I read the book and can't remember anything about it except the first chapter where James describes an accident he was in. Tiny Habits, from the man who created Behavioural Science, is much more concrete, doable and memorable: https://tinyhabits.com/
What exactly do you mean by "behavioural science" when you say that BJ Fogg created it? Behaviorism existed for some fifty years before he was even born (if we consider it started with John B. Watson).
I wouldn't say that's an analogous resource. Zen to Done is a simplified version of Getting Things Done, while Atomic Habits and the work of BJ Fogg is more about broad behavioral changes, through which a notetaking system could be implemented, or not.
I disagree with the other comments. Ever since I read this book years ago, I've been able to start reading daily, exercise regularly, clean my home almost daily, work on learning a new language daily (Japanese) among other things.
I don't know how many times we need to see a post about this book. I read it. People read it. its in bookshelves of zoom meetings, its in blog posts, websites, there are summaries, audio versions, youtube videos... basically everywhere. enough is enough. Yes, its an okay book, its fine. Obvious facts put in words properly. if you can apply it, you obviously didn't need this book in the first place anyway.
Thanks for that! I've wasted far too many hours of my life on books like this that could easily have conveyed all their useful information in a couple of pages.
I had the distinct feeling it might be that sort of book from the vapid, content-free nature of the linked blog post, but to have it confirmed by someone who's actually bothered to look at the source is valuable.
That's every self help book ever. I've read a few a while ago and don't read them anymore. Past the intro and maybe the first or second chapter it's a collection of anecdotes to fill 100~200 pages.
If you takeaway a valuable idea, what’s that worth to you? The time I spend reading a book is far more valuable than whatever the cost of the actual book is. I can’t imagine factoring a discount into the decision making process.
I see your point and agree with you. You cannot put a price on a valuable idea.
In this particular case though, I feel reading that book was mostly a waste of time primarily, and of money secondarily. But then, me being me I would probably have wasted that time doing other mundane tasks anyway.
Also, some books are worth far more than their actual cost. For instance, I've been reading the classic Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. My regret is that I choose a paperback instead of the hardcover, because this is one book I want to keep for a very long time. (My paperback copy is absolutely fine at the moment, but hardcovers tend to outlast them).
> After reading a bunch of such books over the years
This is the "problem". You've read a lot of similar books so this one isn't groundbreaking. But if you were one of today's 10000, this one would be groundbreaking.
I’ve only read the first few chapters so far, but the one idea that really helped me is the importance of incorporating your habit into your identity.
Eg, if you think “I am learning piano and will try to practice every day,” it doesn’t stick nearly as much as convincing yourself “I AM a piano player, and I practice every day”.
I like that. When I was a freshman in art school on my first day of painting class my professor said to us something like, "All of you are already artists, now you have to practice art." Changing it from "I must do my studio time so that when i graduate i can become an artist" to "I am already an artist and I am practicing right now" was a big deal for my young and insecure mentality.
Also reminded me of this passage from War of Art...
"What's hard is sitting down to write. Have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what “Resistance” is."
yes, started reading the books 2 nights ago and tried that out yesterday to do some mundane tasks that I never find the motivation to do. It was amazingly effective and I love the simplicity of it. Not sure how long it'll keep its effect though hehe
I've been forming and dropping habits for a while and what I've noticed is that you go into an "autopilot" mode - it is good for a while and you see results, but for some things you start stagnating. It is as if you are not conscious about the things you do anymore. Does anyone else have that experience?
I recently experienced this in a surprising way. There is an app i use for dieting called MacroFactor, incredible app by the way, that really streamlines the process of checking in and making adjustments. The issue is it is actually SO good at streamlining everything that my previous rituals on checking on my trending weight and what my average calories and such served as an anchor to keep me "in" the goal. Without this, I will get a few weeks in and just go sort of "autopilot" as you say and become detached from the process and even the outcome.
I also found the book unoriginal, but can’t ignore several people who report it helpful.
So let’s move the conversation forward a step: does this book or any like it have (even slightly) rigorous evidence of positive impact? If the FDA wanted to approve a self-help book, would they be able to find a single study to reference?
Reviewing books aren't part of the FDA's purview, but there are some that doctors frequently recommend. Dr. David Burns' "Feeling Good" is about as close as it gets to an English language bible for addressing early onset anxiety and depression via CBT methods.
However, a doctor or therapist wouldn't just give you the book and ask you to follow its suggestions on your own. They'd work with you to set up homework (worksheets to identify negative thinking patterns for example), set deadlines and assess how you're doing after 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, etc. They act as an accountability partner.
Judging the efficacy of productivity advice can also be properly assessed via a similar scientific method of observation and experimentation and measurement.
Anything groundbreaking in Atomic Habits? Maybe not, but I found his focus on habits built around process goals helpful in my own practice. Whether an outcome-oriented goal is just aspirational or already well-defined quantitatively, building habits of process seem foundational. Again, nothing earth-shaking, but occasional reminders are good too.
Atomic Habits is a book that should have been a long blog post. It's amazing how many self help book could be a pamphlet with 10 printed pages for more details.
That's probably how self-help books started. Short and to the point. But it's hard for people to take the steps necessary to change, so I can imagine a lot of people simply stop doing the steps laid out in the original pamphlet, thinking there's a 'better way', that's less inconvenient.
And so we get Self Help Book 2.0, now with a lengthy introduction describing all kinds of relatable issues that convinces you that this is the right book that seems to 'get' you as an individual. But beyond the motivational first chapter, the book still contains those hard-to-do-regularly steps and insists that you must change if your habits are to. So we end up dropping that as well, choosing instead to wait for the next book that makes all the right promises.
46 comments
[ 26.8 ms ] story [ 1473 ms ] threadI read Atomic Habits and, while reading, wrote 150 lines of a .txt file summarising the best parts. I still find it useful today.
That is false.
Maybe you can, but if you don't know you should then this book helps.
I assume most people intuitively know the ideas in it beforehand.
Buy it only if you get it cheap. Or buy used.
After reading a bunch of such books over the years, I have sworn never to read books about personal productivity.
Thanks for that! I've wasted far too many hours of my life on books like this that could easily have conveyed all their useful information in a couple of pages.
I had the distinct feeling it might be that sort of book from the vapid, content-free nature of the linked blog post, but to have it confirmed by someone who's actually bothered to look at the source is valuable.
Here you go: https://www.chrisbehan.ca/posts/atomic-habits
Related HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29774859
Which would have drowned it in the ocean where drops are posts.
_We do "need" (it would be a revolution in civilization) a system to review contributions - including posts - ranking them for value._
Something that would allow such «blog post» to have a recognition - closer to "best seller" class and farther to "found it randomly".
That's every self help book ever. I've read a few a while ago and don't read them anymore. Past the intro and maybe the first or second chapter it's a collection of anecdotes to fill 100~200 pages.
It's the stories and the emotions that are evoked when reading, that trigger profound changes in my mind.
I have no time to waste reading any of the millions of random trivial "do this, do that" lists. They have no relation to me. Why should I follow them?
If you takeaway a valuable idea, what’s that worth to you? The time I spend reading a book is far more valuable than whatever the cost of the actual book is. I can’t imagine factoring a discount into the decision making process.
In this particular case though, I feel reading that book was mostly a waste of time primarily, and of money secondarily. But then, me being me I would probably have wasted that time doing other mundane tasks anyway.
Also, some books are worth far more than their actual cost. For instance, I've been reading the classic Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. My regret is that I choose a paperback instead of the hardcover, because this is one book I want to keep for a very long time. (My paperback copy is absolutely fine at the moment, but hardcovers tend to outlast them).
This is the "problem". You've read a lot of similar books so this one isn't groundbreaking. But if you were one of today's 10000, this one would be groundbreaking.
I’ve only read the first few chapters so far, but the one idea that really helped me is the importance of incorporating your habit into your identity.
Eg, if you think “I am learning piano and will try to practice every day,” it doesn’t stick nearly as much as convincing yourself “I AM a piano player, and I practice every day”.
Also reminded me of this passage from War of Art...
"What's hard is sitting down to write. Have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn't write, a painter who doesn't paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what “Resistance” is."
- Habit stacking: want to form a new habit? Stick it on the end of an existing one. Works really well.
It's a decent book and worth the read IMO.
So let’s move the conversation forward a step: does this book or any like it have (even slightly) rigorous evidence of positive impact? If the FDA wanted to approve a self-help book, would they be able to find a single study to reference?
However, a doctor or therapist wouldn't just give you the book and ask you to follow its suggestions on your own. They'd work with you to set up homework (worksheets to identify negative thinking patterns for example), set deadlines and assess how you're doing after 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, etc. They act as an accountability partner.
Judging the efficacy of productivity advice can also be properly assessed via a similar scientific method of observation and experimentation and measurement.
And so we get Self Help Book 2.0, now with a lengthy introduction describing all kinds of relatable issues that convinces you that this is the right book that seems to 'get' you as an individual. But beyond the motivational first chapter, the book still contains those hard-to-do-regularly steps and insists that you must change if your habits are to. So we end up dropping that as well, choosing instead to wait for the next book that makes all the right promises.
Sounds like a research paper written for normals. :). Self-help Book 3.0?
There's so much filler in Atomic Habits it's amazing. I think 10 pages would be too much for what was actually covered.
I wonder if somebody actually did a good summary. It can't be too many pages, really.