Zen Habits
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Zen Habits is about finding simplicity and mindfulness in the daily chaos of our lives. It's about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what's important, create something amazing, and find happiness. Leo Babauta is the Creator of Zen Habits living in San Diego, California.
Zen Habits
19h ago
By Leo Babauta
As I write this, I’m on a long plane ride — I’ve written many posts on planes and trains, and I find it actually much easier to write this way despite the shakiness of my laptop on these rides.
It’s easy to write on planes and trains because there’s not as much to do. I don’t get the Internet option on planes because it really limits my options. That’s a good thing for focus.
On planes, I can do one of a few things: read, watch a movie, sleep, or write. Those are all good options, but they’re limited. I tend to think about it for a minute, and then choose one to focus on for a w ..read more
Zen Habits
2w ago
By Leo Babauta
One of the best long-term things you can do for a happier life and better relationships is to cultivate a positive mindset.
People with positive mindsets live longer, happier lives. They have lower rates of heart disease, cancer. They live about 7.5 years longer, on average. That’s huge.
So developing a positive mindset can be one of the most impactful things you can do for yourself.
And there are a ton of downstream effects: you are kinder to others when you’re happier, so your relationships are better. You are more playful, more joyful, more likely to take positive actions and ..read more
Zen Habits
1M ago
By Leo Babauta
On average, people spend more than 3 hours on their phones each day, picking up their phones nearly 60 times a day … with some people spending closer to 4 hours.
These numbers aren’t meant to be judgments — it’s not a bad thing to look at your phone — but instead are meant to bring some awareness to our phone usage.
A lot of people I talk to want to decrease their usage of phones — not necessarily decreasing to zero, but decreasing impulsive usage of their phones.
Many of us tend to grab our phones anytime there’s a lull, and once you get on your phone it can lead to mindless sc ..read more
Zen Habits
1M ago
By Leo Babauta
Developing a strong sense of self is one of the most under-appreciated ways to be happy. To have healthy relationships, with others and with yourself.
It’s not often understood, and as a result, problems in this area cause problems in all areas of our lives.
Let me point out just some of the common symptoms of an under-developed sense of self:
People pleasing
Conflict avoidance
Not being honest about how you feel
Losing yourself in a relationship
Distancing yourself from your partner when you’re afraid
Hiding things, cheating on your partner
Not being able to take care of your ..read more
Zen Habits
2M ago
By Leo Babauta
My wife Eva and I have been vegan for over 11 years now, and we love it. I don’t talk about veganism a lot on Zen Habits, but today I’d love to share a little about it, if you’ll indulge me.
Let me start by talking about why I’m vegan, and then I’ll share a few tips on how to make becoming vegan as easy as possible, in case you’re interested.
So the first thing is that veganism, for me, is about compassion. Yes, it has a huge environmental impact — probably bigger than anything else you can do, including ditching a car or going electric vehicle. Yes, switching to eating plants c ..read more
Zen Habits
2M ago
By Leo Babauta
When we are procrastinating, avoiding exercise or some other habit we want to create, or avoiding taking on a difficult project … the underlying cause is rarely what we think it is.
We think that all we need to do is do the thing we’re avoiding, and stop procrastinating. Simple! But then when we fail, we wonder what’s wrong with us.
The problem is that we aren’t really addressing the real cause. We’re addressing the symptom, and while there are tactics that can help with the symptom, they rarely last for very long.
So what causes our avoidance? An underlying emotional current. S ..read more
Zen Habits
2M ago
By Leo Babauta
“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.”
― Rumi
There’s rarely a moment in the day when most of us stop moving and stop the noise. For most of us, we’re working, we’re moving, we’re driving, we’re listening to things on our headphones, we’re watching things, we’re filling up the little spaces by checking our phones.
This isn’t wrong — it’s a very human tendency to want to be busy, productive, filling every space with something useful or entertaining.
But what if we could let ourselves become quiet?
What happens is something magical: we start to discover a n ..read more
Zen Habits
3M ago
By Leo Babauta
“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.”
― Rumi
There’s rarely a moment in the day when most of us stop moving and stop the noise. For most of us, we’re working, we’re moving, we’re driving, we’re listening to things on our headphones, we’re watching things, we’re filling up the little spaces by checking our phones.
This isn’t wrong — it’s a very human tendency to want to be busy, productive, filling every space with something useful or entertaining.
But what if we could let ourselves become quiet?
What happens is something magical: we start to discover a n ..read more
Zen Habits
3M ago
By Leo Babauta
The last couple of months, things have piled up on me: emails, tasks, random notes, a bunch of browser tabs with things I’m interested or need to do, financial stuff, etc.
For the past week, I’ve been allowing myself the joys of getting organized. It’s beautiful, and I just had to share with you.
Let me say a few things first: you don’t need to be organized all the time, or at all. This isn’t a “should” to add to your list of things you’re not doing. Also, there isn’t one way to do this, and my way isn’t the “right” way. Finally, this is about joy, not torture.
How can getting o ..read more
Zen Habits
3M ago
By Leo Babauta
How many days do you wake up excited for life, stoked to be alive and take on the day’s challenges?
If your answer is “often,” then congratulations! That’s an amazing way to live life — but you’re in the minority.
Most people are unenthusiastic about their lives, not looking forward to what the day has in store. That’s not a bad thing — if that’s how you’re feeling, it’s just how you’re feeling. There isn’t a “right” way to be.
That said, if you’d like to be more stoked about life, then there are ways to cultivate that. We’ll explore some of those ways in this post.
Living a Lif ..read more