Go small or go home (but always go home)
I struggle with reading long-form non-fiction. Somehow, I retain and remember very little when this kind of content is in text.
So I listen to it instead. And weirdly enough, my focus and comprehension amp up when I do this along with another activity.*
So I binge true-crime podcasts when I’m driving. I listen to articles on writing and stoicism while on walks. And I’m actually paying attention to a self-help audiobook when seen nodding and frowning knowledgeably on muted Zoom calls.
Recently, I finished James Clear’s ‘Atomic Habits’ while doing all of the above.
In my limited view of the non-fiction ecosystem, if there’s a book that has captured the zeitgeist as much since Yuval Noah Harari’s ‘Sapiens’ (couldn’t get through it), it’s this one. Everyone and their uncles seem to be recommending it. In the name of human curation, I decided to ~see~ hear what the fuss was about. I’m glad I did.
*People who’ve read the book know that this “habit stacking” is something Clear makes a case for. Combine a new, desirable action with one that is already part of your routine and the new one becomes a habit soon enough. Magic.
He also talks in detail about the concept of compounding in the context of better habits — how tiny, incremental changes made consistently add up to huge results over time. “Nothing new.”, I hear you go. True, but the way in which Clear explains it worked for me.
Today’s share made me think about the inverse to this power of compounding. About deconstructing bigger things down into smaller parts. And how that can be equally as helpful in some situations.
When thinking about failure, for example, it could help to break larger, more daunting setbacks into more manageable components. Or a whole day “wasted” into recoverable parts of that day.
“Instead of feeling that you’ve blown the day and thinking, “I’ll get back on track tomorrow,” try thinking of each day as a set of four quarters: morning, midday, afternoon, evening. If you blow one quarter, you get back on track for the next quarter. Fail small, not big.”
Genius, right? Even though my inner procrastinator just died a little.
Till next time, keep failing a little. And making it up a lot.
Other recommendations that feature in this post:
- Pocket: I use this app to save articles I want to “read later”. The app has an option to then “listen” to the articles. It’s a great feature executed very well.
- Audible: Amazon’s audiobook app usually has a 3-month free trial going on all the time for new subscribers (in India). Its catalogue gets better every month.
- The 3–2–1 Newsletter: James Clear’s incredible Thursday email. For those of you who’ve been paying attention, this is the second time in as many weeks that I’m plugging it.
