Ask HN: What's the Most Effective Habit You've Adopted?
6 comments
Mindfulness/meditation.
[deleted]
Mechanical pencil and a day planner
i sit to pee
Defensive driving.
Apart from silly yet obvious and triumphant ones (e.g., shower regularly) … mine would be spending 1–3 hours every day on the rowing machine. (I have a Concept 2.)
It's not lost on me that this falls into the similarly obvious category of "exercise regularly", but the compounding effects are really astounding: urge to eat better; more regular and deeper sleep; better stamina; better performance in all other athletic activities; ideal weight and body composition; enhanced self-esteem; equal time spent listening to quality books; faster completion of work when I'm not on the rower; self-discipline that bleeds over into other life areas; time to meditate on problems during the row; etc.
An important principle I've taken away from stumbling upon this principle of my own body/mind's operation is that sometimes I have to spend what seems to be an unreasonable amount of time/effort on something to get results. But when I hit a certain (dare I say) tipping point, it's as if the floodgates of awesomeness suddenly open up.
For what it's worth, I have several young children and run my own law practice — so it's doable, despite seeming otherwise. I haven't always been perfect, but I've found, as I think others would, that the hours on the rower are an investment that seem to create more time than they require.
It's not lost on me that this falls into the similarly obvious category of "exercise regularly", but the compounding effects are really astounding: urge to eat better; more regular and deeper sleep; better stamina; better performance in all other athletic activities; ideal weight and body composition; enhanced self-esteem; equal time spent listening to quality books; faster completion of work when I'm not on the rower; self-discipline that bleeds over into other life areas; time to meditate on problems during the row; etc.
An important principle I've taken away from stumbling upon this principle of my own body/mind's operation is that sometimes I have to spend what seems to be an unreasonable amount of time/effort on something to get results. But when I hit a certain (dare I say) tipping point, it's as if the floodgates of awesomeness suddenly open up.
For what it's worth, I have several young children and run my own law practice — so it's doable, despite seeming otherwise. I haven't always been perfect, but I've found, as I think others would, that the hours on the rower are an investment that seem to create more time than they require.