[kosmischemusik]

I've been trying to build habits forever. The problem is I try to do too many things at once - exercise, get more sleep, read more, write, study.

As much as I know that habits need to be stacked, I just can't get myself to be patient and do one thing at a time.

[oldsklgdfth]

Recently started running again and I have to consistently remind myself to take it easy and not overdo it. 3 weeks ago getting through 20 mins was a struggle. Now after 20 mins I feel like I can do 20 more. That's a good way to get hurt.

Consistency is like compound interest. If you get 15-20 mins of easy-paced exercise in 6 times a week (or even daily), you will get more exercise done than if you do 2-3 hard workouts. In addition, you reduce the chances of injury.

[snazz]

This seems to be true of learning as well. It's strange how easy it is (for me at least) to break the cycle of doing something every day--I tell myself that it's okay to skip today so long as I make it up tomorrow (or on the weekend or whatever). At that point it's easy to keep putting it off just through inertia.

[oldsklgdfth]

I learned this over and over again in college. Cramming is never as effective as smaller chucks of daily studying.

Learning a new mathematical technique or programming paradigm is similar to exercise. Your brain needs to develop some "muscle" memory for a new way of thinking to stick.

[danenania]

I think exercise probably gives the most bang for your buck, since it directly improves sleep and mood.

[epinards]

I used to do the same thing. I'm impatient and I want to see results asap, which makes it really hard to slow down and take it one thing at a time.

The thing I've learned lately is that with habits, going faster in the short term slows you WAY down in the long run. Counterintuitive, but 100% true.