The Environment Is Doing the Work
Why some people make it look easy. Hint: it's the environment.
A few years ago, I noticed something strange about my own work.
The weeks I did the most weren’t the weeks I felt the most motivated.
They were the weeks my desk was clear, my phone was on silent, and the next task was already open on my screen when I sat down.
Nothing about me had changed. My environment had.
I think about this a lot now. My phone, by default, has most notification turned off. Every evening at 8:30, it automatically slips into sleep mode and blocks all calls and alerts until 5:30 the next morning. It also does not accept any call from an unidentified number. I can check the missed list later if I want. Almost nothing makes it through in the moment.
People tell me this is extreme.
Maybe it is.
I get pushback from friends who think I’m cutting myself off from the world.
What I see happening to almost everyone else is this:
They sit down to do something real, something that needs 90 minutes of quiet thought, and within 10 minutes a sales rep from a bank is offering them a loan they didn’t ask for.
Then a courier confirmation.
Then a WhatsApp ping.
Then a friend forwarding a meme.
By the time they get back to the actual task, the morning is gone and the work hasn’t moved.
The decision was made once. The phone enforces it every day. It either serves you or it derails you.
Which brings me to this week’s read, by James Clear. Chances are high you’ve already heard of him, and of Atomic Habits. If you haven’t, I’d be very surprised.
The piece makes the case far better than I just did. It starts somewhere unexpected, with a question about why agriculture spread faster across some continents than others, and ends somewhere much closer to home. Your kitchen. Your desk. The phone in your pocket.
The argument is simple. If you want better habits, stop trying harder. Change your environment.
And that’s it for this week
Manoj
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