Another habits principle is that you’re more likely to do what’s convenient and less likely to do what isn’t. It struck me just a day or two ago that I had a tool that I loved, that was extremely convenient and which I could use more: my darling little laptop. You can see in the picture how small it is. [Note: this is a stock image; as with so many other pictures, this one was lost in the website move. And now, as I re-do this post, that little laptop is long gone–I think I’m o the third one now.] I carry it around with me from room to room just as some people carry around their smartphones. [Again, a further note: I certainly now have a smartphone!] A couple of days ago I sat down to pay some bills and realized that I hadn’t balanced the checkbook for some time. I’ve still been using a paper check register to do this, and I thought, Why don’t I use my laptop? I googled “virtual check register” and found something called “checkbook.com.” I also used the strategy of the “clean slate,” another Gretchen Rubin idea. I didn’t bother with going back and checking every transaction since the last time I did the balancing act; I don’t think I’ve ever found a mistake on the bank’s side, so what was the point? The important thing is for me to have some kind of backup information, although I guess it would be fine just to rely on the bank’s online statement. I may re-think the issue in the future, but at least for now I can just enter items online and see the balance computed for me. I’m also going to go ahead and start actually paying the bills online, something I’ve resisted doing for some reason. Why should I go through the inconvenient process of writing out checks, entering them in the register, putting the check and the payment slip in an envelope, hunting up a stamp and a return address label, and then mailing them? Hmmm. As soon as I get finished writing this post I’ll go to the bank website, pay off yesterday’s credit card charges and pay the two bills I have right now. One is a medical bill that will have to be paid by check, but the other is the monthly phone/internet charge, so I can set up online bill pay for that. (I realize that the preceding may sound like I’m still using a quill pen and paying bills with bags of coins, but I’m really trying to become more hip and happening!) I’ve been wanting to establish the habit of keeping up with our finances on a daily or semi-daily basis; the use of a convenient, familiar, well-liked tool will help me do that.The Strategy of Convenience
Another habits principle is that you’re more likely to do what’s convenient and less likely to do what isn’t. It struck me just a day or two ago that I had a tool that I loved, that was extremely convenient and which I could use more: my darling little laptop. You can see in the picture how small it is. [Note: this is a stock image; as with so many other pictures, this one was lost in the website move. And now, as I re-do this post, that little laptop is long gone–I think I’m o the third one now.] I carry it around with me from room to room just as some people carry around their smartphones. [Again, a further note: I certainly now have a smartphone!] A couple of days ago I sat down to pay some bills and realized that I hadn’t balanced the checkbook for some time. I’ve still been using a paper check register to do this, and I thought, Why don’t I use my laptop? I googled “virtual check register” and found something called “checkbook.com.” I also used the strategy of the “clean slate,” another Gretchen Rubin idea. I didn’t bother with going back and checking every transaction since the last time I did the balancing act; I don’t think I’ve ever found a mistake on the bank’s side, so what was the point? The important thing is for me to have some kind of backup information, although I guess it would be fine just to rely on the bank’s online statement. I may re-think the issue in the future, but at least for now I can just enter items online and see the balance computed for me. I’m also going to go ahead and start actually paying the bills online, something I’ve resisted doing for some reason. Why should I go through the inconvenient process of writing out checks, entering them in the register, putting the check and the payment slip in an envelope, hunting up a stamp and a return address label, and then mailing them? Hmmm. As soon as I get finished writing this post I’ll go to the bank website, pay off yesterday’s credit card charges and pay the two bills I have right now. One is a medical bill that will have to be paid by check, but the other is the monthly phone/internet charge, so I can set up online bill pay for that. (I realize that the preceding may sound like I’m still using a quill pen and paying bills with bags of coins, but I’m really trying to become more hip and happening!) I’ve been wanting to establish the habit of keeping up with our finances on a daily or semi-daily basis; the use of a convenient, familiar, well-liked tool will help me do that.
As everyone in the known universe knows, Gretchen Rubin’s new book on habits, Better than Before, came out last week. While Gideon was getting his MRI on Friday at the hospital I walked over to the Tattered Cover Bookstore to buy my copy and get my admission ticket for her appearance there tomorrow night. I’ve been reading it kind of slowly, trying to savor it and take it all in. I even plan to do something very rare for me: go back and highlight the most important ideas.
Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland, Crown Business, New York, 2014.