listed

Putting sleep on the to-do list doesn’t increase the chance that you will actually do it.

interrupt

Any major disruption gives you the chance to change some of your habits.

the new blindfold

If you have a habit of buying things to distract yourself from your past, it reaches its logical conclusion when you start buying things to distract yourself from your clutter.

practice

Create a habit before you need it.

unday

Some of the things you do every day are things you may not need to do at all.

earlier in the cycle

Getting out of a bad repetitive pattern involves stages of learning to recognize the pattern sooner and interrupt it sooner.

fan mind

Observe others’ successes for what they are and not as a point of imitation or competition.

fixer

Trying to solve a person’s problem can make the person feel like a problem.

skimming

There are times when, checking in on the world, you are only looking for bad news.

commercial-free

Write a short list of changes you would have to make in your routine to go through an entire day without seeing or hearing an advertisement.

unstumbled

After you remove the obstacle you may have to remove the mental habit of expecting an obstacle.

done

Take bragging off your to-do list.

reason to work

Work hard when there is a reason to, but don’t make hard work an automatic habit.

channels

When there is only static, you switch through the channels anyway just in case one of them is different.

prompted

An envelope with your name on the front is asking to be opened.

short history

Deleting the irrelevant corners of your digital history should be a regular habit, a subject you turn to at least once every year. Don't wait for something damaging or embarrassing to surface.

ready for something new

Some of your stuff is so old that it doesn’t make business sense to take good care of it, but take good care of it anyway. Think of it as practicing the habit that you will use with the new thing that eventually replaces the old thing.

habit habit habit

“The force of habit can be broken because the source of a habit is repetition.” — Paul Nordquist

with the pack

Avoid the habit of thinking of the people in front of you as obstacles. If they were not there and you were going first and alone, that would not necessarily be easier.

instant anything

It takes only a moment to feel the stress of failure. This can happen, for example, when you become aware of a situation that requires a decision or a problem that requires a solution and you expect yourself to answer in an instant. Notice the next time you do have an instant answer and marvel that such a thing is possible.