Why library holds beat impulse book buying
The Library Hold List Is My Best Anti-Impulse System
I have started putting books on my library hold list instead of buying them immediately. This has two useful effects: I get a cooling-off period, and I find out whether I actually want to read the book badly enough to wait for it.
Sometimes the hold arrives weeks later and I am still interested. Sometimes I quietly cancel it, which is useful information too. The Queens library system is doing a better job of managing my attention than most productivity advice.