February 2025
Service Design
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‘Atomic Habits’ is a book I’ve seen everywhere for years and yet I never paid it much attention. Perhaps I didn’t pay it much attention BECAUSE I saw it everywhere for years. Shortly after reading ‘The Power of Habit’ by Charles Duhigg, ‘Atomic Habits’ popped up as a recommended read so I with that recommendation combined with all of the fanfare it gets in the digital world, I decided to cave and finally give it a read.
A few years ago, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and within days, everyone’s lives were thrown up in the air in some way or another. One of the nearly universal experiences that people faced was a drastic change to their daily working lives. Whether it was working fully remote, having to take care of kids while working, wearing masks at work all day and being worried about contracting a virus or simply being afraid of getting laid off, we have all faced a certain amount of upheaval.
I, like so many others, had to adjust to being a student and working from a desk in my bedroom for countless hours everyday. It has not been easy and it was actually one of the things I sought to improve upon moving forward into 2023. When remote work started to become mainstream in 2020, books like ‘Atomic Habits,’ ‘The Power of Habit,’ and other self-help/productivity books surged in popularity - I’m guessing because people were struggling to be productive in their comfortable, home environments.
It has certainly a weird time to be transitioning into the working world. I, also like so many others, have had to change habits and systems of habits in order to remain productive and avoid monotony.
Rather than summarizing James Clear’s book, I will just say this: I believe everyone should read it. I’ve read accounts of it being a difficult/impossible framework for those who are neurodivergent, but nevertheless, I think it’s a stellar book for those who are able to use the framework and a prosperous way to move through the professional world.
Some of the bigger takeaways for me were:
“true behavior change is identity change.”
“habits can be easier to change in a new environment.”
“look at nearly any product that is habit-forming and you’ll see that it does not create a new motivation, but rather latches onto the underlying motives of human nature.”
“a habit can be completed in just a few seconds, but it can also shape the actions that you take for minutes or hours afterward.”
“without variety, we get bored. and boredom is perhaps the greatest villain on the quest for self-improvement.”
“periodic reflection and review is like viewing yourself in the mirror from a conversational distance. You can see the important changes you should make without losing sight of the bigger picture “
‘Atomic Habits’ was a wakeup call in terms of one thing in particular: I desperately needed a more refined workstation.
“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.”
“Perhaps even more effective is reducing the friction within your home or office. Too often, we try to start habits in high-friction environments.”
It is important to note that I built (yes, built - that might be a future blog post) a new standing desk setup and completely rearranged my entire workstation. It alone has been transformational.
In Addition, I’ve implemented several atomic habits in my daily routine that I would like to document/share:
My basic rule: Read for at least 30 minutes every morning before checking email (this is called habit-stacking according to James Clear). I started this in 2022 and it was a resounding success.
After being in the world of academia, I was verging on being burnt out from reading so many dense journal articles, reviews and textbooks. However, I missed learning and found that reading design or research related articles about product design are far more interesting and enjoyable (I have a lot of thoughts on making information accessible).
I created this blog (originally a Google Doc) at the end of 2020 to document the resources I consumed when I was teaching myself qualitative research methods in a former role. I then transferred it over to my portfolio and decided to turn it into a blog to document my learning and showcase my innate curiosity.
Reading, taking notes, finding new books and even writing these blog posts has helped reduce boredom and reinvigorate passion in what I do. It has especially been helpful in interviews when I’ve been asked: “what sorts of media do you consume to stay up-to-date with new things?”
After checking email, I’ve been reading 2-3 articles each morning to get updates on trends and philosophies - or anything else I ought to be aware of in the tech world (ChatGPT has been a big one lately).
I subscribe to a number of blogs including:
1. UX Planet
2. NN/g
3. Interaction Design Foundation
4. InVision
5. Smashing Magazine
I’m still looking for new, reliable sources for design/research/strategy-related content so this is still a work in progress.
If I’m burnt out with reading, I listen to a podcast episode instead from:
1. NN/g (Therese Fessenden is a great podcast host!)
2. Honest UX Talks (Anfisa and Ioana keep it real)
3. 99% Invisible Ted Talks Daily (a little break from only design-related content)
At the end of 2022, I found myself questioning how productive I was. To prevent that from happening, I’ve decided to simply document it moving forward.
As I read or listen, I start off my day with setting up a work log. Currently, I’m using Google Docs and the ‘smart chips’ to date entries; I’ll probably switch over to Notion at some point soon.
The basic anatomy of my work log is:
Date:
List of what book/articles/podcast I consumed:
Reminder of the Day:
Goal:
Specific Goals:
Goals (unrelated to work):
What I actually accomplished:
It sounds crazy, but getting dressed as if I’m going into an office has helped me focus and get into a better rhythm. In particular, wearing shoes helps me focus for much longer periods of time (bizarre, I know).
I was gifted a pair of noise canceling headphones and they have change my life. If you have the ability, by all means go out and buy yourself some noise canceling headphones. A lot of the time, I don’t even play music through them; rather, I just put them in and use the noise canceling feature.
Another symptom of working remotely has been, at times, losing sight of the bigger picture of design and also not being able to interact with other professionals as much. I joined IxDA Atlanta, and DOUX (Downton Orlando UX - Thank you Wes Brown!) to stay social, meet new people, and also learn new things going on in the design world outside of my own space.
For example, I went to one DOUX meetup (virtually) about ‘Design Estimation’ and walked away feeling far more confident about quantifying success/results of a project.
Last but not least, toward the end of ‘Atomic Habits,’ James Clear suggests establishing a system for reflection and review.
The timeline for doing this is probably going to be iterative; as of now, I’m planning on conducting a reflection of my professional life/trajectory every 3 months (4 times per year).
Essentially, this will allow me to quantify successes (and failures) easier and provide a system of accountability.
