This chapter delves into the significance of routine in life, exploring the impact of structured routines on productivity and happiness. It features discussions on neural autopilot, planned routines for freeing up cognitive bandwidth, and habit stacking to enhance daily habits, emphasizing the importance of finding balance between structure and flexibility.
Would you be more adventurous if you had more structure? Do you multitask while brushing your teeth? And what would Mike’s perfect brother Peter do?
- SOURCES:
- David Brooks, opinion columnist for The New York Times.
- Colin Camerer, professor of economics at the California Institute of Technology.
- James Clear, writer.
- Mason Currey, author.
- David Goggins, ultra-endurance athlete and retired U.S. Navy SEAL.
- Jesse Itzler, entrepreneur and author.
- Katy Milkman, professor of operations, information and decisions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and host of the Choiceology podcast.
- Aneesh Rai, professor of management and organization at the University of Maryland.
- Tony Robbins, author, motivational speaker, and life coach.
- Sydney Scott, professor of marketing at Washington University in St. Louis.
- Cass Sunstein, professor and founding director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School.
- Elanor Williams, professor of marketing at Washington University in St. Louis.
- RESOURCES:
- "A Field Experiment on Subgoal Framing to Boost Volunteering: The Trade-Off Between Goal Granularity and Flexibility," by Aneesh Rai, Marissa A. Sharif, Edward H. Chang, Katherine L. Milkman, and Angela L. Duckworth (Journal of Applied Psychology, 2023).
- "What’s Next? Advances and Challenges in Understanding How Environmental Predictability Shapes the Development of Cognitive Control," by Yuko Munakata, Diego Placido, and Winnie Zhuang (Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2023).
- "A Neural Autopilot Theory of Habit: Evidence From Consumer Purchases and Social Media Use," by Colin Camerer, Yi Xin, and Clarice Zhao (Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2023).
- "In Goal Pursuit, I Think Flexibility Is the Best Choice for Me but Not for You," by Sydney E. Scott and Elanor F. Williams (Journal of Marketing Research, 2022).
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear (2018).
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond (2016).
- Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet, by Jesse Itzler (2015).
- "The Good Order," by David Brooks (The New York Times, 2014).
- Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, by Mason Currey (2013).
