HOW TO BREAK A BAD HABIT
HOW TO BREAK A BAD HABIT
Studies have shown that it could take up to 66 days to form a new habit. However, it can take even longer to break a habit. We have come up with three stages that you can easily follow to try and break a bad habit. So, what is a bad habit? A bad habit is a negative behavior pattern and some example of bad habits includes: stress eating, biting your nails, looking at a screen right before bed, not exercising etc.
Stage 1 – Identifying Your Triggers
As a bad habit is a pattern, you need to first start by identifying what is triggering this pattern. Identifying triggers is the first step in moving them. Take a few days to really monitor your behavior and notice what time of the day it is happening, are there other people involved who trigger the habit or a particular environment that triggers the habit. For example, if your bad habit is stress eating, track your behavior for a few days to see the cause. It might be a certain person triggering the stress eating or if you feel overwhelmed at work. Is it possible to remove the trigger? If work is overwhelming then speak to your manager about delegating some work to other employees or finding ways to better manage your time.
Stage 2 – Replacing the Bad with the Good
The easiest way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. Say you want to reduce your screen time, maybe start with a social media detox. Here is a step by step guide to a social media detox. Taking a step back from social media for a while can help you to realize how much time you spend on these apps and that time could be used to relax, find a new hobby or do something productive.
Moving forwards you can even charge your phone in another room to avoid reaching it for when you are in bed. Snacking on junk foods is a common bad habit that can give you a small ‘high’ and satisfaction but ultimately leave you crashing later.
The frequency and portions of your snacking can add excess calories which could potentially lead to weight gain. Not only this but excessive snacking can reduce hunger at meal times which means you are losing out on essential nutrients needed for your body to be happy and healthy.
Ensuring you are on a proper meal schedule reduces the risk of snacking. Snacking doesn’t have to be a bad habit if you eat the right snacks. Swap out junk food for healthy alternatives to feel fresh and energized and avoid the inevitable crash.
Stage 3 – Sticking To A Habit
Once you know what is causing your bad habit and a good habit to replace it with, the next step is sticking to a habit. As I mentioned earlier, it takes 66 days to form a habit which is around 2 months. I would recommend consciously focusing on building this good habit for around this amount of time. A hack that can help you to remember this is writing a post-it note in a place that you see every day. Maybe somewhere near your bed so you can see it as soon as you wake up or at your office desk. Additionally, think about how this good habit will improve your life. Rather than thinking about what you are losing.
Lastly, it can sometimes help to visually see your progress. Put a tick on a physical calendar to see how well you are doing. Seeing how far you have come can motivate you to achieve your end goal.
Breaking a bad habit and forming a new habit can be hard but the main thing is to be consistent and think about the end goal. What bad habits will you are breaking?
Love yourself, promotes a healthy lifestyle by forming positive healthy habits. Along with proper nutrition and tailored advice, fuelling your body with the best is vital to perform your
Stage 4 – Change your surroundings
Your environment can once in a while have a huge effect on your behavior.
Maybe you’re attempting to interrupt the dependency of constantly ordering takeout due to the fact it’s costing you an excessive amount of money. But whenever you cross into the kitchen, you notice the to-cross menus placing in your fridge. You may want to attempt changing the menu with printouts of smooth recipes you recognize you’ll enjoy.
Other examples include:
Leaving a journal, book, or interest items (sketchbooks, crafts, or games) in your espresso desk to inspire you to choose them up rather than scrolling thru social media spending 10 or 15 minutes tidying up your private home every night to inspire you to hold matters clutter-free converting up your morning stroll to paintings so that you don’t skip the cafe with the tempting, overpriced latte
Keep in thoughts that the human beings you surround yourself with also are a part of your surroundings. Consider taking damage from spending time with people who make contributions to your dependency or don’t assist your procedure of breaking one.
Breaking behavior mustn’t be a wholly fingers-on, bodily procedure. You can exercise new alternative behavior mentally, too.
Imagine yourself in a triggering surrounding or situation, which includes the morning earlier than your overall performance review. How could you usually react? You would possibly see yourself anxiously biting your nails or drumming your pen in opposition to your table.
How may you want to react instead? Visualize yourself practicing deep breathing, strolling to get a drink of water, sorting thru vintage notes or files, or tidying table drawers — something that maintains your fingers busy and facilitates calm you.
Conclusion
If you want to know how to prevent bad habits, then it is time to change your approach. You need to understand the psychology of giving up bad habits. Weaning is more important in the mind than in the body. Obeying habits begin with a thought. Your body will respond better to impulses in your mind.
Continue to maintain your bad habits. If you fail, push yourself again. If you don’t succeed the first time, don’t think you have failed. Trial and failure is the first step to not trying anything.