Grab hold of habits that serve you
In the morning, I love to read and curate. I read nonfiction from my feed on my phone (not my Facebook feed). My agreement with myself is that I can only read if I stretch my body. This means that if I am going to sit and curate on my phone and read things that I’m interested in, or that might interest my clients, friends or family, I have to sit on the floor and stretch.
This simple, healthy habit—this commitment that I honoured for years, slipped away from me in 2020. Wrangling it and myself back into submission are goals for 2021. One week in and I can feel the difference. My body and my mind are thanking me.
It’s simple: If I want to read, I need to stretch. I make it non-negotiable.
Temptation Bundling
My habit of reading and stretching is an example what writer, Nir Eyal calls temptation bundling. In his latest book, Indistractable, Eyal offers his temptation bundling strategy. The concept is simple: Link what you need to do with something you want to do.
I want to read; I need to stretch.
Do not stick a fork in your new habit—stack it.
In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear calls this sort of multi-tasking ‘habit stacking’.
I have practiced this kind of proactive, task mastering for years. To be clear this is different from starting to fold the laundry, getting distracted by the clutter in the kitchen, dropping the shirt you are folding, starting the dishes and answering the phone all while watching Dr. Phil. It is also not the same as purging your email inbox during a difficult phone conversation with a friend.
Temptation bundling and habit stacking are the act of consciously choosing to do what needs to be done while tapping into what you want to do.
If you love to stretch and you hate to read, but you know you should read more, make a deal that you can stretch and while you read. If you don’t want to read while you stretch, what about audio books?
When I drive, I listen to audio books (Indistractable is my latest audio book). When I clean my house, I listen to podcasts. When I cook, I find new music for my fitness classes.
Perhaps you hate to cook but you love music? Could putting your favourite tunes on in the kitchen make cooking instantly more enjoyable? Maybe you could knit and listen to podcasts. What about exercising and listening to an audio book? Maybe you could walk and talk for meetings? Instead of sitting and listening while someone yammers away on your mandatory phone conference, put your earbuds on and walk.
Are you are back to work now and at the computer for six, seven, eight hours a day or more? When you finally get up from your desk, do you feel stiff and broken? One solution is to habit stack and stand up while you work. Or stand for certain tasks like purging email.
Think about temptation bundling good habits with your vices, too. If you are going to drink alcohol, alternate it with some water or cut your wine in half with seltzer. If all you want to do is binge Netflix (I hear you), consider making a deal that you will only binge shows on the treadmill. If you need to drink more water, in between every episode, drink eight ounces of water. If you need more strength, lift weights while you watch.
This month, you too might launch new habits or revisit past healthy habits. Good for you! Control your habits or your habits control you. Choreograph temptations, vices and wants with habits that serve your needs.
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