Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is a habit? What aspects of the brain are involved in habit formation?

Teaching Suggestion: It might be helpful to familiarize students with the basic psychology and neuroscience of habits so they may be more fully engaged with the text. The resources below will help students build background knowledge about the science of habits, which is more deeply explored throughout the book. This activity introduces students to an important theme: The Habit Loop.

• “How Habits Can Change Your Life (and Your Brain)” from Be Smart
• “How to Form a Habit” from SciShow Psych
• “The Science of Habits” from TEDxFS

2. List some of the common advice you’ve received about creating and building better habits. What do you already know about how to stick to good habits? What practices have not worked?

Teaching Suggestion: As students read, they will find that much of Clear’s advice counters, expands, or adds practicality to the typical advice about starting and maintaining habits. In the post-reading discussion, students will be invited to reflect on how Clear’s approach is different from other things they’ve read about habits.