Althouse: "Like, one of my tiny habits is that after I pee, I do two pushups.... Or, after I sit down on the subway, I'll open my book and read a paragraph."

February 27, 2020

"Like, one of my tiny habits is that after I pee, I do two pushups.... Or, after I sit down on the subway, I'll open my book and read a paragraph."

"After I turn off the TV, I'll take three calming breaths. So you find where [this habit] fits in your life. And then to wire in the habit, you fire off a positive emotion. In Tiny Habits, that technique is called celebration. For a lot of people, doing a fist pump and saying, 'Awesome!' works."

From "'Tiny Habits' Are The Key To Behavioral Change" (NPR).

23 comments:

JMW Turner said...: This eclectic blog and insightful, often combative commentators are my daily, not so tiny habit.; 2/27/20, 2:33 PM
Achilles said...: Religion substitute.; 2/27/20, 2:33 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Do not do pushups in a public bathroom.

Not only is the floor dirty, but you look as though you're peeping under the stall doors.; 2/27/20, 2:36 PM
Rob said...: Sounds pretty OCD to me.; 2/27/20, 2:49 PM
rhhardin said...: You can pee after doing pushups. It's a good habit.; 2/27/20, 2:57 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Ann Althouse said...
Do not do pushups in a public bathroom."

Doing them in the employee bathroom would also be unsanitary and would elicit negative responses from one's coworkers.; 2/27/20, 2:59 PM
rehajm said...: If you do two push ups you get to pee would seem a better motivator.; 2/27/20, 3:06 PM
clint said...: Now I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to read a book a paragraph at a time.; 2/27/20, 3:25 PM
tcrosse said...: After I pee I make it a habit to get out of bed.; 2/27/20, 3:46 PM
Anonymous said...: LOL AA @ 2:36 PM, I looked up expecting that Laslo had posted.; 2/27/20, 3:56 PM
CJinPA said...: I don't like to dismiss any ideas aimed at self-improvement, but this seems like First World silliness.

The regimentation it takes to remember and carry out all of these tiny habits has to be included in the calculation of net benefits.; 2/27/20, 4:01 PM
Original Mike said...: "Now I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to read a book a paragraph at a time."

Unsatisfying.; 2/27/20, 4:37 PM
Tommy Duncan said...: "Now I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to read a book a paragraph at a time."

I had a double major in math and philosophy. There were books where a paragraph a day was speed reading.; 2/27/20, 5:55 PM
Maillard Reactionary said...: I hope he pulls his zipper up first. (Create your own mental picture here.)

Separately, had I read the other comments first, I wouldn't have bothered: tcrosse wins again.; 2/27/20, 6:05 PM
Original Mike said...: "I had a double major in math and philosophy. There were books where a paragraph a day was speed reading."

I've never considered that "reading", though technically I suppose it is.; 2/27/20, 6:28 PM
rhhardin said...: Derrida is a page a day guy, or actually a copy-out-in-longhand guy, so that you don't start speedreading without thinking about everything.

Typing won't work. It has to be longhand.; 2/27/20, 6:48 PM
Sheridan said...: Thinking about push-ups makes me want to pee. Then again, nearly everything I do now makes me want to pee. Getting old....; 2/27/20, 7:12 PM
robother said...: As if the urinals at DIA aren't crowded enough getting off a delayed flight. We have to wait for each pisser to do 2 pushups and bump fists with the guy behind him. If I'm the next in line, I'm just gonna start pissing over the guy while he's doing pushups. And I hate the fist bumping thing, even after a walk-off homer.; 2/27/20, 10:04 PM
RNB said...: NPR: Neurotic obsessions for obsessive neurotics.; 2/27/20, 10:41 PM
Art in LA said...: I did the Tiny Habits pushup challenge for a while, only at home. It sort of worked. I need to get back at it!

I added one Tiny Habit that stuck -- throw away all of the junk mail right after I fetch it from our mailbox. This has definitely reduced our clutter. Junk mail brings no joy!! Ha.; 2/27/20, 11:23 PM
Jaq said...: "he regimentation it takes to remember and carry out all of these tiny habits has to be included in the calculation of net benefits.”

Not how it works. The point of a habit is that it has a trigger and a reward, his trigger is obvious, and his reward is probably feeling that his muscles feel pretty good. Once you get the trigger and the reward down, and repeat a couple few times, you are on autopilot. Your life is really a collection of these habits. If you don’t feel a reward though, no matter how minor, probably mental, the habit will fade. It would be like smoking a cigarette that had no nicotine.; 2/28/20, 5:14 AM
TrespassersW said...: Why two pushups? That's not enough to qualify as exercise.

I had a co-worker who made herself do 10 pushups when she caught herself saying or thinking unkind things.; 2/28/20, 8:32 AM
Christy said...: I do side stepping or countertop push-ups while waiting out 90 second microwave times. Does that count?

Us sitter types do a squat every time we pee. This starts to add up when one's doctor pushes water and one's bloodwork tattles on non-compliance.; 2/28/20, 10:39 AM