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Welcome to Effective Habits, a weekly newsletter where I share evidence-based strategies and tools to help you live a happy, healthy, and productive life.
Today at a Glance:
How to Worry Less
Are You Training Hard Enough?
The Energy Audit: A Practical Approach to Finding Flow
“Do your best. But like it! Like what you do; then you will do your best.”
How to Worry Less
Dr. Arthur Brooks
🔦Lights, Camera, ...
Ever notice how your mind can turn even the smallest problem into a full-blown catastrophe? Whether it’s worrying about losing your hair, strange noises in the garage, or something going wrong at work, we often spend more time imagining problems than actually dealing with them. As the Stoic philosopher Seneca observed, “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” Research suggests that chronic worry often has less to do with the problems themselves and more to do with how we think about them. Rather than confronting a specific outcome, we get stuck in a vague cloud of negative thoughts that leaves us anxious but unable to act. The good news? Understanding how worry works can help us break the cycle and spend less time stressing about things that may never happen.
🎬Action!
Write down your worries. Worry often feels overwhelming because it's vague and difficult to pin down. Make it more manageable by writing down the five things you're most worried about. Putting your fears into words helps you see them more clearly instead of letting them endlessly circle in your mind.
Focus on outcomes, not problems. For each worry, write down the best-case, worst-case, and most likely outcomes. Then identify what you would do in each scenario. If there's a useful step you can take now, take it or schedule it. Otherwise, give yourself permission to move on rather than endlessly replaying the possibilities.
Set a daily worry-time boundary. Instead of letting worries interrupt your entire day, schedule 10–15 minutes at a consistent time to think them through. When a worry pops up outside that window, jot it down and return to what you were doing. During your scheduled worry time, review your list, work through any unresolved concerns, and stop when the timer ends.
Set an intention to worry less. Each morning, remind yourself: "I don't know what today will bring, but I'm alive to experience it, and I won't waste it worrying about things I can't control." Then identify one meaningful activity you want to give your attention to today. You won't eliminate worry entirely, but setting a clear intention can help you redirect your attention toward what matters and what you can control.
🔦Lights, Camera, ...
If you've ever lifted weights, you've probably experienced that moment when your muscles start burning, the repetitions get harder, and you decide it's time to stop. But how do you know whether you've actually pushed yourself hard enough? Research suggests that stopping a few reps short of failure can build just as much muscle as pushing to your absolute limit, while offering two advantages: First, it helps you maintain performance across sets. Second, it reduces unnecessary fatigue and may improve recovery. But there's an important assumption baked into this: That you have a pretty good idea of how hard you're actually training. This is where reps in reserve (RIR) comes in—a way of estimating how many additional reps you could complete before failure. The problem? Many people, especially beginners, significantly overestimate how close they are to failure, often confusing muscular discomfort with their actual physical limit. For example, you might think you have two reps left when you could actually manage six. Fortunately, research shows that judging RIR is a skill you can improve with practice. The takeaway? You don't need to train to failure every time to maximize muscle growth, but you do need to learn what being close to failure actually feels like.
🎬Action!
Occasionally train to failure. To accurately estimate your reps in reserve (RIR), you first need to know what true muscular failure feels like. Occasionally, choose a relatively safe exercise (e.g., bicep curls or machine-based exercises) and take your last set to failure—the point where you can no longer complete another repetition with proper form. When you think you have two reps left, make a mental note, then keep going and count how many you actually manage. If you thought you had two left but completed six more, you've been underestimating your capacity. Repeating this exercise periodically will help calibrate your estimates.
Pay attention to rep speed. One useful indicator that you're approaching muscular failure is involuntary slowing of your repetitions. Early reps typically move relatively quickly, but as your muscles fatigue, lifting the weight becomes noticeably slower despite your best effort to maintain speed. If every rep still moves easily at roughly the same speed, you likely have several reps left. Just make sure you're maintaining proper form and aren't deliberately slowing your repetitions.
Start with lower-rep sets. Research suggests that estimating RIR is generally easier during lower-rep sets than higher-rep sets. Beyond roughly 12 repetitions, increasing muscular discomfort can make it harder to judge how many reps you have left. Start by practicing with sets of around 6–10 reps, then gradually apply the same approach to higher-rep sets as your accuracy improves.
Finally, don't overthink it. RIR is a practical tool, not a precise measurement you need to get right every time. Being off by a rep or two isn't a big deal. The goal is simply to challenge your muscles sufficiently without accumulating unnecessary fatigue.
🔦Lights, Camera, ...
What if the secret to getting more done isn’t working harder, but working at the right time? We all have natural peaks and dips in energy, focus, and creativity throughout the day, partly influenced by our biological clock, or chronotype. Yet many of us build routines around habit or convenience rather than when we actually perform best. Sahil Bloom discovered that his years-long habit of exercising first thing in the morning was consuming his most creative hours. By simply swapping his morning workout for writing, he unlocked a productivity boost that lasted for years. The lesson? Even the most disciplined routine can hold you back if you're doing the right things at the wrong times. A simple energy audit can help you identify your natural peak performance windows and align your most important work with the hours when you're at your best.
🎬Action!
Identify your chronotype. Use the infographic above to determine whether you're a Lark, Third Bird, or Owl and when your peak performance window is likely to occur.
Conduct a one-week energy audit. For seven days, briefly note your energy, focus, creativity, and mood at different times of the day. At the end of the week, look for patterns. When do you feel sharpest? When do you feel drained? Compare your observations with your predicted chronotype.
Experiment with your routine. For one week, schedule your most important, mentally demanding work during your identified peak hours. Shift less demanding tasks, such as emails and administrative work, to lower-energy periods. Evaluate whether the change improved your productivity and focus, then adjust your routine accordingly.
TOOL TIP
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FUN FACT
Bluetooth is named after a Viking king. Harald “Bluetooth” united Denmark and Norway, echoing the technology’s goal of uniting devices. Its logo combines the runes for his initials, H and B.
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a medical professional for advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We are not liable for any risks or issues that may arise from using this information.
