Perhaps you are preparing to make some changes in the new year. I’m not an advocate for New Year’s Resolutions, but for building new habits, one at a time.
Whenever you decide to built a new habit, here are some tips to help you achieve your goal:
- Tie your new habit to an old habit. For example, if you want to remember to take your vitamins each day, place them next to your toothbrush. When you go to brush your teeth in the morning- there are your vitamins waiting for you! For me, I want to start weighing myself everyday, so I am tying it to getting dressed. Before I put my clothes on, I will weigh myself. (I want to be as light as possible, right?)
- Make your new habit as easy as possible. Don’t make anything harder than it has to be. If you want to keep better track of your keys, put them somewhere near the door you use to get to your car. To be sure I remember to weigh myself each day, I’m putting my scale next to my closet where I get dressed.
- Make the habit hard to ignore. Use alarm clocks, put the item somewhere you will trip over it, or tie it to your car keys. In my case, my scale talks, so whenever I bump it accidentally when I’m near my closet, it greets me. That’s another reminder for me each morning to weigh myself.
These are just a few of the tips Judith Kohlberg and Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D. include in their fantastic book ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life. I highly recommend it, even if you don’t have ADD.
Image by Federico Stevanin
