THE SCIENCE BEHIND GOOD HABIT BUILDING

Posted on Tuesday, 15th February - 2022, in ADVICE & TIPS, by Saki Mimura

Are You Having Difficulty Keeping Up A Good Habit? Check Out These 4 Tips For Great Habit Building.   

Whether it is to start exercising daily, waking up early, or studying, you would probably agree that creating a new habit can be very difficult. However, we, humans, live with a lot of habits compared to other animals. 

If you are a manager reading this, you are very likely to commute to work every day. When you were a student, you probably went to school every day. So, surely it is not impossible for us to build a new good habit. We just need to understand the logic behind doing something as a new habit to make it easier. 

Why Is It Difficult To Keep A Good Habit In The First Place?

The difficulty of building and keeping a habit is supported by evidence. According to the research conducted in 2009, it takes 18 to 254 days for an activity to become a habit. The average is 66 days. Therefore, it takes time. Since it can take more than a month or almost 8 months for you to make an activity automatic, it is not hard to imagine why continuing to do something is difficult. However, there are some hints for you to create a habit in a faster and easier way. 

1) MAKE IT SMALL AND DO IT EVERY DAY

Starting a completely new thing can be overwhelming and stressful. So, breaking it down into small steps can help the action look more approachable. For example, ‘studying for 8 hours every day starting tomorrow’ seems like a huge step to take in just one day. Instead, you can say ‘sitting at your desk and working on your laptop for 5 minutes’ as the beginning of your new habit. It gets to sound much easier and achievable this way. 

The research also indicates that the more frequently you do the activity, the faster it becomes a habit. Hence, try to do the smaller step every day and continue for three days or more to see how you go. 

2) COMBINE WITH OTHER ROUTINES

It may still be difficult for you to start doing the new activity. In that case, combining the new habit with other daily routines you already have may work well. When you look at your daily life, you would find a lot of habits that you have already developed, such as having meals, going to the bathroom, taking a shower, or watching TV. You can combine one little step of your new action with one of your existing routines. For instance, if you want to make a habit of exercising, try squatting three times when you go to your fridge to find some food.  

3) ADD, DON’T TAKE AWAY

An article by Forbes suggests a great way to keep a positive habit, which is adding instead of taking away. For example, when you want to lose weight or make your meals healthier, you might often focus on things you need to avoid or give up, such as eating fast food or desserts. However, banning the things you used to enjoy can affect your mindset negatively. Instead, you can try adding things to your lifestyle, like adding fruits and vegetables to your meals. 

4) DON’T FORGET TO REWARD YOURSELF

The more seriously you think about keeping a good habit, the more likely you get harsh on yourself when you cannot keep up the habit. Start rewarding yourself even with a small thing you have achieved. You couldn’t go to the gym but put your gym clothes on? Good for you. You couldn’t study for 8 hours but did study for 30 minutes? That’s brilliant. Thinking positively about yourself and what you have achieved will encourage you to step forward. 

CONCLUSION

Habits seem tough to build because you cannot build them overnight. However, that is the fun of them. Start small, and concentrate on what you have accomplished to keep yourself positive. Remember, many a little makes a mickle. Once you get used to doing small steps, you will realise how far you have come.   

Unique Team Building has various programs that can help you and your employees make good habits together. Explore our website today and contact us to design your own activities to make changes. 

Email us or call 07 3186 1026.