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Chris Loper

Chris Loper has been writing about self-improvement and helping busy adults with habit formation since 2017. He also writes an education blog for parents and students for Northwest Educational Services. Along with Greg Smith, Chris is the cocreator of Parenting for Academic Success, a series of transformative classes that create empowered parents, confident students, and harmonious families. His most recent endeavor combines his academic and habit-formation expertise to help students thrive in college. Visit SmartCollegeHabits.com to learn more. In 2021, Chris published a humorous memoir titled Wood Floats and Other Brilliant Observations, a book that blends crazy stories with practical life lessons. He lives in Issaquah, WA where he is the owner of South Cove Tutoring.

How to Stop Using Your Phone in Bed: 4 Strategies

If you’re one of the few people who never uses their phone in bed, congratulations. Feel free to keep reading if you’d like to reinforce that habit, but otherwise, you’re good to go. But if you’re like most people, and you do sometimes use your smartphone in bed, please read on. Using your phone in bed is actively harming your health, your happiness, your productivity, and your creativity. It’s a… Read More »How to Stop Using Your Phone in Bed: 4 Strategies

Deep Work Routines

Now that we’ve established why deep work matters and how to get better at it, it’s time to establish deep work routines. We need to do this for three reasons: Deep work is a skill that requires consistent practice. Choosing to go deep is difficult in a world obsessed with the shallows. Going deep takes time. Consistency Engaging in deep work on a regular basis is the only way to… Read More »Deep Work Routines

How to Get Better at Deep Work

“The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.” –Cal Newport1 That’s from Cal Newport’s excellent book, Deep Work. Newport is a professor of computer science at Georgetown University, and he’s a leading voice in… Read More »How to Get Better at Deep Work

Some Thoughts On Being Yourself

Me: “What are we doing today?” Student: “Trigonometry, I think. Sine, cosine, tangent. That stuff.” Me: “Trigonometry! Awesome! Sine me up!” Student: Oh my God. I can’t believe he just said that. I was not always so enthusiastic or willing to make such terrible jokes. When I was younger, I tried very hard to be “cool.” I understood cool to mean, among other things, nonchalant, aloof, and not easily impressed.… Read More »Some Thoughts On Being Yourself

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For over a decade, I’ve been focused on one question: How do we actually become better, in ways that last?

This blog shares the lessons, tools, and ideas I’ve found most useful—grounded in research and experience.

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