10 Ways To Help You Break Hard Habits
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We are the sum of our habits. Everything that we do or think is born out of routines and lessons we have been taught our whole lives. When you allow the habits that you have developed to become bad ones, life becomes a little less fun and a little more difficult.
The problem is that it is exceptionally easy for bad habits to creep into your life. One minute you’re socially smoking with your friends when you have a glass of wine, and the next you’ve managed to develop a thirty-a-day habit. They’re insidious: they happen when you’re not looking or paying attention. To break bad habits you need a lot of self-control. It takes work to be able to notice that you are doing something unhealthy - whether that’s unhealthy for you or for those around you. The thing is, breaking your bad habits is worth the effort. If you can put your mind to it, you can do it, and it’s as simple as that. Not only do you manage to change your unhealthy habits into good ones, you are able to develop a strong work ethic and better productivity in your everyday life. Hashtag science, yo.
So, with that in mind, here are ten things that you should stop doing and start changing today.
Stop Using Technology In Bed
The bed is the best place in your house, bar none. Most people don't realize that climbing into their comfortable beds and scrolling through Facebook is unhealthy. Before you know it, you’ve got into bed at 9pm, and it’s now 3am and you are knees-deep in YouTube conspiracy theories with a subscription to TinFoilHat.com. The bed is the one place you don’t need technology. You do not need to bring it to bed and make your brain stay awake long after your eyes want to sleep. Start leaving your device on a table outside the bedroom or across the room - that way, it’s there for emergencies but not close enough that you’ll sleep badly.
Stop Smoking
One of the worst habits to have is smoking. Why? Because this habit doesn't just affect you. When you smoke, you affect everyone else in the vicinity. We get it, it’s a hard habit to break because smoking is addictive. You’ll have noticed that most smokers turn to places like lightfirevapor.com to change their smoking habit into one where they still get the sensation of smoking but they’re using flavor instead. Smoking makes your clothes, hair and skin smell, and it’s something that you want to avoid along with the blackened lungs. Start working to get rid of this habit as soon as you can.
Impulsive Internet Searching
How easy is it to spend money online today? Well, Amazon has installed a handy “Buy Now” button to make it easier than ever. Before you mindlessly search online for nothing that will still cost you, stay productive by giving yourself 15 minutes to choose whether you really need what you went looking for.
Stop Looking At Your Phone - Mid-Conversation
How rude is it when you’re getting someone’s attention and while you’re doing it, they pick up their phone for a quick scroll? Very, that’s how rude it is. The thing is, you may be doing it yourself without knowing. Keep your phone away from your hands when you’re talking to someone and leave it in your pocket. You want to be engaged and paying attention properly. Don’t be that person.
Stop The Notifications
Oh, notifications are the productivity killer! When you’re at work or trying to be present with your family, your phone is going to ping off all over the place. Let’s turn those notifications off so that they can stop being a distraction and you can continue to be present in the moment.
Stop Saying YES
Okay, we don't normally advocate for saying no, especially when you should say yes to adventures and to good things. The thing is, saying “yes” to everything in life is not actually a good idea, as you become that person everyone turns to purely because you don't know how to say no. It’s a good way to get used to it and you shouldn't allow it anymore.
Stop Being Around Toxic People
Toxic people have a hold on us and it’s because of the toxicity. They know how to get under our skin with gaslighting and manipulation, and so we stay around the toxicity and believe that they love us really. They don't. Make it the thing that you do right now to say no and walk away from those who no longer deserve your attention.
Stop Multitasking When You Don’t Have To
In the workplace you need to be buzzing from place to place and doing multiple things. Life has you spinning many plates, but you don't have to do that throughout a meeting, so stop doing it! You don't have to turn yourself in knots for everyone else, so don’t do it anymore.
Stop Gossiping
It is so easy to get sucked into gossip. Gossip is salacious, it’s sexy and it’s devastating to the subject of the gossip. How would you feel if people were gossiping about you? We wouldn't like it, either. Gossip is a bad habit and it doesn't do you any good to gain anything from the misfortune of others. Morality check yourself whenever you can.
Stop Comparing Yourself
Every single butterfly in the world is unique and beautiful, and you are indeed a butterfly. There is no joy that comes from comparing yourself to other people. All you’re going to do is focus on what THEY are doing with life and less on what YOU are doing. And hunty, you are the focus of your own life - you have to play the starring role. Stop with the comparison, whether on social media or in real life - all you will do is ensure that you put yourself second. And that will never do.
These are all hard habits to break. Have you got what it takes?
