Jeremy Nagel, Founder of Focus Bear, a game-changing productivity tool for neurodivergent individuals, on starting small, building routines and sustaining motivation (#6) 

Top 3 quotes from the episode

"In both Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits, they talk about either habit chaining or habit stacking, which I think is a good approach, but it only works, in my opinion, with a limited number of habits."

"I’ve got a diagnosis of ADHD and autism. And a lot of my distractibility and impulsiveness is linked to the ADHD side. And my love of routines is probably from my autistic side."

"I really find for myself that tasks that I would consider to be really dull, I can make them more enjoyable by injecting some creativity."

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Show Notes

Why Jeremy started Focus Bear (1:01)

How Jeremy sets boundaries with work time (6:16)

How Focus Bear Works (8:09)

Accountability in behaviour change (13:51)

Rewards in behaviour change (17:41)

Supporting neurodivergent individuals to thrive (20:27)

Rapid-Fire Questions (20:09)

The value of exercise (27:51)

How to effectively start small (30:04)

Sustaining motivation (32:35)

More quotes from the episode

"I knew in the past that the times where I had been most effective were when I started my day with meditation and exercise."

"Even if my computer was locked down, my phone or my iPad was still accessible. So I wanted something that would have the same locking experience across all of them, that my routine status would be synced across them."

"It just makes it more fun. It's something that I look forward to. I think that reduces the friction associated with actually starting it because I look forward to it and keeping on doing it during the activity as well."

"In my late teens and early twenties, I got very into running. At one point I was running 100 miles per week, 160 kilometers, and I then transitioned into doing a lot of cycling, so I was doing probably 30 hours of exercise per week. I think that amount was actually too much."

"If I'm feeling like my energy is dipping, I'll stand up and I'll do a set of burpees or squats, something like that."

"I try and do some kind of movement every half an hour. And I find that really helps me to keep my energy levels stable and also my mood stable."

"Even five minutes, That can be really fun and you can get benefits just from that, from that minimum enjoyable amount."

Links from the episode

Books and Articles

Tiny Habits | BJ Fogg

Atomic Habits | James Clear

Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage | Robert D. Austin & Gary P. Pisano

Nir Eyal

Association of wearable device-measured vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity with mortality |Emmanuel Stamatakis, Matthew N. Ahmadi, Jason M. R. Gill, Cecilie Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Martin J. Gibala, Aiden Doherty & Mark Hamer

Extra Focus | Jesse J. Anderson

Products

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