Habits

I’ve been contemplating the habits we all use in our lives.

Habits give our bodies and minds an automatic structure to operate within, so that we don’t have to work and think so hard all the time. I like to think of habits as tools.

What we call bad habits are usually those tools that we needed in the past, but that we now recognize as unproductive for our current priorities. They could be unhealthy routines that we used to solve a problem at the time. They served a purpose, even if that habit is now seen as “bad”.

It is almost impossible to just use our will to get rid of a habit, because the purpose of the habit is usually still present. What does work is replacing an old habit with something a bit different; a tool that is a healthier version to fit with our new priorities.

An example: Let’s take the habit of piling up mail on the dining table, therefore making the table unusable for eating. You may have started this habit because you had a need to have the mail in sight, so you wouldn’t forget something important.

You now have a desire to have meals at your table again; but you still need a place for the mail. You can make a simple change by adding a small box (slightly larger than a shoebox size) to the table (or a nearby surface) in which you place all the incoming mail. Add an entry to your calendar that reminds you to review and take action on the contents of the box once per week.

These small changes start to turn the tide, switching your old “bad habit” into a more useful, more productive tool.

Note: There are additional steps to take with handling incoming mail to make it a truly functional system. Starting with a small change in habit helps to start the process!