Sunday snacks: On Habits, time management and delayed gratification

Hey friends 👋

Wish you a happy Sunday. Here are a few Interesting Ideas I have found around the internet. 

I.

Nowadays, I have been reading ​Atomic Habits by James Clear​. Classic book. I highly recommend reading this. But here is a tiny story about how our environment can change our habits.

During the energy crisis of the 1970's, Dutch researchers began to pay close attention to the country's energy usage. In a town, near Amsterdam they found that some homeowners used 30 percent less energy than their neighbours — despite the homes being of the similar size and getting electricity for the same price. It turned out the houses in their neighbourhood were nearly identical except for one feature: the location of the electrical meter. Some had one in the basement. Others had the electrical meter upstairs in the main hallway. As you may guess, the homes with the meters located in the main hallway used less electricity. When their energy use was obvious and easy to track, people changed their behaviour. They adopted energy saving habits. 

The moment I read this, It was an "Aha!" moment. 

Every habit is initiated by a trigger. Either by seeing, hearing or noticing something. As the people in the house notice the electric meter regularly it reminds them to save electricity. This principle can also be applied to our lives. For example, if you want to form a daily habit of drinking water. Fill up a few water bottles each morning and place them in common locations around the house. Every time you see the bottle, you are more likely to pick it up and drink it. Creating visual triggers can draw your attention toward a desired habit and we are more likely to stick to it.

II.

Minimise Task Switching: This is one of the best things I learnt from ​Elon Musk​. Our mental energy is drained more through the sense of switching tasks than the task itself. There’s just something about switching focus from one thing to the next, to the next, that wears us out, Makes us feel a sense of mental fatigue that, a deep focus on one thing, doesn’t cause. Instead, Batch similar tasks. For example, when I need to write an article I blockout two full days. It’s all I do for those two days, and then I move on. I spend next 2 weeks not thinking about it. It’s by batching your projects into short term bursts of focus and attention, that you’re able to leverage your energy the best.

III.

Books are a great source of Knowledge. Here's a recipe for getting more out of what you read: Start more books. Quit most of them. Read the great ones twice.

IV.

Often in life the road less traveled is the road of delayed gratification. This is the same thing If you’re willing to wait for the rewards, you’ll face less competition and often get a bigger payoff.

V.

When making Plans, think Big. When making progress think small - James Clear.

That's it, thanks for reading! Until next it!

Yash xx