Distractions are all around us, especially when jobs require us being constantly plugged-in. Couple that with disrupted or changing routines from COVID-19, or the sometimes-perilous freedom of working from home. In this distraction-rife environment, our habits become more impactful than ever, but habits can be challenging to make or break. That’s because most of the time, our brains are total chumps, waiting to be tricked into doing a thing—whether it’s brushing your teeth before bed or doom-scrolling for an hour.

But what if we could use our brains’ own gullibility to our advantage? In this session, we’ll review some of the high-level science behind habit forming, followed by tactics to trick our lizard-brains into doing what we want. We’ll be drawing from popular texts like James Clear's "Atomic Habits" and Marie Kondo's "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up," as well as some personal experience, struggles, and successes.

Our brains are capable of big things, but when it comes to sustaining and scaling our wins, it’s the little ones that matter. Let’s learn how to train our brains into creating habits that make us better, happier humans and developers.