Habitualize a Better Life

If you want to increase your productivity, one of the most essential tools you have is the establishment of routines and habits. The energy barrier we need to surmount in order to execute a given task is largely responsible for us deferring it. “I want to go to the gym, but I’m too tired.” Or “I know I need to start on that big presentation for work, but I don’t have the energy right now. I’ll do it tomorrow.” One of the most effective ways to reduce these energy barriers is to instill routines and habits that make these activities automatic, rather than requiring consistent effort and thought. This, of course, is the brilliance of books like James Clear’s Atomic Habits and B.J. Fogg’s Tiny Habits—they provide a playbook for how to turn positive behaviors into energy-conserving habits.

We all have habits in our lives, and as such, each and every one of us—yes, including you—is already an expert in the art of habits. Perhaps you’re in the habit of brushing your teeth, taking a shower, making lunch, driving to work, picking up the kids from school, and a plethora of other activities that you hardly think about, and may not even log. If you take fifteen minutes to reflect on all the things you perform habitually over the course of a week, you’ll be surprised to learn how prodigious the list is. If you want to feel good about yourself, try it.

This is the good news: you don’t need to learn a new skill here.

Yet many of us tend to relegate routines and habits to the mundane, rather than channel the tools for even greater use. What activities in our lives are best positioned to be formulated as habits and routines? Exercise, of course. Nutrition, yes. These are both habits that will improve and extend your life. How about reading a book for fifteen minutes every day? “But I don’t have the energy to read after a long day,” you say? Make it a habit. Or consider learning a new skill. Lifelong learning is an important component of any purposeful life. Consider turning learning into a habit. Put aside a few minutes each day to learn to make beer, play chess, write a screenplay, or write better prompts for ChatGPT.

Through extensive science and thousands of years of philosophical reflection, we know that creating meaning is a vital part of living our best lives. How about creating routines and habits of meaning? From Aristotle to Arthur Brooks, there’s general agreement on the aspects of life that directly affect our sense of meaning: purpose, connection, transcendence, coherence, and health. Without going into each category—that’s a topic for a different article—there are many small habits we can develop that address each of these aspects. How about smiling at a stranger every day? That’s connection. Or what about stopping to appreciate a beautiful sunrise or an amazing piece of street art? That’s transcendence. Or how about a daily gesture of generosity; something like buying someone a cup of coffee? That cuts across multiple categories. Habits of curiosity, kindness, acceptance, gratitude, and faith can all help us live deeper, more meaningful lives.

The great thing is you can form a habit for virtually any facet of your life. Creating good habits for your relationships ensures that you make time for the people who are most important to you. Whether it’s having a family routine of eating dinner together at a certain time or having a date night with your partner, having a routine that everyone is aware of and committed to greatly maximizes connectivity.

Routines are also great for making sure you find time for hobbies and other activities you enjoy. Things like play, fun, and joy are an important part of life, a part that far too many of us neglect as we get older and busier. Finding protected time to draw, play the piano, write, or engage in whatever other activity is important to you, helps reduce the odds that the things you love get deferred for the random activities and tasks that inevitably emerge in life.

It's remarkable to see the difference in two people with the same energy levels but different results: one is able to complete a task out of pure habit, while the other is unable to mount the necessary initiative for want of an established routine. For all its popularity, habit development is clearly one of our most underutilized tools; one that we all already possess. The more you can identify activities you do repeatedly, and form habits and routines around them, the more likely you are to execute against them—and the less effort they’ll require. It’s one of life’s true win-win, twofers: get more done for less energy. While there’s a modest amount of investment required to establish a habit, the long-term benefits are truly transformational.