Style

Stephen Ango recently wrote about style, and how it can be a consistent constraint and that inspired me to write this post.

Ever since I read Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit in 2015, I've been fasinated by habits and consistency. When I read the book I became much more aware of my own habits and routines.

After telling yourself to do a certain behaviour over time, making a routine, like wearing a certain kind of clothes, washing up after eating etc., it will eventually become a habit.

Habits and routines can be a form for style. It can help when you need to stay consistent. You don't need to think of them as constraints, but rather a way to offload the need to consider or think about something, letting you use that energy on something more important. An example could be: What am I going to wear tomorrow? If you have established a style, it will become automatic and you don't need to spend time nor energy when making the decision.

Some examples from my own habits and routines:

• I wear clothes without logos.
• I use YYYY-MM-DD (ISO 8601) dates everywhere.
• I bring my notebook everywhere.
• I reverse park anywhere I can.
• I use conventional commits when using Git.

Like Stephen, I want to say you do you. Don't let anyone else tell you what is better, forming habits and routines doesn't happen overnight. Experiment and let yourself be inspired by others and find your own.