Work your Habits and they will work for you.
By: Devanshi Joshi
Tags: Life Lessons, Health, Habits, Mental Health, Productivity

I have seen people struggling with their habits for years now; they would want to get rid of some and adapt a few new ones too. It is not as easy as it sounds, however, it cannot be considered impossible at the same time if one plans their work and works their plan. I have been there myself several times when it seems almost impossible to overcome any habit.

Some researchers believe it takes approximately 30 days to break a habit and it takes around 90 days to build a new one. However, I believe that the time frame of building a new habit or breaking an old one is totally different from one person to another. Such numbers depend on your personality, dedication, commitment, perseverance, etc. which cannot be rightly measured. The year 2020 has been rough globally but it has taught us so many things. New Year is around the corner so let us sit back and try to take control of our life again. Let us all try to make the coming New Year a beautiful one. Most of us were deviated from our goals due to a multitude of external factors. One of the most important ways of getting back on track is to work on our habits, be it personal or professional and that is what I am going to talk about today.

Let me start with a thumb rule while adapting to any of the following new habits with the help of an example. Eat as much food as you can chew, or it will cost you indigestion or stomach-ache. You are free to pick any of the following habits or forget about them if your current situation in life does not permit you. It is totally your choice!

Having said that, let us now go through those habits. Please note there is no recommended order to follow them.

1. Create a morning routine

I cannot reiterate how important this is. Having a morning routine eventually trains your brain to function in a particular direction. Every successful person I have known or read about has a morning routine. They do so because when you perform any task repetitively, it will get cemented in your mind and will soon turn into the habit you want. Remember that some people are habituated to be successful at whatever they do because back in the day they created some routine which led them to success.

2. DO NOT delve deep into your Smart Phones immediately after you wake up

To some people, this might sound weird and to others, it might sound impossible, but most of us have built a habit of scrolling through our smartphones in the morning when we wake up. I used to be the same but soon I realised it was doing no benefit to me. Usually, when we wake up in the morning, we are quite fresh and motivated in most cases. By any chance, if we read or see something that we do not like or something that triggers our negative emotions, we are likely to start our day with such a tone. Life is tough, I understand and most of us have a lot of challenging situations to deal with, but does that really mean we should begin our day with a negative emotion?

3. Meditation

No way, right? I am not going that road. This is an answer I get most of the times when I recommend anyone to get into some serious meditation. People are ready to pay anything for medication, but never meditation. It not only has spiritual but also has biological and psychological benefits. Honestly, I am not a spiritual person, nor am I interested in being one, but meditation has improved my focus and has helped me calm down. I believe one cannot think in the right direction with an unstable mindset and meditation has helped me overcome that to a greater extend. It is highly recommended that people with clinical or non-clinical psychological and psychiatric challenges or problems meditate.

Our lives today are busy more than ever. Living a busy life makes our mind rush from one state to another leaving no space for it to rest so while we meditate our brain rejuvenates itself. If your mind is calm, it will produce better results. Some researchers also believe that meditation improves your immunity as well, so I guess it is high time you give it a shot.

4. Sleep for 7 to 8 hours daily

I have seen people compromising their sleep due to their heavy workloads, which in turn damages their profession and personal lives. To be able to work efficiently we need to give our mind the rest it needs. For instance, I do not compromise on my sleep schedule for anything and neither should you. Medically, lack of good sleep might trigger chances of heart disease and stroke, besides several other mental conditions. Lack of sleep affects the glucose metabolism which also increases the chances of diabetes type 2. I hope I was able to convince you to at least consider sleeping 7 to 8 hours a day.

5. Exercise daily

I have developed a habit of doing yoga every day for 30 minutes in the morning. That not only benefits me physically but also it helps my body run perfectly fine. Doing physical exercise is a must for your mind and body. Do cultivate a habit of dancing, yoga, gymnastics, zumba, aerobics, or anything that you like. Or just hit a gym and work out for at least 20 to 30 minutes a day and soon you will start feeling your Self-Confidence climbing up.

6. Make bed straight away after you wake up

I know a lot of people have this habit of staying in bed even after waking up and wasting their time on social media to ensure that they have received maximum attention on their last post. Later, these people realizes that they are already running late for work and will certainly leave their bed as it is. I know most of you are nodding at this but trust me, it is not a good habit to entertain.

Ever since I have picked up bed making habit, I can see a behavioural difference in my attitude. I have stopped procrastinating for quite sometime now. Now, many of you might be wondering, “how is making my bed correlated with my behaviour, I have servants doing that for me all the time”. This is a legit question but, in his book, “The Power of Habits”, author Charles Duhigg explains the importance of bed making and its impact on your productivity.

Basically, when you kickstart your day with bed making it gives you a feel of taking charge. When you leave your lethargic behaviour behind and make your bed it gives you a sense of achievement right when you wake up.

7. Drink enough water

Our body is 60% water, and our blood is 90% water, so it is critical for us to maintain our levels accordingly. Dehydration may cause skin problems, kidney problems, indigestion and what not. Drinking adequate water also maintains your body temperature, lubricates joints, glows your skin and cleans kidneys so that they work better and help reduce weight. There are no fixed parameters to how many litres of water one must drink in a day so you can judge based on your capacity. People do not take this habit seriously, so if you were to pick any of these I would suggest pick this one first.

Feel free to pick any of these habits now and thank me later. Do not forget to be consistent and patient with yourself because reading about them in my article will hardly take a few minutes but getting into them will take time.