Crush the leaves and smell the aroma of mint.
25 Tiny Habits That
Could Totally Change Your Life
Anne Mueller
Research, as well as common sense and personal
experience, is showing us
that small steps get us to faraway places. The key is to
consistently take those small steps
in the same direction. Building a big, life-changing
habit is difficult:
it’s hard to keep the willpower going long enough to see
change.
But building a tiny habit? That’s doable. BJ Fogg,
Director of the Persuasive Tech Lab at Stanford,
has done extensive research this very topic. The Fogg Method uses the
effectiveness of tiny, specific habits to create big changes in behavior.
Here are 25 tiny habits you could add into your life.
They don’t seem like much,
but if you practice them regularly, they can change your
energy level, your fitness,
your relationships, your work, your community, and your
environment… in big ways.
Tiny Habits for
Better Physical Health
1. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning. We
often don’t get enough water in our systems, and get so busy throughout the day
that we don’t think about stopping to replenish our supply.
Or we replenish with soda or coffee or tea but not water.
Trigger yourself by leaving a big glass
out on the counter or table. Or do what
I do, and get a big travel mug with a lid.
At night, I fill it up with a lot of ice and a bit of
water, and in the morning it’s waiting for me:
a nice, cool cup of water. Flush the toxins, kickstart
your system, wake yourself up.
2. Park as far away as you can from the door. Fight the
effects of a sedentary lifestyle
by getting more steps into your day whenever you can.
In fact, simple things like a longer stroll from the car
to the door might be more effective
than a vigorous work-out at counteracting the effects of
long hours at a desk.
3. Eat raw fruit or vegetables with every meal. Think: a
green side salad, a slice of melon,
some berries, a few carrot sticks and cucumber slices.
Not only will you get more nutrients in,
you will also be getting in more fiber and potentially
helping your body lose weight,
retain energy, and decrease hunger.
4. Stand up and stretch every hour, on the hour. Trigger
yourself with a beep on your phone
or watch (do people still wear those?) or computer.
Sitting for extended time periods is a bad idea for both your body and your brain.
You need a mental and physical break, and it doesn’t have
to be a big deal.
Just stop, when your on-the-hour beep sounds at you.
Stand up where you are,
reach over your head, take a deep breath, touch your
toes, roll your shoulders.
This
is recommended when Turbo Cnarged Reading.
5. Carry a small bag of nuts or beef jerky everywhere you
go. Something protein-rich
will help stave off hunger as well as keeping you from
getting to that ravenous point
when you’ll eat anything in sight, no matter what the
calorie count is. Getting a
little more protein
in your diet can help boost your metabolism and build
your muscle, as well.
Tiny Habits for
Better Mental Health
1. Ask open-ended questions. Instead of throwing out
questions just so
you can insert your own opinion, ask bigger, better
questions.
Avoid asking questions that can be answered with a simple
Yes or No.
Try questions that start with “What do you think about…?”
and “How would you….?”
or “What is your experience with…?” Then listen to the
answers with the attitude that
you are here to learn. Having an open perspective
and initiating deeper conversations will help you to relate with others,
cultivate empathy, keep your own problems in perspective, make new friends, and
learn new ways of approaching life. Imagine the wisdom you would gain in five
or ten years
if you just have one of these conversations every week.
2. Keep a tray of art supplies out on your
table/desk/shelf. Don’t force or even expect yourself
to clock in a certain number of minutes or productions.
Just keep them out, in reach,
so that when you feel like doodling around with something
artistic, it is effortless.
Bonus points: switch the art medium out every week or
month (pastels, crayons,
watercolors, ink, clay, playdough, carving knife &
wood block).
3. Sit in silence for a few minutes every day. We don’t
have to call this meditation,
because that might be a little too intimidating. You
don’t have to sit cross-legged.
You don’t have to close your eyes. You don’t have to be
Zen-like in anyway.
Your brain can be flying a hundred miles an hour, but
don’t say or do anything.
Just sit, comfortably, and breathe for a few minutes.
4. Jot down everything on your mind for a few minutes at
the end of the day.
This is a brain dump in the easiest way possible. It’s
not a big deal like a daily journal
or to-do list or planner might feel. Keep a simple
notebook by the bed, and give yourself
a few minutes to pour out everything that’s on your mind
before you go to sleep. Don’t edit.
Let it all out, in any format, in any order. It doesn’t
have to make sense, even to you.
Studies show that this type of writing can reduce anxiety
and depression.
Alternative: use a voice recorder and simply talk, in
unedited stream-of-consciousness style,
for a few minutes into your recorder.
5. Repeat a personal mantra to yourself when you hit
stress points. Make it something simple
to remember that calms you and reminds you of the
important things in life.
This is a simple way to retrain your brain and tell it
how to respond to stress.
Instead of letting stressful points send you into a
panicked mode,
you pull out your mantra and tell your brain that it’s
going ot be okay.
A few of my favorites: This too shall pass. I am stronger
than I think.
I can learn what I need to learn when I need to learn it.
I’ve handled worse than this.
I am not alone. There is freedom here. When I take
responsibility, I take power.
Tiny Habits for
Better Productivity and Work
1. Pretend to be your hero. When you’re faced with a
challenging situation, an intimidating project,
a new career leap, an important
meeting, think about a hero in your industry or career.
Then ask yourself what this person would do in your
situation. How would she handle it?
Would he be intimidated? Fearful? Or confident and calm?
Now imagine yourself doing exactly
what you think your would do. This helps to clarify what
the right actions are for you
by removing the self-doubt and negative self-talk that
can bog you down in uncertainty.
2. Do a 5-minute daily review at your desk at the end of
the day. Before you leave work,
or from your desk at home before you wrap things up for
the day (or night!), take five minutes.
Write down what you accomplished in a
quick, bulleted list. Write down what you didn’t accomplish that you had hoped
to, and what stopped you. Don’t beat yourself up for your failures, just
notice,
if you can, what
caused you to get off track. And notice how much you did accomplish.
This type of review is a way to help your brain focus on
the positive
(I did accomplish something today) and will help you to
become more aware
of the things that tend to derail you or distract you
from productive work.
3. Turn off all notifications for at least one long block
of work time every day.
Our brains are not adept at switching from one task to
another. The single ding of an email notification or text, even if it’s about
something completely unimportant, can cause you to lose
up to 40% of your work time. Is it really worth it? Maybe
if you have infinite time at your disposal… But we all know that you don’t. So
do yourself and your career a favor,
and silence all the dings and chirps for at least one
long block of time (2 – 4 hours).
Turbo
Charged Readers r
ead
their emails efficiently making effective decisions in afraction of the time.
4. Respond to all invitations and opportunities with
“I’ll check my calendar.”
Stop the knee-jerk response that you give, whether it is
negative or positive.
Maybe you’re too quick to say no (I am). Or maybe you’re
a people-pleaser and you’re too quick
to say yes, and find yourself over-booked and
overwhelmed. Give yourself time to evaluate
each opportunity by simply making it your practice not to
answer right away.
Instead, say, “I’ll check my calendar and let you know.”
Then, when you have a little time,
check your calendar, your priorities, and determine what
you can fit it in.
5. Spend 5 minutes a day thinking about the process you
will take that will get you
to your career goals. This is the right kind of positive
visualization. Visualizing the end result
doesn’t usually help you get there. But visualizing
yourself doing the steps you will take
to reach your end goal can help you to actually
follow-through on those steps when it is time.
Tiny Habits for
Better Relationships
1. Call, text, or email one friend or family member a
day. Staying in touch has never been easier,
but it’s all too easy to only connect with the people we
see at work or the ones
who just won’t stop showing up in our Facebook feed.
Reach out a little further than that
to stay connected with the friends and family members you
value.
It only takes a few minutes to invest in a relationship,
with the result that you have a strong network of people
around you, both near and far.
2. Write a thank you note every week. This can be an
exercise solely for you: write a thank-you note to someone who’s passed on but
impacted your life, and tell them all the things you wish
you could say in person. Or write a note of thanks to
someone who is or was part of your life
and send it to that person. Cultivating gratitude helps to lessen
the fear in your life.
How much better would your life be if you had trained
yourself to be appreciative instead of afraid?
3. End your night with a word of thanks or encouragement.
This is the kind of simple habit
that can make or break a lifelong relationship. Before
you roll over and go to sleep,
let your significant other know you accept and value him
or her.
You don’t have to be elaborate: “I love being with you,”
or “Thanks for being there for me,” sends the right message. If you’re not in a
relationship, give yourself a word of thanks or encouragement. Sounds silly?
Maybe. But it can help build your
confidence
and keep you from letting one bad day spiral into
depression.
4. Pause before you answer or respond to people. Train
yourself to listen well,
by giving yourself time to think up your response in that
pause, not while the other person is talking. This not only shows that you
value what the other person is saying (which communicates
acceptance and respect) but it also gives you time to
weigh your attitude and words.
In a high-tension situation or stressful conversation, a simple five-second pause
might be what keeps you from blowing up and ruining a relationship you value.
5. Give yourself a time out. Life happens. You’re going
to hit points when you feel stressed, frustrated, angry, or impatient. That’s
okay, because if you can give yourself a time-out
then you can keep things in perspective. You can’t expect
yourself to be a non-emotional robot,
but you can train yourself to take a five-minute break
from humanity when things are getting to you. Walk around the block, lock
yourself in the bathroom, take a quick drive with the windows down
and the music blaring. Find the “time-out chair” that
works for you, and use it.
Tiny Habits for
a Better Community and Environment
1. Take a short walk around the block with a trash bag
and pick up litter.
This weekly or daily ritual will help you to be more
aware of how you treat your daily environment, and you never know the effect it
can have on others. Sometimes just one person taking the time
to make something better can spark others to take better
care of things, as well.
2. Stop and say hi to your neighbors. Make it a habit to
do a little more than a nod or smile.
It takes just a moment, whenever you see them out, to
walk over and say hello.
Create a friendlier community and help the people around
you get plugged in, too.
Some of my best friends are neighbors who were willing to
lean over the fence
and chat for a minute. Now they’re the ones calling to
see if I need anything
when they run to the store, or offering to babysit my
kids if I’m not feeling well.
3. Borrow before you buy for big purchases. It’s not
always possible, but why not try it?
Save money and help the environment. Make it a habit to
borrow first, try it out,
and see if it’s what you really need/want/must have. Then
try to buy used before you buy new. Obviously this won’t apply to every big
purchase… but it will apply to a lot.
4. Set aside money for giving. It can be a small amount.
Really.
Five dollars can make a big difference to somebody.
Out of every
paycheck, or every month’s total income, put aside a small bit for giving.
It
has to be no-strings-attached, and anonymous is the way to go whenever
possible.
Help out your neighbors. Donate to a charity. Buy that
homeless guy a meal.
We are all part of the same human family.
5. Keep your bike out where you can see it. No, you don’t
have to use it… Just put it out there,
in front of you, where you can eyeball it. Every day,
when you run to the car and hop in.
Wait, you don’t have a bike? Hmmm. Maybe call up a
neighbor and see if you can borrow one.
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/25-tiny-habits-that-could-totally-change-your-life.html
You can TCR software and engineering manuals for spontaneous recall – or pass that exam.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times
faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Emotions when Turbo Charged
Reading YouTube
Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
All
aspects of regular, each-word reading and education.
Turbo
Charged Reading uses these skills significantly faster
To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more
things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”
