It seems to me that a habit must be a bit more complex than Anki reviews or fixing Soylent to notice the difference in reduced cognitive load. Habits dying easily sounds pretty normal to me unless they’re intrinsically fun or there’s a strong immediate incentive.
I’ve had a slightly different kind of problem with habits. Since I started working full time it seems I can’t form or maintain habits outside of work. My free time has become quite chaotic. I still get some things done but it seems never the same way or the same order. My work has become quite habitual and I don’t have to put effort into thinking about what to do next most of the time. The difference in cognitive load is huge, I used to be exhausted every day after work and now my energy levels are just fine.
If it wasn’t clear: Soylent Orange is more complex than Soylent itself; it runs several ingredients through a blender, and takes more effort than cooking some basic meals. And going from ‘hungry’ → ‘eat’ is something I have to specifically exert mental effort to do, so while this has been simpler and less effortful than my previous diet (and healthier), it has still been a significant distraction.
I didn’t seem to develop habits at my most recent job, either, but that lasted all of four months before they lost the budget for my position, so that’s not necessarily conclusive.
It seems to me that a habit must be a bit more complex than Anki reviews or fixing Soylent to notice the difference in reduced cognitive load. Habits dying easily sounds pretty normal to me unless they’re intrinsically fun or there’s a strong immediate incentive.
I’ve had a slightly different kind of problem with habits. Since I started working full time it seems I can’t form or maintain habits outside of work. My free time has become quite chaotic. I still get some things done but it seems never the same way or the same order. My work has become quite habitual and I don’t have to put effort into thinking about what to do next most of the time. The difference in cognitive load is huge, I used to be exhausted every day after work and now my energy levels are just fine.
If it wasn’t clear: Soylent Orange is more complex than Soylent itself; it runs several ingredients through a blender, and takes more effort than cooking some basic meals. And going from ‘hungry’ → ‘eat’ is something I have to specifically exert mental effort to do, so while this has been simpler and less effortful than my previous diet (and healthier), it has still been a significant distraction.
I didn’t seem to develop habits at my most recent job, either, but that lasted all of four months before they lost the budget for my position, so that’s not necessarily conclusive.