I finished the book on Digital Minimalism, minus the extensive end notes, and started one called Atomic Habits. It’s about how to form habits you want and how to stop those you don’t. Everyone has habits, though we don’t generally notice them unless they cause trouble. That’s because they make our lives easier, at least in the short run, by firing our reward neurons with low effort.
Today my reward neurons were bathed in dopamine as my tongue was bathed in a mango “Snowdae” and associated fruity bits. It’s a pile of shaved ice, mildly sweet and mango boba. It’s of very low density, and though it’s the size of a respectable grapefruit it doesn’t feel heavy. It’s fluffy. I could make a habit of it, were it not confined to three locations in the US and 800 elsewhere. Mostly China.
The habits I seek are not increased dessert consumption, but high quality entertainment, reading and writing. I’m hoping I can write daily or at least most days. Part of the struggle is feeling like I have something worthwhile to talk about. I don’t ever have a plan when I start writing here, so I probably should get over that part. It’s an excuse, really, a habit my brain uses to avoid work. But I’ve already decided to swim in the river of suck, and not let being sometimes bad or boring get in the way of doing both publicly.
I did okay today with avoiding the habit of social media, only checking in to events and messages and avoiding mindless scrolling. But I failed at unnecessary news browsing and ignoring that itchy feeling in my brain that makes my hand reach for my phone. I give myself a B minus for today in the “try to engage with technology intentionally” department. Mostly I was able to put the phone down quickly after I satisfied my craving to know, in a moment of desperation, important information, such as the ingredients in a Mint Julep, despite having no real reason to care. The little box that knows all things is a tempting minx.
The habits book is all common sense, which is to say that I can pretend to have known it without ever actually following it. It’s obvious really, and I’ve heard it all before, except for the new parts. I follow the techniques already, at least the important ones. The methods I use in place of the ones that work better are clearly OK…ish. Just because one of my habits is rationalizing past behavior doesn’t mean any of it is my fault. 😉
I’ll keep reading.
H