Last year, I read Atomic Habits by James Clear. It’s a great book that focuses on how to create new habits. I thought it may be interesting to focus on two concepts from this book and relate them to personal finance. In this post, I am going to discuss the idea of creating a new personal finance habit you want to do daily and how to tackle it with just two minutes a day.
Focus for two minutes a day on a personal finance habit you want to create.
An interesting point made in the Atomic Habits book is to focus on new habits that take two minutes or less to accomplish. James Clear unveiled this concept during the chapter where he discussed the law of making it easy. What personal finance habits can you create that would only take two minutes to do?
“Dreams are just dreams, but goals become your reality.”
— Rebecca DeSantis
Think about a dream, and flip it into a goal by putting some action behind it for just two minutes. What is a personal finance habit can you create that will have an impact on your life? Let’s start there.
Focus on a personal finance habit you want to work on daily.
Another point in the Atomic Habits book was to focus on frequency rather than duration. To create a habit, you need to essentially focus on doing it consistently. The focus here is not for how long, but how often. This approach to habit-forming means that you have a consistent focus on creating the new habit. How can you apply these concepts to your personal finances? What can you start doing that will help you get towards your goals?
For example, I check in on my accounts daily. I use various apps on my phone so that I can monitor activity and see my account balances. Think about how many times you may be on social media during a given day. As a result of this habit, you probably know what’s going on with your friends and family. Now, think, do you give your personal finances the same amount of attention? How can you break down your larger goal into one small habit?
Focus for two minutes per day on a personal finance habit you want to create.
Here are some ideas for some common goals and habits you may want to consider working towards.
| Goal | Habits |
| Cut down on grocery bills | Spend two minutes a day price checking. Take a look at the most commonly used items in your pantry, and see if you are paying the best price for them. By taking a look at one product a day, you are slowly working towards reducing your grocery bill. |
| Reduce utility bills | Spend two minutes a day researching quotes. Start with just one bill and focus on it. For example, do you think your car insurance is too high? Start by getting one quote a day for car insurance. Do you think that your cell phone bill is too high, start there and explore other options and prepaid plans. |
| Pay off your credit card | Spend two minutes a day making a list of your credit card accounts and their balances, and note the interest rate of each. Then, order them from lowest to highest amount (the snowball method) or from highest interest rate to lowest (the avalanche method). Then, get super focused on paying off the one at the top of the list while making payments. Once you have this in action, you can focus on ways to reduce spending. |
| Open a Roth IRA | Spend two minutes a day researching the various brokers. Once you decide on who to open a brokerage account with, open the account. |
Pick a New Habit and Start Focusing on Making it Happen!
What new personal finance habit can you create that will have an impact on your life? What can you start doing that will help you get towards your goals, by just starting with two minutes a day?
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