Bad habits are psychologically sticky. They range from simply annoying, such as nail biting or cracking your knuckles, to dangerously addictive, such as smoking or spending too much time on the internet. And they are notoriously hard to break. That’s because they form neural pathways in the basal ganglia, the brain region that governs procedural learning.
Once the habit is formed, any cue that activates the neural sequence associated with a bad habit places the individual in an automatic response pattern. That means you stop making conscious decisions and simply go on autopilot. And worse, a study done by Cindy Jardine, a medical scientist from Alberta, Canada found that most people “understood what types of behavior are the riskiest, but that knowledge wasn’t enough to motivate them to change their ways.”
“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Bad habits can damage your ability to make important choices at work and in your daily life. However, these six steps, adapted from the psychology of learning, can help you change your negative neural patterns and overcome bad habits.
1. Discover the Cues
For the first 5 – 7 days don’t attempt to change anything. Simply write down everything that happens when the bad habit occurs. Specifically consider the cues, both internal and external, that prompt your negative behavior as well as any events that encourage or reward the habit. Consider keeping a list of the time of day, the location, the environment, the people around you, and a short description of the events that lead up to the habit.
As an example, I used to have the bad habit of constantly checking my email; five, six, sometimes seven times a day. I knew I was wasting a lot of time but I couldn’t seem to break the habit. So, I started to keep a bad habit journal. I would simply take a note of the time of day I checked my email, how long it took, and what I was doing when it happened.
2. Find Commonalities
Next, review the written record and highlight similar stimuli. Notice how much time you are wasting on the habit (per day or per week) as well as the negative effects it has on your life. Ask yourself questions such as:
- Does the habit occur at the same time every day?
- Does the habit occur around the same people?
- Does the habit occur in the same location?
- Is the habit prompted by a specific item, environment, or sensation?
Returning to my example, I discovered that I was spending over two hours every day dealing with email. Two hours that I could have been spending in much more productive activities or just relaxing with friends and family. I realized that I was checking my email at specific times of day; first thing in the morning, before lunch, & during transitions between tasks. And I also noted that incoming email notifications, such as an auditory ding or pop-up window, would cue me to check my email and distract me from my current task.
Simply paying attention to the negative effects of your bad habits may cause some pattern changes, but in order to completely break the bad habit you need to take specific actionable steps.
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
3. Define Your Goal
Using the feedback you gathered previously, you can define exactly how you want your life and your behavior patterns to change. A specific goal will help you focus your energy into one area and build passion and motivation around your successful transformation. And, as you continue to document your bad habit, you will have an instant evaluation on your progress toward that goal. My goal was “To spend no more than 45 minutes reading and responding to email per day.”
It’s important to tackle only one bad habit at a time. So even if you have a lot of negative patterns that you want to fix, just pick one to get started. Defining one habit and then one goal, associated with that habit, will keep you focused instead of overwhelmed.
4. Plan to Succeed
Now, break the goal down into easily accomplished stages. You want at least 4 or 5 important milestones that can incrementally change your bad habit into a more useful practice. Create more milestones for a more difficult bad habit. Use your observations from steps one and two to determine what actions are necessary.
Consider implementing these examples on your own bad habit.
- Remove an external stimulus or cue – First, I turned off the email notifier, so I wouldn’t get distracted at random times during the day.
- Narrow the acceptable environment – Then I limited myself to checking email twice a day, once after lunch and once as the very last task before I left work.
- Initiate a new habit for the old cue – Next, I chose to stand up and stretch for 1 or 2 minutes when transitioning between tasks instead of checking my email.
- Reinforce an alternate behavior – Finally, I continued to document how much time I spent processing email and rewarded myself with a gift each time I met my 45 minute goal.
5. Act Immediately & Consistently
“What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Once you have created your plan, implement the first action you have listed immediately. Dr. David Lieberman who wrote “How To Change Anybody” recommends that this first task is something easy to complete that will help you feel successful right away. This will give you an instant boost of self-esteem and create positive momentum in the right direction. Plus, if you choose something that reduces the external cues in your environment, like turning off the email notifier, you will already be well on your way to changing your behavior patterns and eliminating the bad habit.
After that first step, simply follow your plan, stage by stage. Remember, don’t force yourself to go faster than you originally intended. Just maintain the momentum of that first milestone with an easy but continuous pace.
6. Celebrate Effort & Accomplishment
As you are implementing your plan, reward your efforts as well as your accomplishments. Use your feedback system as an indicator of which step you are working toward, not as a platform for criticism. Focus your energy on your goal and your current action to reach that goal instead of wasting any energy on negative judgments.
Believe in your ability to break your bad habit over time and know that belief as the truth with each milestone you reach. Soon, your bad habit will dissapear and you’ll have the momentum of success to master all your goals, one step at a time.
that was useful, thanks 🙂