Habit-Building 102: Find Your Triggers
Have I mentioned I’m a great saboteur? I am great at sabotaging myself when it comes to change or trying to build new habits. I can almost guarantee you I will sabotage new eating habits, exercise programs, cleaning routines.
But I have successfully completed week 1 of 10-minute tidying.
How can that be?
Keys to Habit-Building
During this first week, I noticed a few things. Maybe I can do this after all!
I do my 10 minutes at the same time everyday. (trigger)
When I think about tidying for 10 minutes, it’s not overwhelming. (manageable goal)
I have to post about it in the group. (accountability)
Triggers
When I get home from work, before I change out of my clothes or do too much else, I set my alarm for 10 minutes. Walking through the door is my trigger (at least on the weekdays). On the weekends, my trigger is turning on the coffee maker. While I make coffee, I do 10 minutes of tidying.
Habits become automatic after we’ve created a bond between the trigger and the habit — the stronger the bond, the more ingrained the habit. - Leo Babauta at Zen Habits
Triggers are often thought of as negative things. Things that make us scared or want to do something negative, like someone who’s trying to avoid grains walking into a bakery. The smell of bread baking will likely cause the person to want to gobble up some bread.
But you can build positive triggers too.
You can build new habits onto existing ones. Like when I make coffee on the weekends, now I tidy for 10 minutes while I’m waiting for it to brew. Or when I get home from work, since I haven’t fully shifted to at-home mode, I find that this has been working.
Where can you build some triggers?
Are there any habits you do already where you could build in your 10-minute tidying?
Maybe while you make dinner. Or right before you sit down to watch TV.