- Author:: [[Scott H Young]] - URL:: [https://scotthyoung.com/blog/2021/11/02/habits-vs-projects](https://scotthyoung.com/blog/2021/11/02/habits-vs-projects) - Recommended By:: - Tags:: [[Articles]] [[Readwise]] [[Habit change]] [[Task management]] [[Skill learning]] - ### Highlights first synced by [[Readwise]] [[June 16th, 2022]] - The Habit-Building Philosophy ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5pp3b89zx2qxwstqyjp0yj0)) - Habits VS Projects ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5pp3terq4vhatvj1n4gnbx4)) - Habits AND Projects ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5pp4tzjptcyehmd91awsvwk)) - ==Habits are plenty for some goals, but others will need projects.== I might set a goal of exercising daily—if I stick to it for long enough, it can eventually become an automatic behavior. But if I decide to run a marathon for the first time, it will likely require more than just my daily jog. If I want to *win* the marathon, I will need a lot more than just a habit ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5pp5gkyzhbshdaw9ke7d60k)) - **Note**: Projects are needed for things which differ from the routine of our daily lives. Writing a book of you have never written one for instance. - The Effort Continuum ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5pp7rzkzce1yp7v9rcnp20m)) - **There are three different resources that you invest in a pursuit: time, effort, and attention** ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5pp878xpnaz4ke8r1n7bzzh)) - Time is the most obvious—you only have so many hours in the day. Thus, even if it doesn’t require much effort or thinking, a time-intensive habit may bump against other pursuits ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5pp855c8sxvz6de8qbh09a8)) - ==Effort is next. With careful conditioning, habits can become less effortful, but the effort rarely goes down to zero==. This non-zero effort has two effects. First, when combined with the inevitable jostles of life, it can lead to a need to rebuild old habits semi-regularly ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5ppavzdbecz9d5s47rbwpja)) - ==Attention is perhaps the most constrained of all. If a project requires planning, reflection and obsession to reach completion==, you’re probably limited to at most one or two efforts at a time. Anything more is going to reduce your performance sharply ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5ppb64ge4xf0g9jpcqtc9xn)) - My Experience with Projects and Habits ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5ppbtvz3yk9nmyy4dmvbqjy)) - Exercise tends to work well as a habit. Although the time remains constant and the effort rarely goes to zero (fun sports are often an exception), the attention needed really can go to zero. Exercise enough, and you can think about other projects while working out ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5ppcev21myvq6t2xkw9xmwa)) - Writing articles works well as a habit, provided my goal is consistency. I’ve written [over 1500 articles](https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/articles/) during the last decade and a half. That’s probably two million words of published material. Few could argue that I don’t have a solid writing habit. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01g5ppexmzc3bccy834bsssqfk))