Tag: Habits
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Losing Rhythm
I have been tracking my morning habits on and off for two years. My morning routine has three things: a few minutes of light exercise, a few minutes of meditation, and reading/writing. In my journal, I write an X every time I do these things. I fell off the routine over the last 30 days;…
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Haruki Murakami’s Writing Habit
From The Paris Review, Summer 2004: When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at 4:00 am and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for 10km or swim for 1500m (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed…
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Disrupt a 20-year Pattern
In the last 20 years, I started many projects. I had a dozen blogs with less than ten posts. I had a podcast in 2006 with five episodes on computer-related topics. I lost count of how many journals I had bought. These projects were nowhere to be found three months later (sometimes only two weeks).…
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A Habit Changed My Life
I want to share with you a practice that has transformed my life. I have been doing it for more than two years. It makes me happier. It helps me make sense of a bad day. It gives me a sense of clarity. This practice is a five-minute daily review. The method is inspired by…
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Identity + Action
One interesting contrast between English and Cantonese speakers is the way they describe what they do. English speakers tend to assert an identity: I’m a teacher. He’s a photographer. She is a great basketball player. Cantonese speakers prefer to state the verb: I teach (我教書). He likes to take photos (佢鍾意影相). She plays basketball really well (佢打籃球好勁). The…
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Tweak the environment
The items most accessible in our environment often determine what we do in a given moment. If there are potato chips on the counter, I will likely eat them. If the phone is my pocket, I will likely check it. If the TV is on, I will likely watch it. We can exploit this by…
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Start small
When we start a new project or develop a new habit, it is tempting to go big right away: read an entire book, run three miles, or play an instrument for five hours. But by doing too much at the beginning we risk burning ourselves out. I can’t tell you how many times I quit…
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Rituals: Create Meaningful Time For What Matters
Most of us want to spend time what matters. The challenge is most of us leads a busy life. When much is going on everyday, it’s easy to get distracted. We end up unconsciously diverting our attention to the things that don’t serve us. How can we dedicate more time to the activities that help…
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A Simple 3-Minute Workout
A challenge I have during weekdays is finding time to exercise. I used to have a gym membership before covid, but even then I didn’t go consistently. I preferred to do group classes, so I had to look up class schedules, make plans around it, get changed, pack my gym bag, and drive to the…