Zen Habits - Handbook for Life

by Leo Babauta

This handbook is a collection of some of my best articles from ZenHabits.net. It provides you with hundreds of tips for improving your life through simplicity, productivity, and happiness. At the request of my readers, I've hand-picked the articles and put them together for you in an easy to read format.

When I first started out in my adult life, 17 years ago, it would have been nice if someone I respected had given me a handbook, with all the essential topics covered in a how-to format. It would have taught me to simplify my life, which I've learned to do in the last few years. It would have talked about the essentials of happiness, and how to be productive and achieve my dreams.

Of course, life doesn't come with such a handbook, but that didn't stop me from trying to create one. I hope this handbook will be of some use to you and help you achieve your dreams too. Choose the articles that apply best to your life, and give them a try. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Audiobook, Productivity, Personal Development, Psychology, Philosophy

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 2008

About the author

Leo Babauta is a simplicity blogger and author. He created Zen Habits, a Top 25 blog (according to TIME magazine) with 260,000 subscribers, mnmlist.com, and the best-selling books focus, The Power of Less, and Zen To Done.

Babauta is a former journalist of 18 years, a husband, father of six children, and in 2010 moved from Guam to San Francisco, where he leads a simple life.

He started Zen Habits to chronicle and share what he's learned while changing a number of habits.

Reviews

[Frances · Rating 2 out of 5]

Leo Babauta's blog, Zen Habits is great and there's a lot of useful stuff on there.

This book started out great but ended up just being trite. With a blog you can say 'I'm interested in this but I'll skip that. That's not for me'. The parts of this book that are about minimalism and getting things done were very interesting to me but so much of it was repetitive lists and 'inspirational' quotes that had my eyes on a near continuous roll. It starts humble and ends sanctimonious.

I would recommend the Zen Habits blog but if you read that, this book isn't going to teach you anything new and may end up irritating you. If you were hankering after a book in this vein I'd recommend Stuffocation by James Wallman.

[Devin Partlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some good things in it but I expected more since it was published so recently. I really didn't read anything brand new, it was more of principles recycled from books prior to this one. I did really enjoy the conscious living section though.

I also think the book could have better organized. He repeats a lot of things, it would have been nice if we could figure out a unifying theme to tie alot of the concepts together.

If you're the type of person that loves step-by-step guides, this is for you. I give it 3.5 stars.

[Izzy Janx · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good basic “get your sh*t together” book but honestly most of the stuff in here isn’t ground breaking. It’s basically your typical self help book with advice like “exercise, good hygiene, clear your inbox” so I dunno if you’ve heard this all before maybe this book only has redundant information. It was a good reminder of all of those things for me so I still gained value from reading it.

[Ola · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ Prostota, o to chodzi. Ja rozumiem i popieram ale te niektóre rady to w stylu ,,po prostu przestań myśleć o sobie źle”, ,,po prostu x,y”. To nie zawsze tak działa … XD ta połówka w ocenie to taki zapas ze względu na moje nieoczytanie w temacie filozofii Zen.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. I liked some of the stuff about minimizing and cleaning, but a lot of it was pretty basic and redundant. I’m sure the blog is better, where you can pick and choose the topics you like — and he has an effortless writing style.

[Mamey · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 rating.....While this book was not ground-breaking, it was helpful. All the ideas and points we have all heard before, but it's nice to get a reminder to renew these ideas.

[Elwira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jednak mocno średnia

[Pacia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is more of a list what to do and what not to do, without deeper thoughts about that. Many advices are good, but they lack explanation and depth. Some of them are totally strange and detached from standard person’s reality.

[natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

no taka ok xdd

[peachymeachy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bez tej książki nie odniosłabym tylu sukcesów. Całe to moje planowanie i rutyny, które rozpoczęłam w minionym roku szkolnym były wzięte z tej książki. Jakby ktoś chciał ją przeczytać pożyczę to cudo bez problemu. Jednak zdaje sobie sprawę z tego że to nie jest książka dla każdego - autor pokazuje jeden styl życia, wiec nie odnosi się do wszystkich.

[Billy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very good hints, suggestions and ideas for live if you are looking to live a higher quality of life. It's more a collection of thoughts and less an actual book. The only reason for a 3 star and not a 4 is that I have a hard time considering a book in that sense.

[Ghenadie Virtos · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pretty simple book, or rather a booklet. Very straightforward and rather simplistic. I skipped through it and didn't read it thoroughly because everything is as common-sensical as possible or you've surely heard it somewhere else or thought it yourself. It still might prove useful because it works as a reminder of those nice ideas we and projects or tips we had for ourself but somehow lost sight of them because of all the clutter of day to day life. I've personally took away just one tip which I am going to try to implement - that of being an early riser.

[Charmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

HIGHLIGHTS:
1. You can find the nugget of truth in criticism, with a suggestion for improvement. Find the positive.

2. Thank the critic. Attitude of gratitude. Remind yourself to be humble and try to improve.

3. Detach from critics: don’t take it personal. Rise above attacks. Be positive. Ignore the insult.

4. Speak slowly: people in authority are not rushed.

5. Set a small goal that is too easy to fail.

6. Focus on solutions to improve confidence.

7. Work on small things. Work in bursts.

[Thea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous! Huge fan of Leo Babauta and his blog...and just wanted to post here to spread the word for him. His blog zenhabits.net is one of my favorites. This book is FANTASTIC for anyone who is looking to be more productive or for someone trying to make a life change/break a habit (exercise more, etc.) Super fast...you can read it in a day.

[Carl Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leo is one of my favourite simplicity authors and the Power of Less was key to setting me off on my own journey to simpler living (and eventually setting up my own blog with simplicity at it's core).

This short collection of key posts and articles come together in a handy book that serves as a reminder of much of what is truly important in life.

A great read!

[Kilian Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trash

[Milan · Rating 3 out of 5]

JEDNOSTAVNOST
SREDI NERED U SVOME STANU
INVENTAR STVARI KOJE IMAS STA JE ZA BACANJE STA DA ZADRZIS
RADI NA MIT MOST IMPORTANT TASK
KAMENJE I PESAK
PRVO RADI KAMENJE ONDA UBACUJ PESAK
NAPRAVI SPISAK SVIH OBAVEZA I VIDI STA MOZES DA IZBACIS
JUNK IN JUNK OUT SMANJI JUNK IN
NE RADITI NISTA VEZBE IZLAZANJA U PRIRODU DISANJA
DISANJE I STAVLJENJE STVARI NA PAPIR STVARI KOJE NAS MUCE
NAPISI ONO STO JE BITNO STA JE BITNO
RADI SPORIJE SVOJE AKTIVNOSTI
VOZI I FOKUS NA VOZNJU
BEZ MULTITASKA (SUPROTNOST IZVESTI EKSPERIMENT GDE MULTITASKOVATI MAKSIMALNO )
sutni auto simpliciraj svoje zadatke izaberi top 3 idi polako
napravi sisteme
napravi jutarnje i nocne rituale
radi nista
Read Simplify Your Life, by Elaine St. James.
JEDI SPORIJE
OVO SE VEC URADIO ISPRAZNITI EMAIL NA NULU
I OVO PRIMENJUJEM BUDI RANO RANILAC
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” - Ben Franklin,
famously
“Put no trust in the benefits to accrue from early rising, as set forth by the infatuated
Franklin...” - Mark Twain
kada stvari ne idu
imaj jedan cilj
nadji inspiraciju
get excited
podigni anticipaciju planiraj unapred
Post your goal. Print out your goal in big words. STAVI NA FRIZIDER
KADA NAM NE IDE
do somethng fun
PREKINI ONO STO TE OMETA
EAT THE FROG
OPUSTI SE I NE RADI NISTA IDI U SETNJU ISTUSIRAJ SE OVO JE DOBRO ZA SAMOPOUZDANJE
DREMAJ 20 MINUTA OVO TREBA ISPITATI SLUSAJ INSPIRATIVNU MUZIKU (TREBA NACI KOJU)
TEHNIKE ZA OPUSTANJE
tehnike za opustanje
setnja samo masaga vezba izlazak u prirodu
seks duboko disanje nisam siguran za seks jer
citaj
molitva
provod sa familijom
diskonekt
STVARI ZA OPUSTANJE POSLE VELIKOG STRESA
milost kao navika pisati u svom dnevniku o tome
uvek pozitivne misli prema drugima
zamisljaj kako se drugi osecaju
sta imamo slicno sa drugima
pomoci drugima CIN SAOSECANJA OKTRENI DRUGI OBRAZ
UJUTRU SE POSVETI TOME DA KAZES DA CES BITI DOBAR PREMA DRUGIMA DA CES SAOSECATI SA DRUGIMA I DA CES IM POMOCI DA SE OSECAJU BOLJE TAKODJE NA KRAJU DANA VIDETI KAKO SU USPEO U JUTARNJOJ ZAMISLI MOLITVA I DRUGI OBRAZ
BUDI DOBAR U VOZNJI CINI DOBRA DELA DOBRA DELA SIGHT

BEG OD MATERIJALIZMA
NEMA TV I MAGAZINA LIMITIRAJ INTERNET
30 DANA DO KUPOVINE AKO NESTO ZELIS I DALJE POSLE 30 DANA ONDA TO KUPI
KAKO NACI SRECU
NAPRAVITI LISTU ZAHVALNOSTI KOJU BIH CITALI SVAKI DAN
MISLI POZITIVNO
BUDI DOBAR PREMA DRUGIM ZIVI U SKLADU SA ZLATNIM PRAVILOM
MALO ZADOVOLJSTVA PREMA SEBI TOKOM DANA
budi dobar u saobracaju ne ikritikuj slusaj druge
REAGUJ POZITIVNO NA KRITIKU
SAVETI ZA PODIZANJE SAMOPOUZDANJA
LEPO SE OBUCI
ISTUSIRAJ SE I OBRIJ
ZAMISLI SEBE DRUGACIJE
ISPRAVI SE
Norman Vincent Peale PROCITAJ NESTO OD NORMANA
“Know yourself and you will win all battles.” - Sun Tzu
PRICAJ POLAKO
BUDI ZAHVALAN VEZBAJ SVAKI DAN EDUKUJ SE ILI CITAJ ZIVI SVESNO ZIVOT NISTA NE RADI PO AUTIZMU
IMAS DNEVNIK VRSI PREGLED SVIH CILJEVA I ODNOSA SA LJUDIMA KAKO TVOJE AKCIJE UTICU NA DRUGE KOJI JE STVARNI TROSAK STVARI KOJE KUPUJES
STVARI IMAJU SVOJU TEŽINU KOJA NAS POLAKO VUCE DOLE
OSLOBODITI SE STVARI STO VISE MOGU
LOG HOW YOU SPEND YOUR DAY
ISPITAJ SEBE KAKO SEBE TRETIRAS KOJE SU TVOJE ZIVOTNE VREDNOSTI STA LJUDI HOCE DA KAZU O TEBI KADA UMRES

[TheoryofRelativitea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of blog posts made by Babauta on his blog Zen Habits. The focus of each post is to improve an area of your life with a few simple habits. It is clear that Babauta loves his lists because every post contains a list of actionable steps to improve a certain area of your life. It just so happens that I love lists as well.

I actually listened to this book on Audible. I was not a huge fan of listening to long lists getting read off to me. It was a little overwhelming. I decided to take notes on the items that stood out to me most on each list. I began to notice about halfway through that there were a lot of the same items on multiple lists. In the end, I highlighted the items that I felt would give me the biggest bang for my buck. Many of these items helped Babauta improve several different areas of his life.

My list of 10 items that will improve my life:
1. Journal
2. Exercise & Eat Healthy
3. Set Goals & Prioritize
4. Breathing Practice
5. Watch Less TV & Minimize Media Consumption
6. Declutter My Space
7. Drive Slow & Eat Slow
8. Find a Creative Outlet
9. Morning & Evening Routine
10. Volunteer
I know most of these items are super obvious however it was nice hearing just how many different areas of your life a simple act like journaling can impact.

If you enjoy lists as much as I do and you are looking to take steps to improve your life, I recommend checking out this book or his blog. I do not, however, recommend listening to this on Audible. I give the content of the book a 4 star rating and I give the audio version a 2 star rating.

[MrBuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jak by tu streścić tą książkę? Może "od porządków na biurku do porządków w własnej głowie i życiu".
W książce znajdziemy wszystko co spotyka nas w życiu i co nam towarzyszy.

Z tej pozycji można rozwinąć wiele książek do rozwoju i jest ona takim mini kompendium dzięki któremu możemy się rozwijać. Autor sugeruje, że mniej posiadać to lepiej dla nas, naszej głowy/psychiki oraz pisze minn o trzymaniu porządku nie tylko na biurku, mieszkaniu, miejscu pracy/ komputerze ale także w naszej głowie.

Książka podzielona jest na trzy rozdziały:
1.Prostota
2.Wydajność
3.Szczęście

Czyli od minimalizmu poprzez zostanie rannym ptaszkiem do ucieczki od materializmu.

Kilka zagadnień które mógłbym wymienić np z działu "prostota" to:
- trzymanie porządku/pozbycie się bałaganu
- jedna rzecz naraz
-minimalizm
-listy "to do"
-sztuka nic nie robienia
-oczyszczanie umysłu
-prostota
-wolne spożywanie pokarmów

Po prostu skrótowe kompendium rozwoju.
Tak jak napisałem wcześniej z tej mało liczącej stron książki można zaczerpnąć wiele tematów do rozwoju a przy okazji zapoznać się z ich esencją.

Autor czytał chyba wielu twórców rozwoju i postanowił tą wiedzę spisać na około trochę ponad stu stronach i wyciągnąć jej esencję co sądzę, że mu się udało, choć są niedoróbki - np parę punktów jest nie rozwiniętych (pomniejszych) ale książka jak drogowskaz i taki eliksir esencja zasługuje na 5 STAR gdyż w większości mu się to udało.

[Tomek · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Zen Habits" is a collection of tips for everyday life. It's mainly about minimalism, mindfulness, being organized and having concrete frameworks to deal with various scenarios.

The advice itself is a little cheesy but solid. It won't be all relevant to every reader. The author just shares what worked for him.

There are no examples of how the advice helped people. There are no references to research either. The author gives you his tips for what they are.

The fact that this book is really just a collection of blog posts made the reading experience a little chaotic.

The nice thing about it is that it's concise. The blog posts are full of small tips and there's no rambling. The author does repeat himself across the posts a couple of times though.

Because there are so many tips in this book, you probably shouldn't try to implement them all at once.

Personally I don't remember any specific advice from "Zen Habits". There wasn't anything groundreaking that would stick with me.

However, the book did motivate me to clean up my room and get rid of useless stuff, so that's nice.

[Vintage Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am torn on this one. First of all, I did not enjoy it. The advice was basic. It lacked real persuasiveness.
On the other hand, basic does not mean useless. I think the basic advice in this book can have powerful effects on one's life if they were to implement them. I know much of the advice in this book I have already implemented in my life before reading this book and I can attest that the advice works.
Also, the author released the text freely which is a noble gesture and I applaud. I think the author genuinely has found things that work in his life and he wants to share simply to benefit his fellowman.
Where it gets difficult is when reviews demand a star rating from me.
My personal enjoyment of the book was a 2 while his goals and the fact that this could be incredibly useful to those who have not heard this advice before rates it a 5. So in the generous spirit of the author, where my review may spark purchases of this book I will give it a 5. Where I simply review this book for my own records I give it a 2.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

#43 begins with "I'm not a spiritual person but..." This is a lesson learned for me. That sometimes book titles can be misleading! I definitely did not realize I was picking up a book full of common sense advice. Notwithstanding, Babauta made some great points, I particularly liked his points on compassion and conscientiousness. In addition, he spoke of a remedy for impulse buying by writing every desired purchase (outside of food and bills) on a 30-day list, and only purchasing the item after that 30 days had passed (brilliant!). Babauta references his lengthy fan emails a lot - I can think of four different times. With that, it's offputting if you don't know who Babauta is before reading this book - like me. Most people don't have inbox's full of a plethora of fan emails, so reference to this isn't relatable by the general public, and Babauta's handbook is geared for the general public.

[Bob Wallner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Take David Allen's GTD. Mix a liberal amount of Marie Kando's passion for tidying up. Add a dash of Greg McKeown Essentialism. Finish with a dash of Dr. Robert Maurer's kaizen. That is the recipe you have for the book Zen Habits.

This collection of blog posts assembled into a book does a good job of giving you some habits to try to make your life decluttered, productive, peaceful. None of the concepts are new but, the author gives many practical tips on how to apply the concepts. The topics covered are not so deep that they become unapproachable or simply become philosophy. They are practical, tactical things you can do starting today.

I think this is a good starting point to exploring your inner peace and perhaps a good refresher for those of us who have been practicing these methods for years.

The audiobook is short, around 3 hours, and is well narrated.

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie ma to wielkiej wartości literackiej, ale jest przydatne jako zbiór różnych porad i metod ze źródeł dostępnych w wielu innych książkach. Sądzę, że dla pewnych ludzi może to być wartościowe. Zamiast czytać te "wszystkie inne książki", które rozklepują tematy w najdrobniejszych szczegółach, można sięgnąć po ściągę "The best of", wybraną przez autora Leo Babauta i pójść na skróty. Może nawet taka metoda jest skuteczniejsza niż filozofowanie nad każdym kolejnym aspektem naszego marnego żywota na tym łez padole? Ostatecznie wszystkie rady są bez znaczenia, jeśli nie zostaną wdrożone. Kto potrzebuję ściągi, a z wdrożeniami nie ma kłopotów, ten może ocenić Nawyki Zen całkiem wysoko. Dla mnie to trochę zbyt płytkie, a jednak nie potępiam - takie pozycje też mają swoje miejsce.

[Tarsila Krüse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zen Habits is a compilation of Leo Babauta’s blog posts from this blog Zen Habits.

From someone who lives through the height of blogs it was clear that the formatting of each article very much felt like a blog post, while the formatting and some references may feel like they belong at a specific place in time, the content of these articles is still perennial.

Wonderful advice and concrete actions to lead a more intentional and simpler life, from finances to decluttering your home, Babauta’s words are insightful and helpful.

Highly recommend it for people embarking on a minimalism journey or looking to have a more streamlined and simpler life.

[dan gheorghita · Rating 4 out of 5]

EN: I find it really funny how things I’ve been practising for years are here considered ‘zen habits’. This is not a bad lecture, but the same concepts have been mentioned before by other authors and actually repeated a couple of times across this book. Everyone should consider this as the sort of self help book/audiobook that keeps reminding you from time how optimise your work, how to maintain a good hygiene, eat healthy and declutter your home. I particularly liked his views on minimalism and compassion and the solution he found for combating consumerism by writing down all items before buying them.

[Iulia Cretu · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Do less. This is both a happiness and productivity tip. Doing less will make you happier, because your life won’t be so hectic and filled with stress. You will have time for things that give you pleasure, for the loved ones in your life, for life itself. It’s also a productivity tip: if you focus on the essential tasks, the big ones, the ones that will give you the most return for your time, and eliminate the rest, you will actually be more productive. You’ll get fewer tasks done, but you will be more effective. "

[pumpkinspice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed.. not anything different than the blog

I have enjoyed the author's blog for a couple of years now, but I was a little disappointed that the book ended up being a very clear copy/paste of blog articles (complete with typos and lists of tips with "read more here" after each which didn't link anywhere). Also, the AmAre chapters at the end were very different in tone and did not flow well with Leo's style at all. This was a gift, otherwise I would have seriously considered trying to get a refund.

[Justyna Politańska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zen habits is a collection of tips on how to live well. To my satisfaction, it turned out I have already developed a number of habits that the author recommends to follow, such as doing sports, getting thigs done, spending time in a nature instead of in front of TV, leaving my life consciously. Much of the content seemed obvious to me. On the other hand, it is nice to have such advices collected in one place, memorize them and focus on those that I could make a part pf my life, making myself happier and allowing me to live more fully. Definitely time not wasted on listening to this audiobook.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to say it didn't have any good advise, in fact, I think it got better as it went on. However, as was stated in the introduction, this book is collected blog posts and reads as such. The author has collected them into three sections, but there's not really a connecting thread tying them together, and a lot of information is repeated. worth skimming for things pertaining to the reader, but not something I would buy again. Especially in the first section, I felt that all the information was things I had read elsewhere, and sometimes written in a more engaging fashion.