
Atomic Habits has been my bedtime reading this month and has done a spiffy job of quickly knocking me out. Although it wasn’t a page-turner for me, I discovered it had some interesting anecdotes and worthwhile recommendations. I liked what Clear had to share, but I wasn’t a huge fan of actually reading the book. Perhaps it was because I had already gleaned a lot of the information from his weekly 3-2-1 newsletter.
What were your overall thoughts about the book? Any favorite bits of wisdom/recommendations?
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Post by gadgetgirlil on Jan 30, 2023 13:15:04 GMT -5
I ended up finishing the book before January started since I had checked it out as an ebook through my library and I wasn't able to renew it as others wanted it. I subscribed to his emails and then got promptly overwhelmed by all that was taking up bandwidth for me on campus in January.
I sort of feel that I don't need new habits, but I do need to break some old ones, e.g. reaching for snacks when my inbox at work overwhelms me or when I don't want to tackle a time consuming task. At least reading the book reinforced just how many healthy habits that I've accumulated over the past 20+ years. The longest one is my 99.9% compliance with daily exercise. That got started in May 2001 when I just challenged myself to get inside the doors of the fitness center no matter if I only walked 5 minutes on the track. I had been paying for the membership but hadn't been going due to my father's declining health.
I'm that odd duck who really loves to be active! During the week, the fitness center is the most convenient to fit in activity before I have to go to work. Weekends find me outside at least one day per weekend no matter the weather. I hike year round and usually bike year round too. The roads are too icy right now to ride but I'm looking forward to a break in the winter weather in February to get out on my bike.
My morning fitness time is MY TIME. I do not bring my cellphone in to the fitness center. I do not check work emails until I get to work. This MY TIME to do what I enjoy and it sets up my day nicely. I always have my workout clothes laid out the night before and my work clothes packed in my bag. I don't give it any more thought that brushing my teeth morning and night.
Several years ago I had read Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg. I found this book to be similar.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2023 13:29:08 GMT -5
I listened to it on audio. I think that was a mistake. But, I printed off the cheat sheets and that helped. I agree with whoever stated earlier that when you write a book and then you need to immediately follow it up with a “where do I start primer”, you have failed. I mean that regarding him as an author. I think he had some good things to share but the book was too “all over the place for me. That said, I have put what I learned into practice. Activity is something I enjoy like, gadgetgirlil . So I don’t usually have an issue doing it, unless there is bad weather. I don’t follow through if my a.m. routine gets off track. So, I have added the getting dressed in work out clothes, which seems to be helping me get it done when I need to change the time. Keeping a water bottle beside me all day has really helped me to stay on top of hydration. My research and writing are still struggling. Ive set aside Thursdays as my day for writing. I need to put it out on the writing space on Wednesday night. Otherwise, I get into cleaning, errand, cooking and think I’ll write after. But I don’t. Snack are still my downfall. But I have lost 4 pounds since Jan 1 doing the 52 pounds in 52 weeks thread here. Overall, Im glad I read the book.
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Post by peacemama on Jan 30, 2023 19:24:51 GMT -5
sal, I started with a monthly subscription and quickly changed to annual. I've had an annual Silk+Sonder subscription since December 2019. I like that each monthly journal has a different reflective focus and is an opportunity to start fresh. Here's a sample of the monthly themes from last year: Compassion, Imagination, Wonder, Radiance, Spontaneity, Replenish, and Connection. They don't repeat and are a surprise to the membership each month. The mix of trackers, reflections, activities, daily/weekly formats, and blank grid pages work well for what I want in a planner. I repurpose some of the sections, but use most of the journal as it was designed. I use the Silk+Sonder app daily and attend their free optional virtual Sonder Socials that are offered throughout the month. My favorite events are the weekly set up sessions--they have amazing instructors, who along with the Sonder community, share practical and creative ways to use the journal to fit your interests and journaling style.
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Post by honeybzzzs on Jan 30, 2023 20:41:20 GMT -5
@fairazzbueller That was me with the remark about “where to start” primer. Glad I wasn’t the only one that felt that way about this book. I do remember him saying something along the line of “habits aren’t formed by a set amount of days, but by how often you do them in a day” I never could get on board with the “it takes 21 days to form a habit” belief. That just didn’t seem correct to me. So when he agreed with me on that, and instead stated it’s the number of repetitions in a day that will create a habit—I can get on board with THAT sentiment. Having trained dogs all my life, I know that many short sessions a day will form a habit faster than one hour long lesson per week. Same with meditation. I do short mini sessions all day long—standing in grocery line, waiting at stop light, etc etc. I didn’t re-read his book. And I stopped reading at the ‘many repetitions per day part’, so take my comments with a grain of salt. I will say, that like gadgetgirlil I don’t need to form new habits as much as I need to break some old ones. I’m a classic procrastinator with stuff I don’t want to do. ie Quarterly business taxes. Deep cleaning the shop or house. But when I set the timer for ‘just five minutes’ I’m always amazed how much I can get done. I’ve been adding my Just Five Minutes to my Before You Sit Down (because if I sit down I KNOW I’m not getting up again—my bad habit) and this small change, done many times a day, has helped tremendously. I guess you could say that IS my New Habit! All in all, I enjoyed reading your comments and seeing things from another perspective. It was worthwhile to follow along.
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Post by ermabom on Jan 31, 2023 11:17:51 GMT -5
I read the book in Nov-Dec but ended up renewing it - it was a library ebook - because I just couldn’t get through it in three weeks. I was totally bored by it. But I did finish it before the second loan ran out. There was very little new in the book because I’d been reading his blog long before he wrote the book and pretty much had covered everything in those blog posts - which are no longer on his site, interestingly. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been using habit stacking and make it easy for a long time based on that. I’ve also read a couple of other books Charles Duhigg (?) so was familiar with the whole trigger/cue leading to a habit thing. What helped me was the intention setting and making a routine that I want to do. Those, by themselves, didn’t really help but they were the triggers for my thinking about why I was unable to follow the routine I had established and why the night-time snacking was so difficult to break. I’ve eliminated a lot of bad habits over the years due to Beck because most of mine were related to eating. However, this night-time one was tough. So far, the tea thing is working. I knew drinking hot tea would be a good substitute (it is one of the distractions listed in my Beck card) but I was not in the mood to make tea when I was tired and mentally exhausted. Making it earlier in the day when I’m in the kitchen and using the insulated containers - which adhere to make it easy and make it obvious - has helped. I’ve managed to go a whole week without snacking at night! Plus, I’m drinking camomile tea which I think helps me sleep better - maybe placebo, maybe not. So I haven’t had any insomnia either. But I go to bed with a plan for what I’m going to do if I wake up and can’t sleep so I’m hoping that will help. Thank you peacemama! For suggesting the book and leading it. I hope you are feeling better now.
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