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Summary of Atomic Habits

chrisbehan.ca

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Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#21

Post by Swizec »

ebiester wrote: post #18
shric wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather not promote a business model of bloating 10-20 pages of information into 200-300 pages to justify selling a book.

It's a rough problem, though. Let's consider that writing a book, in terms of typing, doesn't take that long. However, the perception of value is proportional to the size of the book: are you going to pay for 10-20 pages of information? Now, let's consider the cost of researching that information. In some cases, it can be the output of years of doctoral research. In others, it's "only" six months of dedicated researc…

> So, how do you change that business model?

Short books for solving a problem that readers have, long books for entertainment.

People will absolutely pay good money (thousands) for a 20 page pdf that solves a painful problem. But they’ll fidget and squirm at the prospect of $20 for 300 pages of edutainment.

Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#22

Post by HPsquared »

throw_away wrote: post #14
azemetre wrote: post #2

Somewhat related but I find many nonfiction books could easily be condensed down an immense amount (talking 20 to 50% here). I don't know if it's me getting older or simply not wanting to put up with filler content anymore. A book that does this terribly is the "The Checklist Manifesto." ~250 pages of filler when the original article was 20 pages, the exact same information but distilled down to its essence: https://…

A book I generally like and agree with, David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs, I find reads better as his original essay. I suspect many books get made this way where content originally starts as a good essay or blog post, but then to fit the requirements of book media, need to be blown up, at costs in time for both the author and audience (& resources for dead trees+transport+storage, if in print).

It's ironic that the very need to bulk books out with filler material is a good example of just such a job!

Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#23

Post by HPsquared »

baby wrote: post #13
azemetre wrote: post #2

Somewhat related but I find many nonfiction books could easily be condensed down an immense amount (talking 20 to 50% here). I don't know if it's me getting older or simply not wanting to put up with filler content anymore. A book that does this terribly is the "The Checklist Manifesto." ~250 pages of filler when the original article was 20 pages, the exact same information but distilled down to its essence: https://…

It highly depends on the book! A lot of these types of books are simple lessons with a LOT of fillers. IMO they are bad books. Most often, an author has a lot of things to say in their first book, but much fewer things to say in subsequent books, so first books are always a good bet. For example, “the subtle art of not giving a fuck” is mostly fillers, but books from robert greene or malcolm gladwell are always fille…

The marketing folks think (probably correctly, they tend to be quite data-driven) that consumers don't want to pay $10 for a pamphlet, no matter how good is the information therein.

Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#24

Post by santa_boy »

I've been having major issues reading books (mainly non-fiction and strategy and personal development oriented) due to what I feel to be "filler content" as mentioned in the thread above.

I'd be very interested in authors (I mean book authors) to provide direction on the mindset and shortcomings of the summary culture (e.g. Blinkist et-al)

Surely, every 10th article on my FB feed is about reading books and there is perhaps enough justification to read books

Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#25

Post by kache_ »

santa_boy wrote: post #24

I've been having major issues reading books (mainly non-fiction and strategy and personal development oriented) due to what I feel to be "filler content" as mentioned in the thread above. I'd be very interested in authors (I mean book authors) to provide direction on the mindset and shortcomings of the summary culture (e.g. Blinkist et-al) Surely, every 10th article on my FB feed is about reading books and there is p…

I recommend reading the author's blogs & listening to their podcasts. The goal is to have their core ideas drilled into your head, and sometimes that takes time. Having a cadence of a weekly blog post does that much better I find.

Maybe don't try to read the whole book in one week, but rather space out each chapter over a long period of time so that the message "sticks" with you.

Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#26

Post by iliekcomputers »

s-xyz wrote: post #15

I always go way too late to bed, reading hacker news all night, and wake up late and exhausted as a consequence. First impressions of this blog post are good, going to think of ways to change my identity and behavior, and report back in a month or so with the outcomes here.

The thing that I've found helpful with going to sleep on time and not spending too much time in the night on the phone is to just keep the phone in a different room. That way, you either read a book or go to sleep, both of which are better than social media (including HN IMO)

Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#27

Post by twojacobtwo »

s-xyz wrote: post #15

I always go way too late to bed, reading hacker news all night, and wake up late and exhausted as a consequence. First impressions of this blog post are good, going to think of ways to change my identity and behavior, and report back in a month or so with the outcomes here.

Seconded on updates! Staying up too late is the issue I have struggled with for the longest time and all my attempts to change the behaviour have failed in the long run (e.g. working out earlier in the day, short periods of taking melatonin at a particular time to 'reset my circadian rhythm', meditation before bed, cutting out caffeine).

Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#28

Post by plasma »

azemetre wrote: post #2

Somewhat related but I find many nonfiction books could easily be condensed down an immense amount (talking 20 to 50% here). I don't know if it's me getting older or simply not wanting to put up with filler content anymore. A book that does this terribly is the "The Checklist Manifesto." ~250 pages of filler when the original article was 20 pages, the exact same information but distilled down to its essence: https://…

Agree 100%, I found the Steve jobs biography too unnecessarily long to listen to on Audible.

I think it’s because if it’s a larger or longer book the author can charge more, but I hate that.

Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#29

Post by thenerdhead »

I'm sorry, but at 7500 words, this is more of a novella than a summary.

The summary at the end of the book is shorter than this blog post and contains the big takeaways.

I love this book as much as the other person does, but there are much better reads to go deeper into some of the inspiration:

https://twitter.com/JamesClear/status/1059504529111158784

Additionally the major influences on the book:

https://twitter.com/jamesclear/status/1059521349239169024

Tiny Habits for example is super underrated and one of the better habit books if you enjoyed this one.

Re: Summary of Atomic Habits

#30

Post by davidhariri »

azemetre wrote: post #2

Somewhat related but I find many nonfiction books could easily be condensed down an immense amount (talking 20 to 50% here). I don't know if it's me getting older or simply not wanting to put up with filler content anymore. A book that does this terribly is the "The Checklist Manifesto." ~250 pages of filler when the original article was 20 pages, the exact same information but distilled down to its essence: https://…

The "filler" may be just that, but I think it helps give a reader time to connect the material to their own experiences. I find that as I read a book, my mind drifts away from the material and to my own memories or goals and then back again. It also may be that authors have to say the same thing in several ways, many of which may not resonate with you, but would for another.
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