How to form a habit

There was a time – not so long ago, I’m ashamed to admit – when I only drank water when it was hot. In summer, it was easy to reach for a glass of water, but in winter…no thanks.

That said, I did notice the benefit of drinking water. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly; I simply looked and felt fresher, so I had to make water drinking a habit – but how?

Initially I set myself the modest goal of one glass per day. I put a glass of water on my bedside cabinet when I went to bed and drank it as soon as I woke up. That way, I’d completed my goal before I’d even got out of bed, which was easy to accomplish and gave me a feeling of satisfaction and success. After a while, once I felt confident that this habit was firmly established, I increased my target to three glasses a day. I downloaded  Today, a habit-tracking app, and not wanting to break the chain, this too quickly became a habit – so I increased it to five. It was hard at first, requiring effort, but before long I was drinking five glasses of water with ease.

Then I had a wellbeing session at my local gym and to my dismay was told that five glasses wasn’t enough and was advised to increase this to eight. Now that did seem like a step too far for me, bearing in mind it hadn’t been that long ago that my water consumption depended on a temperature of at least 25 degrees. But I did it, and now every day, summer and winter, I’m drinking eight glasses of water (which includes herbal teas as they too count).

What did I learn about habit formation from my experience? To begin with, it seemed an overwhelming task. Going from zero to five glasses of water every day (let along eight, although thankfully I didn’t know that at the outset) seemed unrealistic and unachievable. However, by taking small steps, I got there, and am managing to maintain this with relative ease.

In the past, when I’ve wanted to make these kinds of changes, I’ve set myself an overambitious goal and attempted to take a huge step overnight. However, I haven’t been able to maintain such a drastic change and have given up, feeling a failure and blaming my lack of willpower.

However, by making small, steady, incremental changes, a new habit becomes much easier to form and maintain.

 

It’s never too late

This week I visited the Dorothea Tanning exhibition at the Tate Modern in London.

Aside from being intrigued by her art, I also learnt an important lesson.  She published her novel, Chasm: A Weekend, at the age of 94.

I often wish I’d done things earlier in my life, that their time has passed me by; however, Dorothea Tanning proves that it’s never to late to pursue your dreams.

The right time to do something is now.

Review and improve

I’ve recently begun carrying out a weekly review, a simple activity I’m finding extremely beneficial.

On Sunday, I consider what went well in the past week: what I achieved, what I enjoyed, what I’m pleased with.  Then I think about the things that didn’t go so well. Finally, I give careful thought to what I’m going to do the following week to improve my life and write these in my journal for easy reference.

I’ve only been doing this for a couple of weeks but already I’ve cleared a couple of niggling, outstanding tasks that have been hanging over me, carried out a digital detox, prioritised exercise and going to the gym, and I’m on top of my to-do list.

I find this helps me to maintain focus and keep my life heading in the right direction.

 

 

Digital Detox

Every Sunday I receive a notification informing me of how much ‘screen time’ I’ve spent during the past week. This generally horrifies me: all those five minutes here and half an hour there add up to what I believe is around the daily average of approximately two hours and forty-five minutes. To my mind, that’s a lot of time, most of which is mindless idling which adds no benefit to my day.

This past week, I’ve been doing a digital detox. I’ve only used my phone when necessary, with a clear sense of purpose, and I’ve avoided the urge to pick it up and browse FaceBook or Pinterest or Instagram. I was amazed at how often I automatically reach for my phone for no reason during the course of a day; it’s become a habit.

This week I broke the habit, and the result: I’ve been far more productive, putting my time to better use by completing an outstanding task or by being creative and doing some writing, or art, or reading. I’ve been to the gym more often and I even went for a cycle in the local park. I’ve been feeling so much more alive and present, and I’ve been sleeping better too.

Do I feel I’ve missed out at all? In all honesty, no I don’t.  It’s been a very positive experience, which I plan on continuing with.