Stop Spinning Your Wheels: Learn to Close the Loops 🔄

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:

• You Aren't Learning If You Don't Close the Loops

• Tools to Manage Dopamine and Improve Motivation & Drive

• Unlocking the Power of Simplicity

You Aren't Learning If You Don't Close the Loops
Cedric Chin

Lights, Camera, ...
Have you heard of the PDCA loop or Deming Cycle? It's a simple, yet effective method for iterating towards success. The basic idea is to make a plan, execute it, study the results, and act on what you've learned in the next iteration of the loop. Easy, right? Well, not exactly. Despite its common-sensical nature, it's often challenging to implement in practice because of distractions, the difficulty of closing loops, and the tendency to get sidetracked by shiny new things. While the Plan and Do parts of the cycle are usually straightforward, it's the Study and Act part that most people struggle with. Sometimes, you get distracted, and sometimes you forget to study the results and integrate the learnings into the next iteration. The result? A graveyard of incomplete execution loops. But, if you can close the loops you start, you'll be better equipped to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. So, the next time you make a plan, remember to close the loop!

Action!

1. Embrace the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) loop: Apply this simple yet effective iterative approach to various aspects of your life, be it in business or personal projects, learning new skills, or self-improvement.

2. Write down your hypotheses before executing: It helps remembering your original goals and keep you focused on the objectives of the loop, preventing distractions or forgetting the purpose of your actions.

3. Be disciplined in completing the loop: Resist the urge to close a project once the execution or "do" step is finished. See it through to the end and learn from the results, even if it means adjusting your plans.

Tools to Manage Dopamine and Improve Motivation & Drive
Dr. Andrew Huberman

Lights, Camera, ...
Do you ever struggle with staying motivated or feeling unmotivated? It turns out that dopamine, a molecule in the brain and body, is closely linked to our sense of motivation. When our dopamine levels are elevated, we tend to focus our attention on outward goals and feel motivated to pursue them. But how do we manage dopamine levels to enhance our motivation and drive? Dr. Huberman offers insights into how we can establish a healthy level of baseline dopamine and manage dopamine peaks to sustain day-to-day motivation and increase ongoing motivation by celebrating our wins, among other things. By understanding and supporting our dopamine baseline and what spikes dopamine, we can learn to regulate it for persistent goal-directed motivation.

Action!

1. Maintain healthy baseline dopamine levels by:

   1. Exposing yourself to early morning sunlight for 10-30 min. daily without sunglasses (but eyeglasses and contacts are fine).

   2. Consuming tyrosine-rich foods like red meats, nuts, or hard fermented cheese, while considering their caloric content.

   3. Avoiding melatonin supplements, as they can lower dopamine levels and disrupt sleep patterns.

   4. Steering clear of bright lights between 10 p.m.-4 a.m. to prevent a decrease in circulating dopamine.

   5. Ingesting caffeine (100-400mg) through coffee, tea, or another form, but not too close to bedtime.

2. Increase motivation by managing dopamine released from reaching milestones:

   1. Employing a random intermittent reward timing (RIRT) to celebrate some wins and associating "winning" with the effort process itself.

   2. Recognizing that dopamine is subjective and acknowledging progress towards goals can stimulate dopamine release.

   3. Using "spotlighting" to physically focus your visual attention on a specific point to maintain focus during goal work.

   4. Avoiding the layering of too many sources of dopamine, which could cause a crash and undermine long-term motivation.

   5. Using over-the-counter supplements like L-Tyrosine (500-1000mg), Alpha-GPC (300mg), and Phenylethylamine (500mg) before mental or physical work bouts, but not daily. Exercise caution with dopamine-enhancing compounds if you have a dopamine-sensitive condition or ADHD.

Unlocking the Power of Simplicity
Sahil Bloom

Lights, Camera, ...
Are you feeling overwhelmed by the clutter in your life, both physical and digital? Do you find it challenging to focus and stay productive? If so, it might be time for a "Simplicity Audit." This audit involves examining the four key environments in your life: physical, digital, mental, and social, and asking two questions about each item in these environments: Is this necessary? Is this energy creating? By conducting a simplicity audit, you can identify and remove unnecessary items that drain your energy and focus, leading to a simpler and more productive life. So, if you're ready to simplify your life, it's time to start auditing!

Action!

1. Identify the four key environments in your life:

   1. Physical Environment: clothes, material goods, miscellaneous "stuff"

   2. Digital Environment: technology, apps, notifications

   3. Mental Environment: work, finances, household, wellness

   4. Social Environment: partner, children, friends, coworkers, family

2. For each item in each environment, ask two questions:

   1. Is this necessary?

   2. Is this energy creating?

3. Based on the answers to these questions, decide whether to remove, keep, or think more about the item.

   1. Remove items that are not necessary and not energy creating (e.g., unused clothes, unnecessary apps).

   2. Keep items that are both necessary and energy creating (e.g., important work tools, supportive relationships).

   3. Think more about items that are either necessary or energy creating (e.g., occasional-use kitchen gadgets, social media apps that offer both pros and cons).

4. Conduct the Simplicity Audit quarterly or biannually to build awareness of creeping complexity in your life.

5. Here are some tips for each environment:

   1. Physical Environment: Use the 1-In-1-Out Rule (e.g., when buying a new shirt, donate or discard an old one).

   2. Digital Environment: Apply the 1-Week Rule for browser tabs (e.g., close all tabs every Sunday evening to start fresh each week).

   3. Mental Environment: Automate or delegate tasks to reclaim headspace (e.g., set up auto-pay for bills).

   4. Social Environment: Spend more time with energy creators and less time with energy drainers (e.g., have a conversation with a friend who consistently brings negativity)

TOOL TIP

Cold Turkey: A free tool that let's you block websites, games and applications to boost your productivity and reclaim your free time. What sets it apart from similar tools? Cold Turkey makes it harder to stop the block once you lock it, provides many uses cases, and doesn’t collect your data.

FUN FACT

The oldest clam ever lived to 507.

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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.