How To Kick Old Habits

Many people struggle with forming new habits, thinking there’s something wrong with them, but there’s nothing wrong with you. Thinking that just gets in the way. 

It’s called “force of habit” for a reason. Before doing things differently, you have to think differently. I run into the force, too.

I spent a couple of happy hours learning Hootsuite http://hootsuite.com, a great program to manage tweets. After a short break for lunch, I jumped back onto my computer, and forty minutes later, I realized I had completely forgotten about Hootsuite, and wrote my tweets in my old, familiar, habitual way! 

I sat back, marveling at the force of habit. 

Fortunately, I didn’t take this personally. I know that the “force” is biological, my body’s desire to conserve energy. It takes less energy to do something familiar than something new. My body was just kicking in to do what it is naturally meant to do. 

Familiarity slips in fast, though. A few days later I had forgotten much of what I learned, and had to learn Hootsuite again! Ugh... I hate wasting time. 

Was it worth it? Yah, I decided it was. I attached myself − again − to  my “Why Bother?” Without this emotional fuel, I would give up. Taking my time, what I learned before came back to me. I hadn’t wasted anything. Gradually Hootsuite became easy, my new habit.

Thinking there’s something wrong with you gives you the perfect excuse to give up. Before creating new habits like de-cluttering your home or organizing paper or your life, create a new habit of thinking differently: 

1. Be patient (a lot needs to line up). 
2. Know your motivation (emotional fuel).
3. Don’t hurry (adds unnecessary stress).
4. Make time (to practice new behavior). 

The good news is that you don’t have to kick every habit to get better de-cluttering results.