Book summary: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Atomic Habits is the most recent productivity-related book that I read. If you are familiar with “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, then this book is meant to be the practical guide to implement what was dicussed in the power of habit. In my personal opinion, I highly recommend anyone who seeks to improve themselves to read and implement what is written in Atomic Habits, as it is a no-nonsense book, and everything that is written here is highly applicable in day-to-day life, whether you are a student or a CEO. I wrote this summary both to help people who only wanted to know the main points of the book and also to remind myself about what I have read from the book. After all, the best way to retain knowledge is by teaching it to other people.

Why Atomic Habits?

The main idea of this book is that instead of trying to do a single great thing, it would be more beneficial to break down any undertaking and create tiny, implementable habits in order to steadily work towards your goal. In the long run, this will create a compounding effect, where all the tiny improvement eventually results in a significant change. A 1% improvement everyday may seem small, but if you keep doing it consistently for a year then you will get (1.01)³⁶⁵ = 37.8. Which means by aggregating the marginal gains you will be almost 38 times better than when you started within a year.

When we are trying to form habits, we need to think of it as a long-term project. We are programmed to seek short term result, which can be frustrating because effort doesn’t give result in a linear way. Sometimes they won’t show anything until a certain threshold is reached. This period of no apparent improvements are called ‘the plateau of latent potential’, where the improvement can be invisible.

How progress works

Which is why instead of working in a goal-oriented manner, it is better to work in a system-oriented manner. Goal-oriented manner focus on results and see things in the short-term, while system-oriented focus on the process and see things in the long-term. The problem with focusing on goals is that we tend to put off our happiness until the next milestone is reached — and failing to reach our goals is very possible. On the other hand, focusing on the system allows us to be happy everytime we manage to get our system running. Therefore, in getting things done, the problem is not that we lack willpower, but we didn’t create a proper system. In the end, we fall to the level of our system.

How your habit shapes your identity

It is difficult to change our habit because:

1. We are trying to change the wrong thing
2. We are trying to change our habit in the wrong way

When working on a habit, think of what kind of person that we want to become by implementing this habit. For example, when running, the reason should not be “to run a marathon”, but instead “to become a runner” or “to be a healthy person”. If we choose the former, then there’s a possibility that once we achieved the goal then we will stop maintaining the habit. If we make the habit a part of our identity, then we will be able to maintain that habit out of on pride.

The word identity comes from the word identidem, meaning repeatedly. As such, what we do repeatedly forms our identity. Every action that we take becomes a vote on what kind of person we want to become.

To get started:

1. Choose what kind of person you want to become.
2. Achieve small wins to prove it.

For example, if I want to become a healthy person, I can start small by doing light exercise regularly and cut back on sugary snack. As I look back, I can see that my previous action affirms that I am on the right track to become a healthier person, and it will help in motivating me.

How to build better habits in four steps

Habits arise as reliable solutions to recurring problems by reducing cognitive load and freeing up mental capacity. In general, the four components forming a habit are as follow:

1. Cue: signs.
2. Craving: motivation, craving the change that action will bring.
3. Response: the actual habit we do as a response to a craving.
4. Reward

These four components form a feedback loop, and good habit can be formed by tackling each component accordingly.

The feedback loop forming a habit

Modifying cues: either make it obvious or make it invisible

The first step to change our habit is by being aware of them. This requires us to observe them without judgement, and see what cues trigger them. For example, when I arrive at my office in the morning, it acts as a cue for me to get some coffee from the pantry.

In order to make the cues for our positive habit obvious, the best thing to do is to make a clear plan. It’s not that we lack willpower. Instead, we lack clarity. This boils down to making the following statement:

I will [action] at [time] in [location]

Which is basically an if-then statement. This helps us stay focused on what kind of habit we are planning to implement, and reject everything that may derail us from achieving them.

For example, if you are planning to do journaling in the morning:

I will write a journal entry at 6.30 AM tomorrow in the living room

Habit stacking

It is also helpful to make a chain reaction based on existing habits. For example, most of us brush our teeth in the morning. We can then use brushing our teeth as a cue for a new habit. For example, we decide that after brushing our teeth in the morning, we will follow up with flossing. The if-then statement would then become:

After [current habit], I will [new habit]

Motivation is overrated

Behavior is a function of people and environment. Motivation might be useful in the short term, but in the long term it is more beneficial to use the time and effort required to get motivated to modify our environment instead.

How our environment acts as a cue for our behavior depends on the context. For example, we can either view our living room sofa either as a place for lazing around and watch TV, or as a place to study. Which is why forming habits is easier in new environments, as there are no pre-existing cues. We can take advantage of this by partitioning our living environment. We can make it so that our study space is only used for working. When we want to do something unproductive, we move somewhere else instead. By doing this, we eliminate the cues for procrastination out of our working space.

Disciplined people does not have more willpower. It’s that they spend less time in tempting situations. Cues are deeply ingrained in our brains, and they can resurface even after decades. Making the cues for our bad habits as invisible as possible is the key for eliminating bad habits.

Making the craving attractive or unattractive

Craving is what comes after the cues. It is a sense that something is missing, caused by a gap between where you are and future you. The same set of cues might give rise to a different craving for different people.

Temptation bundling is useful, as it combines what we want + what we need, and works based on our expectation for reward. For example, we can make it so that before we are allowed to watch Netflix, we must exercise first.

Roles of family and friends

Habits are based on cultural norms. Our habits follow three social groups:

1. Family and close friends. Your culture sets what is normal. Therefore, it is advantageous to join a group where your desired behavior is considered as normal.
2. Conformity to the many. It is the reason why we check Amazon reviews. From a social experiment, we know that people prefer to be accepted instead of looking smart. Changing against the tribe is difficult, but changing to fit in is easy.
3. Imitating the powerful. We tend to imitate people that we envy.

Fixing the causes of bad habits

Habit forming vices are based on underlying instincts. To fix this, we can make the habit unattractive. For example, we can view smoking as something that costs money, takes time, and harmful for our health.

On the other hand, to make the habit attractive, we can rephrase how we feel about certain actions. For example, instead of saying “I have to work” we can change it to “I get to work”. This changes our mindset from viewing work as a burden into an opportunity.

Making the response to craving easy

Walk slowly, but never backwards

It is useful to understand motion vs action. Suppose we would like to implement a running habit; strategizing, finding route, planning running schedules, those are all motion. On the other hand, action is the act of running itself. Motion is, of course, useful, but in the end it’s the run that counts towards the habit. We tend to dwell in the motion stage because it gives us the illussion of progress without the fear of failure. When motion becomes a form of procrastination, then you should be careful.

Law of least efort

Our real motivation is to be lazy and do what is convenient. Therefore, it is important that we make it as easy as possible to do things that pay off in the long run. We can achieve this by being “proactively lazy”. For example, if I want to go for a run the next morning, I can make it easier by wearing my jogging pants when I go to sleep and prepare my shoes and running jacket in a place that is easy to see. This reduces the friction that comes when I’m about to start running.

On the other hand, the same technique can be used to stop performing bad habit by creating as much friction as possible. In order to stop checking social media during work, we can make it harder for example by using apps that block visiting such websites during certain periods of time. To stop snacking, we can put our snacks in hard-to-reach places.

Using the two-minute rule to stop procrastination

Before we optimize our habit, we must have a habit to optimize first. Start with repetition instead of perfection. The best is the enemy of good. We can start forming habit by using the two-minute law: new habits should take no more than two minutes to do. This lowers the barrier for performing the habit, and help us get started. For example, we can start a reading habit by reading a book for no more than two minutes everyday. The act of reading the book itself is a gateway habit, a vote towards our identity as someone who enjoys reading. Once the habit is there, we can optimize it by extending the time we spend reading the book.

Making good habits inevitable

In order to lock our future self to perform certain behavior, it is a good idea to make a commitment when you are in the right state of mind. As a human being, Going back to sleep right after waking up is much, much more preferable compared to starting a morning exercise. On the other hand, if you make the commitment to exercise in the morning before you go to sleep, it will be easier.

Making the reward of a habit satisfying

The cardinal rule of behavior change

In order to have a succesful change of behavior, it is important to make the change satisfying. As humans, we are programmed to look for immediate satisfaction. This is a byproduct of an evolutionary trait, where in the past it is more rewarding from a survival point of view to address immediate concerns.

On the other hand, we are currently living in a delayed return environment. For example, if you are in your mid 20s and you start an investment account, the reward might not be apparent until 30 years later when you are about to retire.

We can hack this behavior to support positive behavior change. Actions that are immediately rewarded is repeated, hence the need to combine both immediate reward with long-term planning. Note that the immediate reward still needs to be aligned with the long-term goal of the behavior. If you reward exercising with eating cake, well, you are going to have a conflict between the reward and goal.

Sticking to good habits everyday

Using a habit tracker actually helps in making habit sticks. Simply by tracking behavior can spark the desire to change. These habit tracker apps are readily available for both iOS and Android, so they can be easily obtained.

Habitbull is an example of habit tracking apps.

Sometimes, of course, there will be days where we miss out on our habit. In this case, what separate winners from the rest is that they rebound more quickly when they fail. Let’s say that I’m currenly implementing a habit to learn the Swedish language everyday. If I somehow miss one day, then the next day I need to make sure that I restart the learning habit. Otherwise, I will end up forming a habit of skipping Swedish language practice.

In forming habits, the “bad” workouts might end up being the most important one. It is not what happens during the workout that is important. It’s about being a person who doesn’t miss on doing workouts. I have my own share of lousy runs, whether it’s because of injury, bad weather, etc. But the important thing is to show up anyway in order to continue the compounding effect.

Measuring is a good idea to track your progress. However, when the measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. For example, if the goal is to become healthier, most people might use body weight as a measure. But if weight becomes a target itself, people might resort to crash diets that reduces weight quickly in the short term but not sustainable in the long run. Instead, when being healthier is the goal there are many thing that is not measurable but might be as important. For example, whether you are feeling more energetic during the day might not be measurable in numbers, but it is still an important parameter nonetheless.

Being accountable and habit contracts

If immediate reward is the key to make good habit stick, then immediate punishment is the key to eliminate bad habits. It’s a good idea to make habit contract to keep yourself accountable. For example, if you want to eat healthier, you can make make a social contract so that whenever you eat sugary foods, you have to give away a certain amount of money. Losing money is painful, and as you associate junk food with losing money, your brain won’t see eating junk food as attractive as before.

Advanced Tactics

The truth about talents

Talent doesn’t guarantee success, but it’s a good starting point for choosing what can of habit best suit your strength. A good habit will stick better if it is enjoyable.

In order to find the best habit according to your talent, it is a good idea to have something that is called an exploration period, where you focus on one best solution that works, while occassionally experimenting with something new. If you get a win from experimenting, try to exploit that habit as much as possible. If it doesn’t work out, move along and keep exploring.

Some questions that is useful for narrowing down which habits to cultivate:

1. What is fun for me?
2. What makes me lose track of time?
3. What gives a greater return for me compared to when the average person does it?
4. What comes naturally to me?

Staying motivated in life and work

The task that sticks follows “The Goldilocks Rule”, which means that the task is not too hard or too easy, just at the right difficulty. For me, jogging for 1 km is too easy, but sprinting continuously for 10 km is too hard. Jogging for 5 km at a time, however is just right.

The task should be challenging enough, but not too hard

Everyone gets bored, but there are strategies to deal with boredom. For example, you can add some variance to the task in order to introduce smaller dopamine spikes throughout the activity.

The downside (?) of creating good habits

While good habits are certainly useful, the downside is that we tend to enter a “good enough” autopilot mode. Mastery is achieved by combining habits with deliberate practice. Therefore, a system for review and reflection is needed to review the habit at hand. These questions are useful for reviewing the habit:

1. What went well?
2. What didn’t go well?
3. What did I learn from doing this?

It is also important to make sure that the habit align with our identity to maintain our character integrity. Ask the following questions:

1. What is my core values?
2. How am I living with integrity?
3. How can I set higher standard for myself?

We must be prepared to grow beyond our existing identity and focus on the aspects instead. For example, it is easy for me to cling to my identity as an academic researcher. However, in the future I might shift to another job that has nothing to do with academic research. If I cling to hard to my present occupation, it might be hard to transition to another identity. In this case, it is better instead if I hold on to the aspects of being a researcher: that I am someone who is disciplined, critical, and hard working.

End note

When striving to achieve a goal, there is a tendency for us to switch strategy every so often.