The book Switch by Chip & Dan Heath is all about change. The subtitle says it better than I can: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. I want to make some hard changes.
I HAVE been making big changes in my life, though, and not giving myself credit, thus breaking my own rule of giving lots of praise. So here is some praise for all the work I have already done on fundamentally changing my own life in many big and small ways:
1. I have completely changed my diet slowly over several years and established healthy eating habits. This is HUGE. I never thought I’d be able to do that, seriously. I have always been completely undisciplined, especially when it comes to food. I was a junk food addict starting with my mom’s first diner, when she brought home hamburgers, fries and milkshakes for dinner. So far I’ve managed to quit: Diet Coke, chocolate, caffeine, ice cream [my big addiction after caffeine], sugar, gluten, and dairy. I recently went vegan, but I had some chicken last night that was in the freezer and I will eat the other meat that’s in there; won’t buy any more. I eat mostly organic, unprocessed, whole foods. I’m very proud of myself for making these changes and teaching myself how to live in a completely different, healthy way. And yes, I feel a LOT better. Yay, me!
2. I make my bed every morning when I wake up. Never did this until a couple of months ago, and it makes a big difference in the way I feel about the day, because my desk is right next to the bed. Yay, me! [I am consciously avoiding any 'buts' in this list like, "Now if only I could keep the desk clean." That comes later.]
3. I’m getting better at keeping the dishes done, reminding myself that I don’t have to go back to the computer while waiting for those delicious beans to cook; I can do the dishes and other kitchen duties instead. Yay, me!
4. I am refusing to accept my frequent anxiety attacks over this business stuff as the truth. I feel the anxiety but I trust, from experience, that it will pass. And it does. The old me would have decided it was hopeless and given up. Not any more. Yay, me!
5. Totally forgot: I quit smoking years ago by first making a rule that I couldn’t smoke at home, then while commuting to work, and finally stopped completely. This took a couple of weeks and wasn’t very hard at all. Yay, me!
These are the big ones that I know are real changes. There won’t be any more significant backsliding with these. There’s another list of items I am working on, and still more that I plan to work on, but I wanted to pat myself on the back first [and yes, you may pat my back too.]
So back to Switch: one of the strategies for change that the authors talk about is building “instant habits” by setting up what they call action triggers — for instance, telling yourself that you will do X when Y happens. They found studies that show truly amazing results from such a simple idea.
I realized while reading about action triggers that I’ve used them already: I promised myself I would make the bed first thing in the morning, and after some false starts, now I do; things just don’t feel right until my bed is made. I decided to do kitchen cleanup duty while my food is cooking. Not quite there yet, but the dishes are much less of a problem for me now — and now that I ‘get’ the whole action trigger thing, I think this will be a habit very soon.
I’m eager to try action triggers for other behaviors that I want to become instant habits, such as:
1. I’ve set up my browser to open to 750words.com to remind me to write first thing every morning when I fire up Ole’ Betsy — and lo and behold, I am writing! :) My rule is to write 750 words before I check email or Twitter, my two biggest productivity downfalls. Since I want to write 2500 words a day, I need to put another action trigger in place, maybe requiring me to shut down the browser for lunch and dinner, thus setting myself up to seeing 750words.com twice more in the day. [750 x 3 adds up to 2250, not quite there, but it will be easy to get to the end when I only have 250 words to go.] I also set a 5-minute timer for both breaks and writing. I can always go longer for writing, but never for breaks. Still working on that one.
2. I need to reinforce the dishes-while-waiting habit, so I think I’ll make it a rule to clean up whenever I’m listening to NPR, which I always do when I’m in the kitchen [hmm, so being in the kitchen is already an action trigger for turning on the radio -- interesting.]
3. And I’m embarrassed to tell you this, but I’m lazy about brushing my teeth; I only do it in the morning. I want to brush before bed too but I keep forgetting, so I need an action trigger to remind me. I know: turning off the computer. Yes, it’s true, I keep the computer on from the time I get up until I go to bed, so turning it off would be the perfect action trigger.
4. Now that I think about it, I would like to create a whole going-to-bed routine that would involve a) clearing off my desk, b) checking the kitchen to make sure all food is put away and dishes are done, and c) brushing my teeth. That’s a bit much to expect all at once, so I’ll break it down to smaller pieces and work on them one at a time.
Yay, me!
What action trigger can you set up to help you establish one “instant habit?” Tell me in the comments below. Yay, you!
Image credit: greg.turner
