| Want to change your eating habits, increase exercise, quit or decrease something (smoking, alcohol), stop procrastinating, or get more work done? Just in time for the start of 2024 – a ‘fresh start’ time to begin a new habit – I’ve compiled some tips to help start and maintain good habits. |
| Timing May Matter/ “Fresh Start” Effect – Trends in when people feel most likely to have “fresh start” timing to start a habit include: first of the year, first of the month, first of the week (Mondays), your birthday or day after your birthday, day of birthday of a loved one. Whypower Instead of, or in Addition to, Willpower– we hear about willpower when it comes to things like curbing certain habits, but adding in “whypower” can help. Whypower can be accessed by making a physical list or a list in your phone of all the reasons you want to have this habit in your life/ all the things you are doing it for. List as many reasons as you can, even if they feel small to you, then read your list daily to motivate yourself, and/or when you’re having trouble with your new habit. Temptation Bundling – Temptation bundling is pairing something that you really like with something that you’re trying to make a habit, allowing yourself only to do the tempting behavior when engaging in a less desirable activity. Examples include only watching your favorite show while exercising on the treadmill, listening to favorite podcasts or audiobook only when doing chores, only having a specific snack or treat when engaged in a work or school project. Accountability Buddy – Doing a good habit with a friend or partner can be motivating and help you each stick to your goals. Examples include going to the gym with a friend or studying with others to keep you all on task. An accountability buddy also doesn’t necessarily have to have the same goal or habit as you: if you both have something you’re working on, you can check-in, support, motivate, and hold each other accountable. Stacking Habits – Assuming you have some already established habits or routines, adding something new to an already existing routine can help. For example, is you’re trying to be more consistent with taking your medication or vitamins and you’re already good about brushing your teeth at certain times of day, put your pill bottles by your toothbrush. If your morning routine is wake-up, coffee while checking your phone, shower, breakfast… there could be a place for adding in meditation or swapping exercise for some of the phone time. Stacking habits is a great way to gradually build up more of a routine. Discovering the Barrier(s)– There may be some practical and/or psychological barriers to meeting your goal or developing your habit. Looking to see what is getting in your way and what might work better can be helpful. For example, Students, maybe you want to improve your study habits but would do well to find a clean and quiet environment in which to do so. There’s some research on a “20 second rule” being that if things inconvenience people by as short as 20 seconds, it can be a barrier – this is why companies may give a rebate versus a straight discount, as not everyone will follow through on doing the work for rebate. Finding where there may be even 20 second barriers/ deterants in your way can help. Gaming– There has been some research that making things into more of a game can be helpful for reinforcing new habits. Consider the app, Streak, which helps link habit streaks with components of a game such as rewards and feedback. https://streaksapp.com/ Consider a Behavior Chart (or App that Does That) for Yourself – Behavior charts can be a great way to incentivize yourself. Some tips to get the most out of a behavior chart include: focus on rewarding positive behavior versus punishing negative behavior, break longer term goals into more measurable small steps, and set a time to regularly do your charting. Reward Yourself – Finding things that may naturally motivate you, and work those in to your routine tied to the habits or behaviors you would like to increase. Ideas include buying yourself something only when you’ve met your stated goal in the timeframe, buying something but keeping it unable to be opened or used until the goal has been met, This can be especially helpful to work in things you already do for yourself that can be seen as a reward. Examples include getting a Starbucks only once you’re finished with the habit task, or ‘earning’ the purchase you are making only when the habit task is completed. Behavior charts (or an app that can do something similar) can be helpful in tracking the rewards. |
You must be logged in to post a comment.