Habits - Zen Habits Website

Habits

423 posts

2025

August

15

Build the Habit of Showing Up

June

30

Do Something Caring for Yourself Each Day

16

The Cumulative Effect of Daily Actions

March

28

How to Curb Impulse Shopping (or Similar Behaviors)

January

03

How to Actually Create Meaningful Life Changes This Year

2022

April

21

Reset Ritual to Come Back to Focus

07

Curbing a Compulsive Habit: A Primer

March

17

How to Let Go of Obsessive Overthinking

03

5 Ways to Simplify Your Life

February

18

Why Perfectionism Stops Us from Creating New Habits

2021

September

23

Unrushed: How to Feel More Spaciousness in Your Day, Instead of Time Scarcity

16

Practicing with the Complaining Habit

April

17

Delight in Uncertainty

March

03

Staying at the Edge of Uncertainty

February

27

First Two Steps to Creating Resilience

20

Positive Feedback Loops

04

Unstuck: Create a New Path for Yourself

January

16

How to Do the Thing You're Avoiding

2020

December

19

Reminder: 8 Practices to Get Still & Calm

04

Create a More Spacious Life

November

13

A Guide to Being in Action

September

26

Time Management for Top Performers

19

July

18

Let Each Task Fill Up Your World

June

26

The Lost Art of True Rest

March

20

4 Mindfulness Practices That We Need Right Now

05

The Power of Getting Clarity

February

28

Coming Back to Powerful Habits (plus 6 Powerful Habits)

January

28

Monkey Mind: Shifting the Habit of Feeling Distracted Throughout the Day

17

You Absolutely Can Tackle the Big Things You've Been Avoiding

2019

October

21

Creating the Habit of Not Being Busy

17

Discipline Challenge: What My Mind Does When I Commit to Hard Things

10

A Magical Way to Work with Our Habitual Patterns

02

The Awesome Finances Challenge for October

September

19

The Art of Creating a Ritual for What Matters Most

02

The Create Daily Challenge

August

22

Meaningful work: A Simple 3-Step Method for Getting Your One Thing Done

15

Retraining Deeply Ingrained Habits of Mindlessness

07

Finding Groundedness in the Age of Anxiety

June

13

How to Have More Focused Hours in Your Day

April

22

The Habit of Calm When You're Feeling Frustrated

15

A Guide to Letting Go of Stress

08

Focus as an Antidote for Wanting to Do Everything

03

The Beautiful Mornings Challenge: Create a Sacred Morning Routine

01

Develop the Powerful Habit of Mindful Focus

March

28

A Guide to Habit Resilience

18

The Underestimated Importance of Encouragement in Habit Change

12

How to Do Your Scariest Tasks of the Day, with Joy

07

The Two Most Powerful Ways to Create a Healthy Eating Pattern

04

The March Healthy Eating Challenge

January

31

The Mindful Fitness Challenge

05

The Drop Deeper into Mindfulness Challenge

03

The Simple Guide to Creating Habits for a Great Year

2018

October

15

The Little Handbook for Getting Stuff Done

August

14

Herding Cats: A Simple Method for Working with the Disorder of Our Lives

04

A Challenge: Create a Daily Reading Habit

May

17

When You Have a Voice Telling You You're Inadequate

14

Two Simple Habits of Non-Procrastinators (Plus One Bonus Habit)

January

29

Primer: When You Have Too Much to Do

11

Three Powerful Techniques to Get Better at Habits

2017

December

15

A Training Program for Single-Tasking & Focus

01

How to Get Fitter During the Holidays

November

21

How to Form the Decisiveness Habit

09

The Key Mental Habit of Simplicity

October

24

Overcoming Our Biggest Obstacle to Creating Habits

20

The Incredible Progress of Daily Practice

16

Habit Mastery: My New Course to Help You Level Up Your Skills

03

The First Hour: Creating Powerful Mornings

September

14

The Action Habit: Put Everything Into the First Step

04

The Amazing Self-Confidence Habit

August

21

The Destructive Habit of Evaluating Everything We Do

16

How to Get Back on Track with Motivation & Habits

June

27

The Clean-as-You-Go Principle

May

23

A Guide to Developing the Self-Discipline Habit

April

21

The 5 Keys to Forming Any Habit

03

Undone: How to Change Our Procrastination Patterns

March

01

How to Change Your Eating Patterns

February

27

A Mindful Guide to Email in 20 Minutes a Day

10

Letting Go of Distractions

02

Stepping Out of Old Habits & Deeper Into Mindfulness

2016

November

23

The Mental Habit of Feeling Rushed & Overwhelmed

October

14

6 Practical Ways to Practice Being Present

04

How to Write Every Day

September

09

Help Me by Funding My Habit App on Kickstarter!

August

31

July

15

My Personal Fat-Loss Plan

04

A Simple Declutter Habit: Leave No Trace

June

23

To Create a Habit, Tell a Good Story

16

Zen Habits Book Now For Sale

May

27

Two Ways to Form Habits Effortlessly

23

The Biggest Reason We Don't Stay on a Regular Exercise Habit

March

22

Shannon's Method: Overcome Habit Procrastination

January

02

6 Ways to Create an Awesome 2016

2015

December

28

Essential Zen Habits of 2015

22

Essential Zen Habits: Mastering the Art of Change, Briefly

November

04

Living Lightly with the One-Bag Lifestyle

October

09

Habit Relapse: What To Do If You Fall From Your Diet or Good Habits

02

The Transformative Power of the Gratitude Habit

September

18

I'm Returning to Single-Tasking

01

The Daybreak: Make an Important Goal Happen with a Morning Habit

August

26

How to Deal with Your Family's Bad Habits

21

The Simple Health Plan

07

3 Small Discipline Habits You Can Train

July

31

A Brief Guide to Quitting a Bad Habit

17

I Suck at Habits: How Do I Get Better?

14

The 7 Things I Do to Stay Fit While Traveling

07

Staying Motivated to Work on the Road

April

30

How to Beat Procrastination with Daily Training

06

Your Internet Habits Create Your Reality

March

30

The Case for Replacing Exercise with Play

23

Fail Faster at Habits

16

Getting Started with the Discipline Habit

02

Pare Down with the Declutter Habit

February

19

An Addict's Guide to Overcoming the Distraction Habit

January

29

A Gradual Approach to Healthy Eating

23

My Typical Day: How I Get People to Think I'm Productive

20

The Contentment Habit

16

The Delightfully Short Guide to Reading More Books

2014

November

26

The Four Hidden Habit Skills

21

Overwhelmed & Rushed? Do a Stress Assess

07

The Quickstart Guide to Quitting a Bad Habit

05

The Zen Habits Book is Almost Done

October

16

It's Not Too Late to Change Bad Habits

13

The Smart Way to Stick to Habits

September

29

The Productive Sprint

26

The Biggest Reasons You Haven't Changed Your Habits

02

7 Discipline-Mastering Practices

June

19

How to Stop Your Habit Changes From Getting Derailed

May

30

Creating a Lovely Morning

April

28

The Miracle of the Self-Compassion Habit

25

How I Tackle a Big Writing Project

23

The Habit Action List

16

10 Ways to Do What You Don't Want to Do

08

What to Think About During Exercise

02

The Most Important Two Minutes of Your Life

March

28

The Cure for Your Distraction Syndrome

07

The Busy Person's Guide to Reducing Stress

01

What the Exercise Habit Did For Me

February

21

36 Lessons I've Learned About Habits

12

The Habits of Five Amazing Founders

10

The Incredible Importance of Sleep for Habits & Motivation

January

16

How Repetition Can Kickstart a Habit

2013

December

27

Essential Zen Habits of 2013

13

A Method to Find Balance

06

The Simple Fitness Habit Holiday Challenge

November

05

Lyrical Learning, & Why We Learn Habits Wrong

October

21

The Exquisite Habits of the Founder of Blue Bottle Coffee

10

Startup Founder Megan Casey's Habits of Priorities

September

23

Ramit Sethi's Entrepreneurial Habits

02

The Thinking Habit That Changed My Life

August

20

Creating Your Habit Environment

14

Easier Decision-Making: Conduct Experiments

July

09

The Habits of Happiness

04

How to Keep Habits Going During Travel

June

28

The Key Habits of Organization

13

Habits: A Simple Change in Mindset Changes Everything

April

26

Why You Should Write Daily

19

Habit Mastery: Creating the New Normal

12

A Guide to Practical Contentment

10

The Practice of Work Mind & Vacation Mind, Simultaneously

March

29

The 38 Best Methods of Successful Exercisers

15

Getting Your Family On Board with Life Changes

12

How to Stick to a Habit When Life Falls Apart

01

Meditation: The Most Fundamental Habit

February

22

Create the Habits of Being Lean, in 7 Years

15

The 7 Habits of Calmness

13

The Four Habits that Form Habits

06

My 10 Essential Email Habits

01

Sticking to a Habit: The Definitive Guide

January

28

The Power of Habit Investments

14

How to Savor Life

2012

December

27

Essential Zen Habits of 2012

18

The Do Plan, or Why We Know But Don't Do

11

The Clutter-free Holiday Guide

November

09

15 Great Excuses Not to Form the Fitness Habit

02

Why the Fitness Habit is More Important Than the Plan

September

17

Sleep Like a Baby

10

The Habit of Starting

04

Mindful Simplicity: Decluttering, Cleaning & Leaving No Trace

August

28

Why You Can't Eat Healthier

07

20 Simple Strategies for Getting Healthy

July

31

Tea Rituals for Focus, Health & Slowness

13

June

19

Where in the World Do I Start?

15

20 Small Actions to Create a Fit Environment

01

Infusing Play into Mundane Tasks

May

29

The Tiny Guide to Creating the Flossing Habit

10

Three Little Habits to Find Focus

April

24

How to Fail at Habits

23

Webinar: How I Used the Power of Bad Habits to Change My Life

09

How to Meditate Daily

05

How to Beat the Exhaustiveness of Stressful Work

March

26

An Exceedingly Simple Guide to Keeping a Journal

09

A Survival Guide for Beating Information Addiction

February

24

An Autodidact's Schedule

21

It's Not Too Late to Change Your Habits

09

The Pause Upon Which All Else Relies

January

27

Creating Silence from Chaos

23

The Habits That Crush Us

06

How to Tackle Your Clutter

2011

December

29

A Compact Guide to Creating the Fitness Habit

27

The Essential Zen Habits of 2011

23

12 Tips For Beating the Social Overeating Habit

01

The Secret Rule of Changing Anything

November

11

Clutterfree, Finally

09

The Many Reasons We Rely Upon Our Clutter

October

31

The 8 Habits of Healthy Living

12

Tired of Being Tired

10

7 Little Things That Make Life Effortless

03

How to Read More: A Lover's Guide

September

30

The Half Step That Will Change Your Life

12

The Joy of Scarcity

06

Toss Productivity Out

August

08

The Tao of Travel

July

29

When Willpower is Trumped by Bad Habits

23

Finding Your Voice

07

The Zen Habits of Teen-agers

June

27

A Simple Strategy for Simplifying

24

6 Money Lessons for My College-Aged Daughter

May

25

Simple Budgeting for Lazy People

April

20

A Simple Fitness Plan for Travelers

12

March

29

18

9 Mindfulness Rituals to Make Your Day Better

10

The Little Habits

February

18

Create Time to Change Your Life

January

26

The Simplest Diet for Lean Fitness

25

The Spiral of Successful Habits

18

Finding the Elusive Work-Life Balance

2010

December

28

The Essential Zen Habits of 2010

20

When In Doubt Simplify

November

16

Minimalist fitness: your kids are the gym

04

The Little Book of Procrastination Remedies

September

23

A simplified morning routine

16

Life's missing white space

09

Simplify, and Savor Life

August

27

A Brief Guide to Life

11

The importance of enjoying the habit

June

04

The End of Busy

01

A Beginner's Guide to Trail Running

May

27

The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People

20

The Complete Beginner's Guide to Barefoot Running

13

The Tao of Productivity

April

19

6 Ways For Teens to Avoid Distractions and Finish Homework

16

Slow Wealth: The Fantasmic JD Roth Interview

09

Frictionless Work: How to Clear Your Life of Non-Essential Tasks

02

The Lost Art of Solitude

March

29

13 small things to simplify your workday

18

How I Became (Mostly) Google-free in About a Day

12

The Simple Way to Stick to a Meal Plan

February

24

The One Deadly Sin of Changing Habits

15

Email Sanity: How to Clear Your Inbox When You're Drowning

06

12 Classic Zen Habits Posts You Might Not Have Read

01

Zen Habits Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

January

28

How Not to Hurry

21

The Ultimate How to Get Lean Guide

2009

December

30

The Essential Zen Habits of 2009

28

The Definitive Guide to Sticking to Your New Year's Resolutions

07

20 Key Questions on Motivation and Habits, Answered

November

09

The Little Rules of Action

06

Low-Stress Ways To Move House and Declutter Your Life

October

26

The Anti-Fast Food Diet

16

Coding Simplicity: How to Avoid Feature Creep in Your Life

05

Announcing Zen Family Habits

September

28

The Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways to Successfully Ingrain a Behavior

13

How Simplicity Can Help Creativity, Briefly

01

Minimalist Gmail: How to Get Rid of the Non-Essentials

August

24

How to Live a Better Life with Less

12

The Minimalist Principle: Omit Needless Things

03

Your Life, Simplified

July

28

Killing Email: How and Why I Ditched My Inbox

26

The Zen Habits Story

13

Three Simple Changes To Get Fit and Green at the Same Time

June

29

Why You (Almost) Never See a Fat Japanese (or, How I Lost 5 lbs. in Tokyo)

22

20 Classic Zen Habits Posts You Might Not Have Seen Yet

08

A Simple Guide to Keeping Your Counters Clutter-free

03

It's Time for a New Relationship With Food

May

28

The Art of Artlessness: On Living Simply and Naturally

April

29

The Mindfulness Guide for the Super Busy: How to Live Life to the Fullest

16

The Leo vs. Bellyfat Challenge

14

5 Tiny Steps to Quit Being Such a Jerk

March

26

The Cure for What Ails You: How to Beat the Misery of Discontentment

24

Dead Simple Guide to Beating Procrastination

18

17 Arse-kicking Strategies to Stick to Your Diet and Get Fit

12

8 Ways to Make Huge Savings in Your Budget

02

Five Simple Exercise Programs for Beginners

February

11

Task Ninja: Form the Action Habit

09

How to Declutter an Entire Room in One Go

January

21

How to Instill the Love of Reading - In Your Child, or Yourself

15

Exclusive Interview: Leo Talks With Tim Ferriss of 4-Hour Workweek

12

The Lazy Manifesto: Do Less. Then, Do Even Less.

07

Leo Interviews Merlin Mann

02

The Essential Zen Habits of 2008

2008

December

30

The Power of Less Has Launched

23

Taming Your Email: Audio Tips on Finding Inbox Zen

22

Office Zen: Audio Tips on Focusing on One Task at a Time

18

Leo's Book: The Power of Less Video and Website

07

The Essential Time-Saving Guide for Busy People

November

30

The Two Okinawan Diet Rules (or How I'm Getting Leaner During the Holidays)

19

Living Simply: The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Your Clutter

02

The 7 Keys to Turning Bad Habits Into Good Habits

October

29

Six Simple Steps to Avoid Credit Problems in a Bad Economy

22

Pare It Down: Cut Away the Extraneous to Leave the Awesome

05

10 Simple Ways to Live a Less Stressful Life

September

30

9 Fail-proof Tips for Eating Healthy at Social Gatherings

24

Blogging God Steve Pavlina Interview: On Motivation, Handling Email, Daily Routines, How He Got Started, and Much More

17

Minimalist Fitness II: Yardwork Workouts, Prisoner Workout and Other Non-traditional Exercises

14

Sound of Silence: How to Find Some Quietude in Your Life

08

The Many Paths to Simplicity

07

21 Easy Hacks to Simplify Your Life

August

27

7 Little Habits That Can Change Your Life, and How to Form Them

18

25 Painless Ways to Free Up an Hour a Day for Your Goals

06

Jump-Start Your Workspace: Small Changes That Improve Focus and Shorten Your Work Day

July

31

The Beginner's Guide to Zen Habits - A Guided Tour

24

Now Do This, and The Single- Tasking Philosophy

23

Reclaim Your Time: 20 Great Ways to Find More Free Time

June

23

How to Go From Sedentary to Running in Five Steps

08

Autopilot Achievement: How to Turn Your Goals Into Habits

May

13

17 Tips to Help You Get Leaner and Fitter

April

15

The Simple Life

10

13 Things to Avoid When Changing Habits

07

The Rules of the Unbelievable Lightness of Being Club, and How I'm Gonna Get in Shape

03

18 Five-Minute Decluttering Tips to Start Conquering Your Mess

01

Best of Zen Habits: March 2008

March

25

25 Ways to Simplify Your Life with Kids

03

Best of Zen Habits, February 2008

February

28

20 Money Hacks: Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Finances

24

Exclusive Interview: Stephen Covey on His Morning Routine, Blogs, Technology, GTD and The Secret

20

A 12-Step Program to Eating Healthier Than Ever Before

10

7 Steps to Turn Your Self-Improvement Desires Into Reality

07

17 Fitness Truths To Get You In Great Shape

03

17 Unbeatable Ways to Create a Peaceful, Relaxed Workday

01

Best of Zen Habits, January 2008

January

30

30 Things to Do to Keep From Getting Bored Out of Your Skull at Work

24

Top 30 Tips for Staying Productive and Sane While Working From Home

23

Happy 1st Birthday Zen Habits - Celebrating One Wonderful Year

16

A Guide to Cutting Back When You Feel Overwhelmed

06

The Four Laws of Simplicity, and How to Apply Them to Life

2007

December

30

5 Powerful Reasons to Make Reflection a Daily Habit, and How to Do It

28

Best of Zen Habits in 2007

16

14 Stress-Free Ways to Kick Weight Loss in the Butt

November

25

Obsessive- Compulsive's Guide: Top 12 Organizing Tips, Plus Resources

08

10 Simple, Sure-fire Ways to Make Today Your Best Day Ever

October

26

10 Great Workouts to Spice Up Your Running Program

24

15 Great Decluttering Tips

12

Hassle-free Weight Loss: The Zen Habits Meal Plan

09

Fiscal Fitness: Eliminate Debt with 10 Successful Diet Principles

02

10 Lessons to Teach Your Kids About Money

01

6 Rules for Dealing With Habits vs. Tasks

September

21

4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit

17

Engineer Life: Set Up Habit Changes So It's Hard to Fail

07

Simple Things You Can Do to Lose Weight

05

Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life

August

30

Get Off Your Butt: 16 Ways to Get Motivated When You're in a Slump

29

Simple Systems: Clean Your House as You Go (with an added burst)

15

A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Home

13

27 Great Tips to Keep Your Life Organized

08

21 Tips on Keeping a Simple Home with Kids

06

A 3-Step Cure for Digital Packrats, and How to Know If You're One of Them

02

Tips to Establish a Morning & Evening Routine

01

Handle Chores, House Cleaning and Errands with Simple Systems

July

31

21 Strategies for Creating an Emergency Fund, and Why It's Critical

30

How to Simplify Your Filing System; or, Why Stacking Just Doesn't Work

27

Zen To Slim: A Simple, 5-Step Weight Loss Plan

25

12 Ideas for Establishing a Calming Routine

03

The 12-Step Get-Out-of-Debt Program

June

23

16 Tips to Triple Your Workout Effectiveness

19

Optimize Your Productivity with Daily, Weekly Routines

16

Simplify Your Eating Habits and Meals

09

20 Ways to Eliminate Stress From Your Life

07

How to Drop an RSS Feed Like a Bad Habit

May

28

Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity

27

How I Work 2 Jobs, Blog and Still Find Time for My Wife and 6 Kids

13

10 Ways to Deal With Zen Habits

10

Early Riser: Three Quick Ways to Help Cure Insomnia

05

Beginner's Guide to Running

04

How to Never Lose a Thing Again

03

Streamline Your Life

April

30

How to Make Exercise a Daily Habit

25

Simple Way to Save $3,000 a Year: Brown Bag It

23

Top 10 Ways to Reduce Your Work Week

21

Gradual Vegetarianism: The Easy Way to a Slim Waist

19

6 Simple Steps to Make Mail & Paperwork Painless

17

Minimal ZTD: The Simplest System Possible

17

Zen To Done (ZTD): The Simple Productivity System

15

50 Tips for Grocery Shopping

10

Read about me on Balanced Life Center

09

The Secret Habit to Success

01

Turning Habits into Goals

March

29

Edit Your Life, Part 4: Your Work Space

27

How to NOT do everything on your to-do list

25

Rainy days and Sundays are great family days

18

The Art of Doing Nothing

10

How to Get Back on the Exercise Train

08

Edit Your Life, Part 3: Closets and Drawers

07

10 Habits to Develop for Financial Stability and Success

04

How to Teach Your Kids Good Habits

03

Trying to eat healthier? Make lifestyle changes, and have a weekly cheat day

01

Edit Your Life, Part 2: Your Rooms

February

28

Monitor Your Impulse Spending Urges

26

Review Your Goals Weekly

24

Health Tip: Try Eating Vegetarian Sometimes

19

How NOT to Multitask - Work Simpler and Saner

18

Weekly Review: Key to GTD and achieving goals

16

Develop clean-house habits one at a time

14

Reward Yourself Without Spending a Lot

12

Jumpstart your day (the night before) - an evening routine

09

Best 8 Ways to Deal with Detractors

09

Keeping a stress-free, clean house

06

My Fav Procrastination Hack - 30-10

04

How I save money

01

How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

January

31

How I Became an Early Riser

31

My Morning Routine

30

6 Tips for Commuting to Work by Bike

29

3 Steps to a Permanently Clear Desk

29

Get Healthy and Fit, Part 2 - Exercise Edition

29

Baby Makes Eight: Raising Six Kids - Part 1

28

Zen Mind: How to Declutter

27

10 Tips for Quitting Smoking

24

Why Zen Habits?

24

Get Healthy and Fit, Part 1

24

Email Zen: Clear Out Your Inbox

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