You know the feeling. The calendar clearly shows it's a new year, and with this comes the question: "Do you have any New Year's resolutions?" Often the answer is something about eating healthier and exercising more, but just as often you're left with your hand in the snack drawer watching your favorite TV show at night.
At Humdakin, we know all about the desire to improve - it's like a new year is a fresh page in the book. But why is it that it rarely lasts? Here we take a look at what makes a new habit last longer than the first weekend of the year.
Making a habit
Half of our daily activities are driven by repetition. For example, it's our sleeping, cooking, napping, etc. that in many cases keep our daily lives running smoothly and our minds healthy.
While there are many hacks for creating a habit, the science speaks for itself: dedicated commitment over and over again is what drives habits.
The first step is to build the routine. They are not one and the same thing. Routine requires us to consciously do something, whereas habit is a routine on autopilot. Many of us make the mistake of skipping the routine phase and expect a new habit to come naturally as soon as we've decided on it.
To turn routine into habit, here are some steps that are useful if you want your new habit to stick:
- Set your intentions. Be realistic about the process and choose things that are easy to put on autopilot. It will require dedication and time. Share your ambitions with someone, say them out loud.
- Practice: make a schedule, a to-do list to practice the things you want to make a habit. Avoid doing too many, as the risk of failure will be higher.
- Create "micro-habits": small steps that lead to the habit. For example, if your desire is to exercise every day, lay out your workout clothes and put them somewhere you can't avoid them.
- Build temptation: Make the mandatory tasks fun. Take an activity you don't like and do something you do like. Build them together. For example, drinking a nice cup of coffee while folding laundry. Allow yourself to do only the good thing at the same time as the not-so-fun thing.
Last but not least, remember to be compassionate towards yourself as you try to create a new routine and habit. Change takes time and it's important to remember that it doesn't happen overnight. But now you're prepared and can quickly get back on track if you slip up once.
Make it easy
When you consider the science of habits, it makes so much sense to us why our mission is to learn how to keep clean rather than clean. For us, cleaning doesn't have to be a chore and can easily be combined and incorporated into habits and routines you already have.
Our spray bottle is brilliant for this - while the coffee you've been waiting for all afternoon is brewing, you can spend 3 minutes with our spray bottle wiping down the kitchen and dining table.
Keep it on hand, ready and mixed with universal cleaner so you don't miss it. When all it takes to clean is grabbing that spray bottle, there's almost no excuse to spend 5-10 minutes here and there wiping off dust and dirt in your home.
If you have areas of your home that require more time, set aside time in your calendar now to prioritize that task. Do something fun at the same time - put on a good audiobook while you're dusting.
If you should take away one point today, it's this: make it easy on yourself - and forgive yourself if you fall short every now and then.
(Source: Harvard Business Review 2021. https://hbr.org/2021/02/what-does-it-really-take-to-build-a-new-habit)
