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Ask HN: Are there any systematic and scientific ways to develop a habit?

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Re: Ask HN: Are there any systematic and scientific ways to develop a habit?

#131

Post by tripzilch »

majewsky wrote: post #114
tapan_k wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excellent list. I would like to add a couple of things that have worked for me: 1. Ensure sufficient sleep (varies for each individual) 2. Identify and manage sources of stress 3. Practice mindfulness meditation Doing the above ensures that your willpower is stronger and you are able to stick with new habits.

Ironically, mindfulness meditation is exactly the habit that I'm struggling to build. :)

can you start with just 10 minutes every morning? try to use a timer that has a subtle sound, not too jarring. I made for myself a few silent mp3s of 2, 5, 10 and 20 minutes in length (easy enough in Audacity), put those in a playlist with a subtle sound (a bell, some ambient track, mantra singing or whatever you like), just on my phone it's not a hi-fi thing that's important here. so if I feel like doing more than 10 minutes I can easily queue the 2 or the 5 in front of it, you get the idea.

what also helped me was joining a meditation group for a weekly session, if you like, check wkup.org see if there's one near you, they're good people :)

like most things, the amount of benefit (clarity, focus etc) you get stepping up from about once a week to 2 or 3 times, is pretty huge. maybe that helps with motivating?

last thing, I like to tell myself, the time you spend is basically free. as in you easily get it back in ways of rest, focus, ease for the rest of the day.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any systematic and scientific ways to develop a habit?

#132

Post by antisthenes »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #101

I wanted a particular job; I wanted to get it and succeed at it once I had it. I wanted it more than any job I'd ever wanted. The commute was 44 miles, work started at 7 AM. I quickly realized I could eat breakfast, read the paper at home, then fight rush hour traffic, or reverse that and avoid rush hour. I searched and found a nice deli/diner 1.1 miles from work. That meant getting up at 4:30 AM, which meant going t…

I think the lesson here is: be prepared to make sacrifices for the thing you really want.

Not sure if there's advice or a definitive way to develop a habit here, but it's helpful nonetheless.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any systematic and scientific ways to develop a habit?

#133

Post by at612 »

cortesoft wrote: post #65
prostoalex wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second "The Power of Habit", Duhigg is the kind of writer you're looking for - aggregating scientific sources and multiple studies, but presenting them in very easy-to-consume popular-science format. Worth noting that the 21 day recommendation is "average", the actual "stick time" has a huge variation between a few days spent on "brush my teeth as soon as I wake up" habit to (likely) months that it would take to pi…

Running five miles before breakfast is more than just a habit; it is also a skill. Many people simply can't run 5 miles right now, they need to first train up to acquire the ability to do it.

Ironically, long distance running (10+ miles) is easier to do before breakfast, as an empty stomach is useful--digestion stops anyway as soon as your body is in need of some extra red cells to carry more oxygen. A trained person has enough ATP reserves for about 90 minutes at threshold intensity, and anyway the whole process of ingesting, digesting, and metabolising a regular meal takes many hours (around twelve in my case), so having breakfast before a run is purely a psychological boost--bar quickly metabolising food, such as banana or sport gels, which you do ingest during the run anyway.

All this of course depends on the individual's physiology and psychology.

For me, I tend to run either before breakfast or in the wee hours of the morning (one/two o'clock) before going to bed.

Mind, I'm an ultra runner, where being hungry and sleep deprived for days is the name of the game, so I've overcome that particular psychological barrier.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any systematic and scientific ways to develop a habit?

#134

Post by at612 »

danpelota wrote: post #121
katzgrau wrote: post #7

Have a read, great book on the topic: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/081... Systematic, definitely. Scientific? Not really sure, but I find it extremely effective. If I could boil it down to "what works" for me, it'd be: - Pick a task or thing that you want to accomplish. Let's say running (mine is running/lifting). - Pick a "cue," or something that signals when you perform said task. The mo…

In addition, I haven't seen the third step in the "Cue -> Habit -> Reward" cycle mentioned yet. While the Reward may be the lingering endorphin rush from a hard workout or the feeling of accomplishment after finishing a chore, the author also suggests a simple, pleasurable behavior after the task that you're trying to make a habit of (like a small piece of chocolate immediately after a run or allowing yourself a few…

> I haven't seen the third step in the "Cue -> Habit -> Reward" cycle mentioned yet.

Good point! I allow myself an Irn-Bru only on run days (and less than 10 miles doesn't count). I don't live in Scotland and Irn-Bru is particularly hard to find, which is part of the incentive. Gives me a sense of accomplishment anyway!

Re: Ask HN: Are there any systematic and scientific ways to develop a habit?

#135

Post by bobosha »

danpelota wrote: post #121
katzgrau wrote: post #7

Have a read, great book on the topic: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/081... Systematic, definitely. Scientific? Not really sure, but I find it extremely effective. If I could boil it down to "what works" for me, it'd be: - Pick a task or thing that you want to accomplish. Let's say running (mine is running/lifting). - Pick a "cue," or something that signals when you perform said task. The mo…

In addition, I haven't seen the third step in the "Cue -> Habit -> Reward" cycle mentioned yet. While the Reward may be the lingering endorphin rush from a hard workout or the feeling of accomplishment after finishing a chore, the author also suggests a simple, pleasurable behavior after the task that you're trying to make a habit of (like a small piece of chocolate immediately after a run or allowing yourself a few…

The author talks of a variable reward. The variability is importance because of monotony associated with a repeated reward.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any systematic and scientific ways to develop a habit?

#136

Post by keepresolve »

Want to introduce an app / website I created for this - http://www.keepresolve.com

Based on my own experiments and also watching how other users are following through, I noticed few things: (1) If an user starts with huge list of habits to develop, more likely or not s/he would quit fast -- so starting slow is recommended (2) I think having long term goal followed by daily steps / habits is a good idea. (3) Sharing the goal with your friends / family helps a lot - so currently we are working on a functionality to share the goals with others (not strangers but 'friends'). (4) Also, when habits are set by someone like parents / teachers, they are followed up better than self imposed habits (ex doing daily music practice or homework as opposed to doing course work for free online courses)

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