Habitual Mindfulness

I learned recently that James Clear sells a copy of Atomic Habits every 15 seconds. That's wild.

I've been familiar with the theory behind the book for a long time, but I hadn't actually read it until recently. I'd like to think that James was pleased that I bought his book, but considering that someone else apparently bought it 15 seconds after I did, I doubt he thought much of it.

Clear makes a compelling argument that good habits should be obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying. The simplicity of his thesis is part of what makes it endure.

I wrote last week about revisions to my morning routine, namely starting with gratitude. There's actually a step right before that: practicing mindfulness.

I've had an on-and-off mindfulness practice for many years. Unfailingly, I find it beneficial. And unfailingly, I do it for a period of time and then seem to stop.

I decided to apply Clear's advice to this practice, seeking to build a sustainable habit.

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I recently went on a home automation kick (yay gadgets!), setting up motion sensors throughout the house to trigger things like the thermostat, lighting, and security notifications. When the automations and sensors work, it's wonderful. When they don't, I spend way too much time trying to fix them. I've almost certainly lost more time to automation than I've gained, but I'm in too deep now to go back to the stone age of manual light switches.

The upshot of all this unnecessary automation is that when I enter my office, the lights kick on (has automation gone too far?). I decided to make the habit obvious by practicing mindfulness as soon as that happened. It's automatically obvious: walking into the room in the morning triggers a lighting change that in turn triggers me to practice the thing I want to build into a habit.

I also lowered the bar for what it means to practice mindfulness. I'm typically doing three minutes right now, which feels silly because in the past I've gotten pretty darn good at the 10-minute exercises, and that pales in comparison to the practice of others. But the easier I can make this habit, the stickier it will be. So three minutes it is, for now.

Clear makes a convincing case that habit forming is all about the one percent. Small wins and progress over time accumulate into something large and meaningful. If you can improve something at a steady 1% clip, you will soon be on the path to a much more entrenched habit.

I haven't done anything special to make it attractive, except that I get to sit in my favorite chair. And the satisfaction really comes from the innate value of mindfulness, which helps me prepare for whatever the day has in store for me.

I do also have a daily reminder to spend at least some time in solitude, so successfully completing this habit allows me to get the tiny dopamine hit of checking off that task. It's satisfying, so long as you are a productivity nerd like me.

Next will come habit growth and stacking. How can I deepen and expand the habit, and how can I build a connection between one habit and the next?

That's all for now, as I feel the need to return to one of my most treasured habit-ats: my bed. The fact that I not only contemplated that "joke" but am also including it here is a telling indication of how sleepy I am.

I, for one, find my jokes attractive and satisfying.