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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?

#121

Post by danpelota »

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 shameless minutes of cat videos after a focused study session). The idea is to allow your mind to associate the pleasure response with the habit each time it encounters the cue.

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

#122

Post by joyeuse6701 »

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. :)

If this is really important to you, I'd suggest starting first thing in the morning to make meditation easier. Aside from the basic difficulty of turning any task into a habit, meditation itself will be more difficult should you start say, mid day. When the mind is already wide awake, the inner chatter can be overwhelming, whereas in the morning it's much more peaceful. Making a task more difficult will compound the difficulty of forming a habit of that task. Hope that helps!

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

#124

Post by bryanrasmussen »

I was going to be a jerk and just say 'heroin' but then thinking about it, addictive properties does indicate one of the signatures of successful habits. The times that I have developed exercise habits is because I managed to get over the first week hump and then wanted the adrenaline rush that came with it.

One pertinent aspect of developing any sort of exercise habit is that the routine needs to vary enough - not just to help you grow - but also to keep giving you that adrenaline feedback. This is why a martial art of some sort is a good exercise routine, because of the variation that tends to naturally occur ( I prefer capoeira )

But I guess the most systematic and scientific way to develop a habit is operant conditioning http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

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

#127

Post by kajecounterhack »

kstenerud wrote: post #86
MaxfordAndSons wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with most of your list, but also strongly disagree with this point. Or rather, while I agree that you should try your hardest to keep your routine, I detest the part about making yourself feel bad. There are lots of reasons you might have to break a routine, it's not like every habit one might try to build is going to be the single most important thing in your life. And some people just don't respond well to…

It only makes a difference when you finally face real adversity. I'm a serial entrepreneur. I've had 8 companies, 6 of which have failed. Twice I've been literally reduced to the clothes on my back (actually the second time was even worse: 30 grand in debt, to the government). When shit goes REALLY bad, your ability to deal with the nastiness of reality is put to the test. I fought for a month and a half with a broke…

  Being uncomfortable leads to guilt and a sense of failure for good reason: You DID fail. Be honest.
  How you handle failure tells a LOT about your character. Either you're a pussy who sits in a corner feeling sorry for yourself, or you take your lumps, then get up and go again.
  Feeling warm and fuzzy all the time doesn't give you grit.
This formulation of grit is overrated / should be considered harmful. Your macho attitude and glorifying of "toughness" is a very stereotypical[ly western male] characterization of strength. You mention being willing to take your enemies down with you, fighting with a broken rib, and call not accepting feelings of guilt / failure being a "pussy" (which btw is also demeaning to women).

Yeah, starting companies and going into debt incurs stress. Having social conflict incurs stress. But dealing with that stress does not ever have to entail blaming yourself or white knuckling to get out of it. Telling an alcoholic (chemical addiction) to just "STOP DRINKING" doesn't work because people just don't work that way -- similarly, stress is chemicals in your body and there are procedures known to reduce it, and healthy thought patterns to move systematically toward a better situation rather than unhealthy "STOP SUCKING" / "WORK HARDER" signals. Those are not actionable.

This post is not actionable. Cool humblebrag, but it elicits no respect from me -- real grit is having the patience and perseverance to discover functional processes to better your standing. It requires no anger, killing of enemies, or broken ribs.

TL;DR Learn to problem solve better and maybe without calling people pussies. Maybe you'll be happier for it and live more empathetically toward others.

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

#128

Post by DanBC »

kajecounterhack wrote: post #127
kstenerud wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only makes a difference when you finally face real adversity. I'm a serial entrepreneur. I've had 8 companies, 6 of which have failed. Twice I've been literally reduced to the clothes on my back (actually the second time was even worse: 30 grand in debt, to the government). When shit goes REALLY bad, your ability to deal with the nastiness of reality is put to the test. I fought for a month and a half with a broke…

Being uncomfortable leads to guilt and a sense of failure for good reason: You DID fail. Be honest. How you handle failure tells a LOT about your character. Either you're a pussy who sits in a corner feeling sorry for yourself, or you take your lumps, then get up and go again. Feeling warm and fuzzy all the time doesn't give you grit. This formulation of grit is overrated / should be considered harmful. Your macho at…

Please don't use spaces to quote text. It's broken for mobile users.

http://imgur.com/CHcQ52U

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

#129

Post by sctb »

kstenerud wrote: post #77

Being uncomfortable leads to guilt and a sense of failure for good reason: You DID fail. Be honest. How you handle failure tells a LOT about your character. Either you're a pussy who sits in a corner feeling sorry for yourself, or you take your lumps, then get up and go again. Feeling warm and fuzzy all the time doesn't give you grit.

We detached this flagged subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13096767.

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

#130

Post by helentoomik »

A book that I have found very useful for both developing new habits and breaking existing unproductive habits is "Self-Directed Behavior" by Watson & Tharp. It's based on scientific research, but the ideas are presented clearly and in a practically useful way. It's also about more than just the introduction or changing of habits - it also helps you analyze them, understand them, measure them, reinforce them, etc.

It appears to be sold as a college textbook so the latest edition is horrendously expensive, but this also means you can easily find used copies of older editions. Mine is at least 15 years old and still very useful.

https://www.amazon.com/Self-Directed-Behavior-Self-Modificat...

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