Creating New Healthy Habits

Healthy habits are essential in order to feel happy and on top of things in our lives. When we fall into habits that are counter-productive to our health and well-being it is very difficult to feel happy and motivated.

In this time when we are all facing the same crisis with the Covid-19 virus and in varying stages of lockdown, it is a fantastic opportunity to create new healthy habits. We have the time to focus on what isn’t working well in our routine and or eating habits. We can find creative ways to exercise at home rather than having to carve out double the amount of time to get to the gym. We can also create more effective work schedules as we adapt to being at home and needing to do more online work.

I have also found that it is a time where we have to face more of ourselves as there are not opportunities to be out socially spending times with others. All the issues we may have avoided dealing with will quite likely come to the foreground and I encourage you to sit down and work out what you would like to change and ways to do this with the time given being a “gift”. We have opportunities now that in the past would not have been possible.

What I have found to be one of the most important things in my life is routine. When my routine is disrupted for more than a day or two I find myself becoming very unproductive, lacking focus and soon, very irritable and stressed.

Routine is very important as research shows that with whatever healthy habit we wish to create in our life the repeated action begins to change our brain state. Certain neurons begin firing together and as we’ve all heard before, “what fires together, wires together”.

The neural pathways create a shortcut. This in turn reduces procrastination having a positive impact on our mental health. We become more relaxed, operating in a familiar framework and the routine streamlines our lives and reduces stress. A lack of routine creates unpredictability which has the opposite effect causing anxiety and a lot of stress.

Routine also helps the circadian rhythms in our brain having numerous other health benefits. Consistency in our sleep, meals and exercise have the spin off benefits of improved focus and attention, cognition and energy enabling us to be far more effective in what we do. It even strengthens our immune system which has its own circadian rhythm.

There are varying opinions on how long it takes to create a new habit. Anything from 4 Days up to two hundred days. It really varies for each individual depending on how they create the habit. If you choose to give yourself a 4 day challenge as an example, according to Martha Beck you are very likely to be able to manage that as our brains are wired to think in smaller amounts. When you achieve your 4 days you will feel super motivated to do another 4 days and so it becomes less overwhelming as the habit is created - 4 days at a time!  You will find that after a certain amount of time instead of thinking about it daily and making the effort it will have become an automatic natural part of your routine and life.

How to Pick a New Habit

I believe that rather than your initial focus being on a specific activity, it is very helpful to identify the feeling state that you wish to have in your life. You may wish to feel mentally stimulated or to feel calm and focused or perhaps to have more energy.

Once you have identified how you would like to feel, you can start identifying some habits that might be hindering this wish and begin replacing them with new healthy habits. I have recently decided that binge watching series on Netflix leaves me feeling pretty unmotivated and not exactly mentally stimulated and so I am replacing watching series with reading books on topics that interest me.

Techniques to Help You

Be Specific with your intentions

Instead of simply saying that you are going to start running, identify how many times a week you will run and for how long. Then you can actually slot it into your calendar and plan your days to make it a part of your routine.

Habit Stacking

A technique used by psychologist Albers, where you slot in the new habit with a part of your already established routine. For example you can start your new intention of reading, while you drink you morning coffee. 

Habit Bundling

This is a way of crowding out an old habit that you wish to replace with the new healthy habit.

If you wish to stop snacking between meals you could make sure that you replace junk food snacks with healthy options like fruit if you want something sweet, or roasted nuts instead of crisps. Your blood sugar levels will stabilize and you will eventually not even crave food between meals.

If you spend too much time on social media and you wish to replace that habit with reading interesting books then you can make sure you read before you give yourself the time to catch up on the social media.

Prime Your Environment

Make sure that your environment actually supports your new habit. For example, if you wish to have a healthier diet then you will need to get rid of any junk food and make sure to replace it with healthy options. You could make sure that your work area is uncluttered to get rid of distractions and lessen your procrastination. You could put out your exercise clothing where you will see it immediately upon waking which also means that you can get yourself ready for exercise before you become distracted and do something else instead.

Have a Backup Plan

Life regularly throws us curve balls and so if you have a few strategies in place to help you when that happens it’s more likely that you will be able to keep to your healthy habit. For example, if you suddenly can’t find the time to read then you could have podcasts or webinars downloaded to listen to while you are driving. You can make healthy meals and freeze them for the days when there really isn’t enough time to cook or you are just too tired. It’s also great to have an exercise routine that’s easy to do at home. Yoga, following an online teacher, or even having some weights, therma bands and an exercise ball are things that I often choose to do at home when I can’t get to the gym or a yoga class.

Take a Step Back

If you find yourself not managing to stick to the new habit and routine, step back and observe with curiosity what is going on inside yourself. It may be that it is simply not the right thing for you in your life right now. Perhaps something else is more important. Maybe changing your eating habits is more important than a new exercise program. Remember that observing without judging and criticizing yourself is very important. Be kind and compassionate to yourself. We are all human and very few people will get it all right straight away.

Figure out how you can tweak what you are doing and keep aligned with your intended emotional state of being. This will help you to stay motivated and consistent and before you know it you won’t even be thinking about the new habit you have created, it will be an automatic part of your daily routine. Love, Margie.