Chronic bad habits

[Tresbien]

Looking back on my life, I realize that there are numerous bad habits that I have developed over my 24 years. Some of them are so entrenched, that although I can acknowledge their existence, they persist in spite of my good intentions. For the sake of brevity the list of some of these habits will be short, but I hope that I will understood.

The first example I would like to mention would relate to studying habits. Though this no longer applies as it once did in college, high school, etc., it is a relevant example. My habits were this: I simply did not study, short of doing assignments given to me. Luckily I had somewhat above average intelligence and a good memory, and this alone served me well. I cannot recall how my poor habits developed, but they existed and they persisted. I would manage to get good grades and retain information, but at the cost of extremely stressful periods during my adolescence. For better or worse they remained and stuck with me to this very day. This can also include my desire to read, to practice foreign languages, musical instruments, tending to the develop of my business, etc. This can encompass lots of different subjects, but I would like to address chronic bad habits in general.

A chronic bad habit is with you for so long, that it seems to develop a life of its own. In some cases they've developed over decades, and like, say, obesity, they are impossible to overcome in the short term. One must develop perseverance and begin to cultivate an entirely different life style to overcome years of habits. In most cases, retrogression is inevitable though, because an effort of a few days, weeks, or even months is sometimes insufficient to overcome years worth of ingrained behavior.

My question is this, how have some of the members of Stronglifts overcome their own chronic bad habits, to develop the qualities that they desire? A when the desire to regress back to your old habits becomes nearly overwhelming, how do you cope with it?

[Young Athlete]

Yep, I have the same problem still managed a 3.25 with out doing a single peice of home work this quarter. Now my mom is making me study an hour a night atleast cause she didn't like it.

[Mehdi]

I've built lots of new habits through the past years and quit bad ones, few tips:

* Build new habits. It takes a lot of work and consistency at first, but after a while this becomes automatic. Since we all get lazy, you need to put systems into place. For example: since internet kills productivity, I pull the cable out/modem out for several hours so I don't have distractions when it's time to work. Other solution could be to work from somewhere else than from home. In your case: study at school instead of at home where you have distractions, stuff like that. Find out what's holding back and put systems in place. If you build the "awareness" you'll easy find what's holding you back and build from there. Journaling helps developping the skill.

Also for studying/work: do it in chunks of 60-90-120mins, with breaks of 30mins, putting as goal your time spent workign/studying not finishing actually finishing the work. best is to start with 60mins on, 30mins off (for eating, naps, quick exercise, talking with family/friends, quick meditation, etc). Often, especially with creative tasks like content-creation, you will get demotivated at the huge pile of work coming your way, and your inability to finish that task. If you focus on just spending x time working on 1 task, and trusting your persistence to finish the task over time, you'll not only get more done, you'll also feel more satisfied about your time spent working. This has been a huge revelation for me during the past months. Check "the power of full engagment" by Tony Schwartz.

* Affirmations. Self-talk. Quick example: "I focus on 1 task at a time" (I built the bad habit of multitasking and checking emails all the time working 5 years in a helpdesk, it's inefficient). If you just repeat that daily, over & over again, you will start to act that way. Affirmations only work in the present, so no "I will become", but "I am". And they should be positive: "i am not" is wrong, "i am blah" is correct. Repeat over & over. Doesn't matter if you believe it or not, your subconscious mind picks up everything it gets. I do this aloud, writing works too.

* Visualization. Same thing like affirmations, but with eyes closed, looking at yourself with your goal achieved and how you would behave. Your mind doesn't know the difference between something it imagines and a real experience, so again your subconscious mind picks up the info.


Affirmations are powerful. Everybody has internal voices through the day, I'd say for most people this tape is filled with negativity all the time. Affirmations is switching that tape, and putting a positive one. You do need to do the exercises constantly, but the change in habits, personality, productivity, ... are so great, you ask yourself why nobody ever told you this before.

And yeah it's weird stuff, but if it works I'm fine with it.

[Tresbien]

Thanks for the great reply Mehdi. I could've made a whole book out of my chronic bad habits, but studying seemed to be the easiest analogy. The advice you've given seems to help with the whole range of things like procrastination, too much internet use, eating junk food, doing what you really want etc. I'll put the tips into action and see what happens.

[Lex]

I think Mehdi pretty much nailed it. About twenty-five years ago I decided to quit smoking. I decided that since smoking was a habit, I'll make not smoking a new habit. I never formally "quit"--what I did was start "not smoking" instead. I just procrastinated the next cigarette until the urge passed. After several weeks, not smoking had become a habit. Now I can't stand the smell of a cigarette and find smoking physically repulsive. It's like working out--you don't get results overnight, but if you persist then you will get the desired result.

Visualization sounds "new agey", but it does help. Mind and body are inter-related and inseparable.

Behaviorial psychologists say that it takes thirty days of consistent practice to develop a new habit. Of course, that's an average and YMMV. The one thing that I still struggle with is good study habits. I work in IT, so continuing education and professional certification is a big part of my career choice. Right now, I should be studying instead of being here, for example.

[holvoetn]

Right now, I should be studying instead of being here, for example.

I hear you.
I have a Prince2 Practitioner exam tomorrow