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5 reasons why you might want to rethink your daily habits - RescueTime
Habits Are Not Blind Routines
Conventional wisdom states that strong habits improve our productivity. Daily habits done in an autopilot mode are not the only route to peak performance.
While our habits help us stick to good behaviour by automatic decision making. That’s not to say that your habit streak should never be broken, even if the reason is substantially good.
Our habits can do with a certain flexibility, and consistent behaviour, even after the goal is accomplished.
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Habits Are Not Blind Routines
Conventional wisdom states that strong habits improve our productivity. Daily habits done in an autopilot mode are not the only route to peak performance.
While our habits help us stick to good behaviour by automatic decision making. That’s not to say that your habit streak should never be broken, even if the reason is substantially good.
Our habits can do with a certain flexibility, and consistent behaviour, even after the goal is accomplished.
Revisit What You Do Daily
Some of our daily to-dos should not require a constant daily effort and could be optimized further. Look for such habits and if the daily effort is straining you, look for other innovative solutions.
Time and Energy are limited resources, and as we grow, our habits may become obsolete. We could use the same time and energy to explore new and better options.
It is a good idea to pay attention to where we spend our time and see if there is something we do daily but have outgrown long ago.
Consistency and Boredom
Being consistent can also lead to burnout and lack of growth, and to be creative and innovative, we sometimes need a break from our daily activity. When we stop and do something new, we start to be part of a creative process, instead of simply repeating the same thing every day.
The key is to not rely on a rigid consistency but to be resilient enough to withstand any breaks. Our resilient habits are usually the old ones and have some psychological rewards while involving some external accountability.
Doing The Opposite
A creative plateau is reached after a while if you follow a habit strictly. It is a refreshing change to do something opposite. Doing something completely different shakes up the body-mind and rejuvenates creativity and innovative thinking.
Extreme consistency of any complex habit is not optimal in the long run, and while habits are a great tool, certain habit systems need to be examined.
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Focus On Keystone Habits
Keystone habits lead to the development of multiple good habits.
Exercise is a good example of this. Once you start to change your exercise habits, it sets off a chain reaction t...
Use “Minimum Viable Effort”
Focus on baby steps. The key to new good habits is to do the minimum and be consistent.
Do not be ambitious at the beginning. That leads to failure. Consistency is what you’re shooting for, so make the hurdle as low as possible.
Make A Plan
Thinking about the details makes you more likely to follow through.
Just writing down your plan also makes a big difference in effectively committing to your goals.
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Keystone Habits
They tend to have ripple effects which change your behavior in unexpected ways.
The power of a keystone habit draws from its ability to set off a chain reaction that causes other...
Examples of Keystone Habits
Exercising regularly is for many people a keystone habit because when they do it, they also make healthier eating and life choices and procrastinate less.
Other keystone habits include: meditation, reading, writing and socialising. They provide a nice foundation for a healthy life in all domains
Identify Your Keystone Habits
Look for behaviors that have a ripple effect, and change your other behaviors without extra effort.
Also, pay attention to how you see yourself when you do a particular habit: Does it change your self-image? Do you feel better when you think of yourself as a person?
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Habits You Should Track
Factors to consider when choosing a new habit to track:
- Motivation: choose a habit you personally care about. If you pick a habit out of a sense of obligation, your motivation wil...
Tackle One Behavior At a Time
You can’t fully focus on any behavior if you try to establish several at once.
Doing so risks overloading your willpower and your habits may end up competing for priority.
“Stack” Your Habits
The best way to turn a behavior into a habit is to use a trigger to remind yourself to do it. Your trigger needs to be something you always do anyway. Anything you already do without thinking works.
As you build new habits, you create new triggers for yourself and stack a new habit onto it. Each existing habit acts as a trigger to remind you to complete the next one until it becomes natural to do both together.
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