Distraction is the key to self-discipline #Habits

29 Apr 2020 · 1 min

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TJ Walker argues distraction beats willpower for building habits. Kids who passed the marshmallow test didn't have more discipline—they looked away. Walker turns off his phone before bed so a book is the only option, which actually works.

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Would you like to have more self discipline? But you just tell yourself I'm not really a disciplined person. It turns out so much of what we think we know about self discipline just isn't true. The famous marshmallow test with kids back in the 60s. It turns out the kids who could say no to the marshmallow didn't have any more self discipline. They were simply good at looking away, looking at something else in the room. If you want to master a good habit, the challenge is distracting yourself. I'm very disciplined about not looking at my cell phone the last hour of the day because that generates better sleep. But it's not that I have more self discipline, it's that I physically turn off the phone. Now the only thing I have to look at is the book I read.