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    Link Round Up: Forming Good Habits

    by Meghan Kowalski on 2024-01-24T08:00:00-05:00 | 0 Comments

    Whether you make new year's resolutions or not, forming good habits can be helpful. But how do you get started? We're sharing a bunch of material to help you learn about the art and science of forming good habits. From understanding the psychology behind habit formation to practical tips on how to make positive behaviors stick, we've got you covered.

     

    Library Recommendations

    • Learning Express: This online tool provides a comprehensive selection of academic and career-related resources. You can learn about developing your skills in time management, organization, developing healthy habits, and more!
    • Chronicle of Higher Education: While this tool focuses on sharing material about higher education, you can read lots of articles about how to succeed in college and in your career.
    • LinkedIn Learning: Videos covering all sorts of skills and techniques for developing good habits.

     

    A Few Books

    Cover ArtTiny habits : the small changes that change everything by Fogg, B. J.
    This year forget big resolutions. For real change start small. Forget the latest exhausting fitness fad. Lose the guilt. Stop feeling bad. Improving your life is much easier than you think: Try any habit, make it tiny, find where it fits naturally in your life and nurture its growth. Silicon Valley legend BJ Fogg, pioneering research psychologist, founder of the iconic Behavior Design Lab at Stanford, and one of Fortune's '10 New Gurus You Should Know', has cracked the code of habit formation. Based on twenty years' research and used by over 60,000 people, his TINY HABITS method reveals that the key to changing behavior is the opposite of what you've always been told. It isn't about willpower. By focusing on what is easy to change, not what is hard; focusing on what you want to do, not what you should do, you'll discover that creating happier, healthier lives can be easy, and surprisingly fun.
     
     
    Cover ArtHard to Break by Russell Poldrack
    The neuroscience of why bad habits are so hard to break--and how evidence-based strategies can help us change our behavior more effectively We all have habits we'd like to break, but for many of us it can be nearly impossible to do so. There is a good reason for this: the brain is a habit-building machine. In Hard to Break, leading neuroscientist Russell Poldrack provides an engaging and authoritative account of the science of how habits are built in the brain, why they are so hard to break, and how evidence-based strategies may help us change unwanted behaviors. Hard to Break offers a clear-eyed tour of what neuroscience tells us about habit change and debunks "easy fixes" that aren't backed by science. It explains how dopamine is essential for building habits and how the battle between habits and intentional goal-directed behaviors reflects a competition between different brain systems. Along the way, we learn how cues trigger habits; why we should make rules, not decisions; how the stimuli of the modern world hijack the brain's habit machinery and lead to drug abuse and other addictions; and how neuroscience may one day enable us to hack our habits. Shifting from the individual to society, the book also discusses the massive habit changes that will be needed to address the biggest challenges of our time. Moving beyond the hype to offer a deeper understanding of the biology of habits in the brain, Hard to Break reveals how we might be able to make the changes we desire--and why we should have greater empathy with ourselves and others who struggle to do so.
     
    Cover ArtBetter Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
    Most of us have a habit we'd like to change, and there's no shortage of expert advice. But as we all know from tough experience, no magic, one-size-fits-all solution exists. It takes work to make a habit, but once that habit is set, we can harness the energy of habits to build happier, stronger, more productive lives. In Better Than Before, acclaimed writer Gretchen Rubin identifies every approach that actually works. She presents a practical, concrete framework to allow readers to understand their habits--and to change them for good. Infused with Rubin's compelling voice, rigorous research, and easy humor, and packed with vivid stories of lives transformed, Better Than Before explains the (sometimes counterintuitive) core principles of habit formation and answers the most perplexing questions about habits: Why do we find it tough to create a habit for something we love to do? How can we keep our healthy habits when we're surrounded by temptations? How can we help someone else change a habit? Rubin reveals the true secret to habit change: first, we must know ourselves. When we shape our habits to suit ourselves, we can find success--even if we've failed before. Whether you want to eat more healthfully, stop checking devices, or finish a project, the invaluable ideas in Better Than Before will start you working on your own habits--even before you've finished the book.
     
    Cover ArtHabit's Pathways by Tony Bennett
    Habit has long preoccupied a wide range of theologians, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, and neuroscientists. In Habit's Pathways Tony Bennett explores the political consequences of the varied ways in which habit's repetitions have been acted on to guide or direct conduct. Bennett considers habit's uses and effects across the monastic regimens of medieval Europe, in plantation slavery and the factory system, through colonial forms of rule, and within a range of medicalized pathologies. He brings these episodes in habit's political histories to bear on contemporary debates ranging from its role in relation to the politics of white supremacy to the digital harvesting of habits in practices of algorithmic governance. Throughout, Bennett tracks how habit's repetitions have been articulated differently across divisions of class, race, and gender, demonstrating that although habit serves as an apparatus for achieving success, self-fulfillment, and freedom for the powerful, it has simultaneously served as a means of control over women, racialized peoples, and subordinate classes.
     
    Cover ArtAtomic Habits by James Clear
    No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy); overcome a lack of motivation and willpower; design your environment to make success easier; get back on track when you fall off course; and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.
     
    Cover ArtThe Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
    This instant classic explores how we can change our lives by changing our habits. In The Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to the sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives. 
     
     

    Websites & Tools

    • James Clear - From the author of Atomic Habits, read more on his website
    • Habitify - A personalized habit tracking app
    • Develop Good Habits - The name says it all
    • Week Plan - A tool to help you set priorities and stay on track
    • TED - A playlist of TED Talks all related to habits
    • Behavioral Scientist - A list of stories related to the science of habits
    • Zen Habits - Short posts on developing good habits

     

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    What habit forming tips have worked for you? 
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