Tag: Habit Concepts

8 Rules to Be More Consistent in Life
[ad_1]
There might be affiliate links on this page, which means we get a small commission of anything you buy. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Please do your own research before making any online purchase.

Life has its ups and downs. Even though this roller coaster ride is part of living in this world, everyone is looking for ways to be more consistent.

With consistency, you will have an easier time maintaining relationships with your family members and friends, meeting your goals, and performing well in school or at work.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have trouble being consistent in life. How can you be more consistent? Well, in this article, I will provide eight rules to increase your consistency. But first, let’s start with a simple definition.

What Is Consistency?

Consistency means different things in different situations; however, the definition of consistency is putting forth a consistent effort day in and day out no matter what you do. There are numerous ways where consistency can be applied.

For example, students need to put forth a consistent effort in their classes. Employees and managers should put forth a consistent effort in their jobs every day.

Everyone should be consistent in the effort they put forth in their relationships with their family members, friends, and colleagues. (For a more philosophical understanding of consistency, here’s our collection of our favorite consistency quotes.)

If you would like to achieve your goals and maintain your relationships, you need to be consistent in the effort you put forth. Even though it is possible to be at your best every day, you should try your best every day. That is the consistency you should strive for.

Even though it might be difficult, there are a few ways you can make this easier on yourself.

Now, let’s dive into the eight rules to be more consistent in life.

1. Develop Consistent Habits

If you are looking for a way to be more consistent in your life, the first thing you need to do is develop more consistent habits. The only way you will be more consistent is if you start from the ground up.

There are few ways you can do exactly that. These include:

Be Realistic in Your Goals

You will have a difficult time being consistent if you do not have an idea of what you need to do. Therefore, create easy, simple goals that have objective results that are easy to measure.

You could start by defining what consistency means to you. Then, you should come up with smaller steps you have to follow to reach that goal.

Stick to a Schedule

In order to be consistent, you need to know what you have to do every day. Therefore, you should create a schedule for yourself.

Whether this is a planner, a calendar, or a list of reminders on your phone, this will help you stay on track. That way, you will figure out what commitments you do and do not have time for.

Use Reminders

This is a new habit, so you need to remind yourself what you are doing. Try to place reminders on your belongings, around your home, and throughout your workspace or school.

It is easy to forget new commitments and calls, especially when you are trying to change your routine. Put messages in visible locations, so you remind yourself throughout the day.

These are a few ways you can develop more consistent habits. It is important for you to live a consistent life if you want to be more consistent throughout your day.

And if you want to learn how to build consistent habits, be sure to check out our eight step process on forming new habits.

2. Handling Mistakes in Your Routine

No matter how hard you try to be consistent, you are going to make mistakes from time to time. Therefore, try to keep going even if you make a mistake.

Even if you are incredibly organized, you are going to slip up from time to time. Therefore, you should plan from mistakes along the way. If you make a mistake, try not to beat yourself up for it. This is something that happens from time to time.

Even if you break a promise, miss a deadline, or have to cancel on somebody, this doesn’t necessarily mean you are ruining your consistency. The reality is that external factors can get in the way.

Even though it is important to plan for these external factors and try to prevent them from knocking us off track, it will happen from time to time.

Always figure out what you can do next. That way, you can figure out how to improve. Remember that consistency and perfection are not the same things. Nobody is perfect. Be forgiving of yourself; however, do not make a habit of letting things fall through the cracks.

Watch the video below to start on the right foot when developing your morning routine. Learn about the 12 best morning habits you can use to increase your focus, motivation, and energy for the rest of the day.

3. Increase Your Willpower

You do not expect to step outside your front door and run a marathon if you haven’t done any athletic training. It will take some time for you to build your willpower as well.

If you become more consistent, you will increase your willpower, allow you to perform well even when you do not feel like it. Of course, the only way you are going to do that is if you practice.

For example, you should avoid temptation when you can. If you want to be more consistent in what you eat, make sure you have healthy options laying around. This will help you build the willpower to avoid eating junk food.

Furthermore, you should remind yourself of the long-term benefits of being consistent. Whenever you need a source of inspiration, take a look at your list of goals.

This could motivate you to complete everything you have to do during the day even when you do not feel like it. These simple steps can go a long way toward helping you increase your willpower.

4. Get Plenty of Sleep

If you want to be more consistent, you must have the energy to do so. That means you have to get plenty of sleep at night. The average adult needs between seven and eight hours of sleep every evening. People who are still in school require even more.

A few ways you can get more sleep include:
Try to stay away from screens before bed. The blue light emitted by electronic screens can trigger your brain to keep you awake.

Go to sleep at the same time every evening. If you train your body to go to bed at the same time, you will fall asleep faster when you get in bed.

Avoid caffeine in the afternoon. Even though you may get tired, try to stay away from coffee, soda, and caffeinated tea. Caffeine can stay in your system for several hours, making it hard for you to go to sleep at night.
These are a few ways you can get more sleep every evening. If you give your body a chance to recharge, you will have an easier time staying consistent the next day. Check out this post for more tips on how to get more quality sleep.

And if you’d like to learn how to wake up early, without an alarm, and not feel tired, the video below shows the 7-step process for training your body and mind to consistently wake up at 5am.

5. Give Yourself Time to Change Your Mindset

Even though you want to see results immediately, it is going to take some time. Changing your thinking is difficult, and it may take a while for you to see results.

It can be difficult to uproot your entire life with a bunch of new practices at the same time. Therefore, you should give yourself time to figure out what works best for you.

Also, you should be realistic, but persistent. In general, it takes approximately one month of consistently doing something to make it a habit. Remember to set smaller goes along the way. Try not to tackle too much at once. Small changes will eventually add up.

Furthermore, you will need to set boundaries for your personal relationships and commitments. These boundaries can make it easier for you to keep commitments because you know what to expect from other people. You are never going to take on too much if you set these boundaries.

As an example, if you do not want to work nights and weekends, set that expectation with your employer. You can even shut your phone off entirely to remind your co-workers you are not available on nights, weekends, or holidays.

Changing your thinking is difficult, and it may take a while for you to see results.

If you change your thinking, you will become more consistent. Keep this in mind when you are trying to change such a big part of your life.

To learn more about changing the way you think, know the difference between fixed and growth mindset.

Humans are not robots, there are going to be days where we do not feel like doing anything. That is why we all need to take advantage of motivational tools.

What do you need to do if you need a bit of encouragement to do your work? Even though it can be easy to light our goals slide for a day, there are actions we can take to address this problem.

If you feel down, lazy, tired, or in the dumps, there are a few ways you can gather some extra motivation. These include:
Remember to take breaks during the day. Reward yourself with a 5 or 10-minute break after every task you complete. This will give you more energy to finish your goals.

Remember that you have long-term goals you are trying to hit. Think about how good you are going to feel when you achieve those long-term goals. Then, remember you were only going to hit them if you complete your to-do list every day.

It is okay to compromise from time to time. For example, you need to exercise regularly; however, you may not have the energy to do everything you planned for that day. Try to do something, but not every exercise you had planned.

Increase your knowledge about yourself and see what drives you by reading recommended books about motivation.
These are just a few of the ways you can stay motivated even when you feel down in the dumps. Think about putting a few of these tools to work for you.

7. Only Make Promises You Can Keep

Another important have it you need to develop if you would like to be more consistent is to only make promises you can actually keep. People like to be liked by other people. Therefore, we all have a tendency to say yes when someone asks us for help.

Even though it is good to help us other than we can, it is important not to make promises unless we can keep them. If you want to be more consistent in your life, you have to keep the promises you make. On the other hand, it is easy to get overwhelmed, causing certain commitments to fall through the cracks.

A few examples of this include:
Do not promise to give someone a ride unless you can actually keep that promise

Do not tell your significant other you are going to handle your chores unless you can actually do so

Do not promise to help someone move unless you can actually do that
If you can keep some but not all elements of that commitment, consider a counter-proposal. For example, you may want to help someone move out; however, you do not get off work until 5 p.m. Offered to help them move in the evening instead of the middle of the day.

Finally, this includes making promises to yourself. If you promise yourself to do something, make sure you can actually do that. Then, remember to place reminders around your home that remind you of the goal you are trying to hit.

8. Make an Effort to Reward Yourself

If you are trying to become more consistent, make an effort to reward yourself when you do something well. After all, it is not easy to develop a new habit. Try to set time bass goals for yourself. Then, as you hit those goals, reward yourself for doing so.

There are plenty of ways you can reward yourself for doing something well. These include:
If you manage to finish your work early, consider going home early as well. That way, you may have time for some extra activities in the evening. You might treat yourself to a special dinner or try and see a movie.

If you have certain exercise goals you are trying to reach, you should reward yourself when you reach them. For example, you may want to celebrate with a night out on the town if you find you are getting in better shape or being more consistent in your workout routine.

If you have done a good job maintaining relationships with your family members and friends, consider inviting everyone over for dinner to celebrate.
Rewarding yourself or be more consistent is important because this reinforces a positive habit. Everyone has different ways of rewarding themselves. Do not hesitate to brainstorm ideas and reward yourself when you do something well.

Wondering how to reward yourself? Check out this post for a variety of ways to reward yourself.

Final Thoughts on How to Be Consistent

Ultimately, there are a lot of people who are looking for ways to be more consistent. If you can find a way to be more consistent in life, you will do better in all areas of your life including school, work, relationships, and personal goals.

If you are having trouble finding ways to improve your consistency, do not hesitate to reach out to professionals to ask for help. This is not something you have to go through on your own.

And if you’re looking for more resources on how to be more consistent in your efforts for self-improvements, these articles might help:

Finally, if you want to take your goal-setting efforts to the next level, check out this FREE printable worksheet and a step-by-step process that will help you set effective SMART goals.
[ad_2]

S.J. Scott

Source link
January 9, 2024
The Hawthorne Effect: How Observation Helps You Maintain a Habit Change
[ad_1]
There might be affiliate links on this page, which means we get a small commission of anything you buy. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Please do your own research before making any online purchase.

Have you ever had a job where the “big boss” or perhaps a board member or someone else significant to the company would stop by the office from time to time, causing the staff to quickly straighten up?

Or, think back to when you were doing behind-the-wheel testing if you have your driver’s license. Did you ensure all of the mirrors were perfectly adjusted and then remain driving in the perfect 10 and 2 position for the duration of the test? Do you still do that?

And here is one that I can relate to: When you’re expecting company, do you make sure your home is tidy and then (try to) make sure your kids are on their best behavior during the visit?

All of these changes in behavior are examples of the Hawthorne Effect. In this article, we will look at what the Hawthorne Effect is, the findings that came out of it, and how it can be used to motivate people. Then, we will look at 5 examples of ways that you can use this concept in your life in a positive way.

Let’s get started by looking more at the history of the Hawthorne Effect and its original findings.

What is the Hawthorne Effect?

The Hawthorne Effect is a phenomenon that shows how workers’ productivity increases due to their awareness of being observed.

This finding was the result of a study conducted in the 1920s, at Hawthorne Works, a factory complex of the Western Electric Company in Northern Illinois.

During the study, researchers analyzed the impact of lighting, monetary incentives, and break time on worker productivity.

This study then expanded to look at employee dynamics, social relationships, and human behavior within an organization as the researchers became increasingly interested in the informal social groups that workers had formed.

These social circles illustrated a group life among employees that was independent of their professional relationships that impacted their job satisfaction (and therefore, their productivity).

The researchers also recognized that the nature of the relationship between supervisors and their employees had an impact on workers’ performance, which is why company culture is critical to a company’s success.

The main points that researchers took away from these studies are:

An employee’s productivity is impacted more by their social status within their organization than by their competence.

Organizational culture and social systems within a workplace are established by the individual organization–as are the expected norms regarding daily productivity–which are usually followed by employees.

One’s relationship with their supervisor has an impact on his or her productivity.

It’s important to note that researchers and theorists have disagreed on the fundamental cause of the change in employees’ behavior that has led to what is known today as the Hawthorne Effect.

The most well-known skeptic was an industrial psychologist named H. McIlvaine Parsons, who disagreed that having improved working conditions and a feeling of being ‘chosen’ to be a part of the original study are what caused an increase in productivity.

One variable Parsons brought up that the original researchers failed to mention was the fact that the study participants had access to performance feedback through their supervisor’s “counters” which allowed output results to be posted on the wall every day.

Parsons argued that this could have been one of several other motivating factors that led to increased performance because the workers may have wanted to improve upon the previous day’s data each day.

However, whether the workers’ motivation was increased because they felt special for being picked to be a part of a study, they felt like there was someone looking over their shoulder, or because they were trying to climb a social ladder in the workplace, in each case, motivation and performance were increased when the worker had someone else’s attention on them.

This shows that observation is a motivating intervention for people. You’ve probably noticed this when working in a group setting–don’t want to be the one to let down the group, so you may put a little extra effort into your part so you can display your competence.

So whether the Hawthorne Effect happens by chance because your boss is tracking your work, or you choose this intervention to increase your motivation to reach a personal goal (e.g. by appointing an accountability partner), what is considered to be the Hawthorne Effect today is a clear illustration of our innate need for the acceptance and approval of others.

And that need can actually positively impact your life if you consider it in constructive circumstances.

Let’s look at five ways in which this is possible.

5 Ways the Hawthorne Effect Can Positively Impact Your Life

1. Job Interviews

How many times have you gotten in your car after a job interview, thrown off a layer of clothing, tossed your notes onto your backseat, and exceeded the speed limit as you headed home?

I have done this many times–and not because I’m in a huge rush to get anywhere, I just need to relax after being on my overly best behavior for two hours.

If you’re around people that you don’t really know–but are trying to impress–chances are, you’re going to focus on putting your best foot forward.

This probably involves wearing clothes that you’ve pulled from the back of your closet, putting more energy into being a good conversationalist, and trying your best to show your most desirable character traits.

On the other hand, as soon as you get home and plop yourself in front of the television, you will change into old pajamas and eat popcorn by the handful.

The Hawthorne Effect positively impacts your life while preparing for job interviews because it gives you the motivation that you need to practice answering interview questions (because you know people will be analyzing your answers) and dressing appropriately for the job industry for which you’re applying so you will fit into the company culture.

This means you’re not going to necessarily wear what you wore to an interview at a startup company in Silicon Valley to an interview on Wall Street. Rather, you will make yourself appear as if you’re already a part of the team.

During the interview itself, you will likely adjust your demeanor depending on the person who is interviewing you and do what you can to make them feel like you fit in with the group.

The need for social acceptance and approval when trying to get hired for a job is a product of the Hawthorne Effect, which ends up positively impacting you as you make the required effort to get a job offer.

2. Mastermind Groups

If you have hit some sort of motivational plateau in your life or fallen into some bad habits–whether that’s in your job or in your personal life–you’re probably on the hunt for some new sources of motivation and unique ideas to get your success back on a roll.

One strategy you can use is to follow the advice of motivational speaker Jim Rohn, who famously said, “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

The video below explores the five key lessons you can learn from Rohn’s quote and how it can help improve your life.

A mastermind group is a group of people who have a similar interest or goal who come together to generate new ideas and motivate each other to end up with a result that is greater than the sum of its parts.

While mastermind groups have been popular in business settings, they’ve grown to be used in politics, educational settings, the military, etc.

A popular modern day example of a mastermind group is the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO).

This global network offers a platform for entrepreneurs to engage in B2B learning and allows its members to network, engage with each other, and create connections for people to learn and grow. This type of group is mutually beneficial for everyone involved.

So think back to when we were talking about the Hawthorne Effect and its impact on working in group settings. When you’re in a mastermind group, you’re able to get instant feedback from other members and hear other people’s perspectives on a matter.

And, while a single perspective may not help you but so much, gaining a multitude of viewpoints can help you discover new strategies or generate new ideas.

The Hawthorne Effect can positively impact your life when you’re participating in a mastermind group because everyone you interact with will have full intentions to be productive, efficient, and a valuable team member.

If you feel like you’re in a productivity rut and you consider the implications of the Hawthorne Effect, it makes sense for you to try to find a mastermind group to get your progress momentum going again.

3. The Importance of Listening

The Hawthorne Effect reinforces the commonly mentioned concept of mindful (or active) listening.

The original experiment demonstrated that employees’ productivity increased dramatically when they felt like they were being heard. In today’s modern workplace, those in a leadership position need to listen to the ideas of their team and show appreciation for any positive input that’s offered.

Because the Hawthorne Effect suggests that people are motivated more by emotional factors (such as receiving attention and being an accepted part of a team), than other potential rewards for success, it’s important for employees to feel like their opinions and ideas are valued.

Hawthorne Effect reinforces the commonly mentioned concept of mindful or active listening.

If you are in a management position, knowing this can positively impact you because it suggests you don’t need to make a big (or financial) change if you’re trying to improve your employees’ productivity or motivation.

Sometimes, using a small tool such as listening and making your employees feel valued can make a big difference.

Alternatively, if you’re on the other side of this and you’re an employee feeling a lack of motivation or you haven’t felt inspired lately to do your best work, reflect on whether or not you feel like you’re being heard within your organization.

There may be some changes that you could make to improve your job and your job satisfaction by directly expressing your needs or ideas to your superiors.

Here is a quick personal example: There is a very long file review form I have to fill out rather frequently at work.The form is awful–it’s repetitive, it’s wordy, and it’s 21 pages long.

Recently, I found myself starting to cut corners when doing this task, even though I know it’s an important document to have for licensing standards.

With the Hawthorne Effect in mind, I spoke to my boss about completely revamping the form, which would end up benefiting my colleagues as well.

As soon as I got the “go ahead” on that project, I felt instantly motivated to improve the process for everyone by simplifying the form, which has consequently made people much more productive because this task no longer takes several hours.

This example shows three things related to the Hawthorne Effect:

The positive relationship I have with my boss motivates me to take the initiative of proposing new methods for doing old tasks.

When I felt my needs were being heard and taken seriously, I was able to contribute in a way that not only benefited myself, but also reduced the workload for my colleagues, which was appreciated and voiced by many.

While creating the new form, I knew that many people would be using it moving forward, so I wanted to give it my best effort. I was careful to make sure the final version was free from errors, succinct, and easy to follow because other workers would be judging my work.

Whether you’re the listener or the speaker, being aware of the impact that can occur simply as a result of feeling heard can have a positive impact on your life, both personally and professionally.

4. Accountability Partners

The power of having an accountability partner can greatly improve your life. An accountability partner is someone with whom you have a mutual agreement that involves encouraging each other to reach whatever goal you’re working on and offering feedback on a regular basis.

You meet with your accountability partner frequently to talk about each other’s progress, challenges, small wins, and the upcoming work you’re planning to do to get closer to reaching your goal.

These meetings give you each a chance to celebrate your progress, but they also serve as a reminder between sessions that you have someone who is counting on you to follow through with your intentions to be productive, which serves as a motivating factor to not procrastinate.

The Association for Talent Development (formerly known as the Association for Training and Development) conducted a study that resulted in some staggering statistics:

Here is where the Hawthorne Effect comes in, because making a social commitment dramatically increases your probability for success.

When you tell someone else that you will achieve something, you’re 65% likely to do so.

When you commit to one person to be your accountability partner and schedule regular accountability meetings, you have a 95% chance of reaching your goal.

Why does having a sense of social accountability largely increase the likelihood that you will achieve your goals?

If someone commits their time to helping you succeed, you will feel compelled to pay them back (due to the reciprocity principle, which claims we automatically feel indebted to anyone who gives us something).

And, aside from helping an accountability partner keep track of their own goals, the best way to give back to your partner is by achieving the goals that you committed yourself to–because otherwise, you’ve wasted their time.

Having an accountability partner can greatly improve your life.

An important thing to note here about an accountability partner is that this can not be something that comes in the form of an app. It has to be an actual person in order for this to have a positive impact on your life.

It may be a challenge at first to find the right person, but once you do, it can make a huge difference in your success, no matter what your endeavor is.

5. Educational Settings

The Hawthorne Effect can help you learn new things, whether you’re in a traditional educational setting or you’re setting out to learn a new skill.

Everyone learns in different ways, but one thing that all learners have in common is the positive impact of receiving meaningful attention from someone in a teacher position.

When you’re learning something and you know that someone who has already mastered the information or skill is watching you, it helps you pay attention and therefore comprehend the information.

Having continuous observation leads to ongoing feedback and meaningful, thoughtful conversations. This interaction between a teacher and a student adds a sense of meaning to the learning experience, which makes it much more memorable.

Knowing that you have “eyes” on you when you’re learning something will also help increase your focus and attention, which will help ensure you gain a comprehensive understanding of the material.

Furthermore, if you collaborate with other learners, it can lead to new, unexpected knowledge and open doors for additional learning opportunities.

Final Thoughts on the Hawthorne Effect in Your Life

The interesting thing about the Hawthorne Effect is how it can motivate you to sustain positive behaviors in your life. And–you can proactively use it to benefit you by surrounding yourself with others who tend to behave in a way that resembles the type of person that you want to be.

If you feel like you’re socially a part of a group, you will act accordingly, and it’s easier to succeed if those around you share your goals and values (for example, if you’re trying to quit drinking, you’ll want to hang out with other people who don’t drink instead of a group of bar-hopping friends).

Simply by being in their presence, you’ll want to remain accepted by them, so you’ll behave in ways that will help you progress toward your mutual (and personal) goals.

From the original study in a factory, to modern businesses, schools, and our personal lives, the impact that people can have simply by being in the presence of others is subtle, yet powerful. Rewards don’t have to be offered and orders don’t have to be given in order for change to occur.

So whether the Hawthorne Effect positively impacts your life simply by chance, or now that you know about this phenomenon you’re planning to make some concrete changes to the company you keep and how you interact with others, this widely criticized study can make a big difference in your productivity, motivation, and success.

And if you’re looking for more resources on how to make sure you maintain habit changes, learn to be accountable. These blog posts might help:

Finally, if you need help with building habits, then check out this nine-step blueprint that walks you through the entire process of creating lifelong habits.)

Connie Mathers is a professional editor and freelance writer. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. When she is not writing, Connie is either spending time with her daughter and two dogs, running, or working at her full-time job as a social worker in Richmond, VA.
[ad_2]

Connie Stemmle

Source link
January 2, 2024
The Psychology Behind Building a Daily Routine

[ad_1]

There might be affiliate links on this page, which means we get a small commission of anything you buy. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Please do your own research before making any online purchase.

If you’ve tried to establish daily routines and failed, don’t feel bad. Your struggle is a common one—and something you can overcome it if you understand the psychology behind daily routines.

You see, there are many underlying reasons why you might have failed with building routines in the past.

Once you understand why these failures occurred, you’ll be able to take the first steps needed to stay consistent with your daily action plan, something a daily checklist template can help you with.

In this blog post, we’ll talk about seven psychological principles and the way they impact your ability to build positive habits. When you understand how they work, you’ll recognize why you make certain positive and negative choices on a daily basis.

7 Psychological Principles that Impact Building Positive Habits

Principle #1: Decision Fatigue

Researchers Danziger, Levav and Avnaim-Pesso recently analyzed factors that impacted the likelihood of Israeli prisoners being released on parole.

When it was time to decide if a prisoner should be paroled, it wasn’t the crime committed, the length of the sentence or the ethnicity of the offender that determined whether the prisoner would be granted freedom.

The biggest influence seemed to be the time of day the prisoner stood in front of the judge. The later in the day prisoners appeared, the less likely they were to be released on parole.

The judges weren’t being malicious or intentionally treating prisoners unfairly; they were suffering from “decision fatigue.” As the day wore on, each judge lost his ability to make good decisions. As a result, he went with the path of least resistance—denying parole to those who appeared before him.

As you make decisions throughout the day, you’ll eventually become worn down and start to look for shortcuts. Here are some of the foolish shortcuts people take when they have decision fatigue:

Writing an angry email instead of taking the time to respond in a way that requires more thought

Eating a fast food meal rather than taking the time to prepare something healthy

Making an impulsive and unnecessary purchase that blows your budget

There’s another possible negative outcome of decision fatigue—doing nothing. When we’re tired from a day of working hard and maintaining constant willpower, we often feel frazzled and tired. In many cases, this causes us to procrastinate on major projects we have planned for the end of the day.

Why “Fun” Decisions are Often the Hardest to Make

In the post “How to Be Happier and More Productive by Avoiding Decision Fatigue” by Brian Bailey, there are great examples of how making too many decisions in a short period of time often leads to poor results.

This type of issue often occurs when couples or families wait until the end of the day to decide what to eat for dinner.

Chances are you’ve had some version of this conversation multiple times:

You: “What do you want to do for dinner?”

Your significant other: “I don’t know. What do you want?”

After going back and forth, you finally give up and go with the path of least resistance by ordering a delicious (but very unhealthy) pizza.

You could have avoided this decision if you’d created a meal plan and shopped for the right ingredients earlier in the week.

We all think we want to have a lot of choices, but the truth is that too many choices lead to overwhelm, causing people to make bad choices or shut down and do nothing.

Routines limit the number of decisions you have to make, increasing your odds of doing the right thing.

Principle #2: Cognitive Load

According to Wikipedia, “cognitive load refers to the total amount of mental effort being used in the working memory.”

There are three types of cognitive load:

Intrinsic, which has to do with the amount of effort a specific topic requires

Extraneous, which has to do with the way that information is presented to the learner

Germane, which refers to the effort required to organize information

To put it simply, the more you have to think about the process of completing an activity, the less energy you’ll have for future activities.

The amount of cognitive load is lower when a topic requires less effort. For instance, there is a lower cognitive load when calculating 2+2 than when performing a more complex calculation.

It’s important to note that every individual has a different capacity when it comes to their ability to process information.

This difference is clear when comparing novices and experts. For example, the young child who is just learning math has to work hard to solve the previous math example—even though it’s a simple task for most adults.

Here’s another example:

Think of the amount of mental energy driving takes for the person who is just learning, compared to someone who has been driving for several years.

The novice driver has to think about every move, from buckling a seatbelt to adjusting mirrors to turning the key in the ignition and then putting the car into drive.

In contrast, a person who has been driving for several years and drives the same route to work every day can safely drive to work without even thinking about how to get there.

Daily routines help when it comes to reducing the amount of cognitive load because, in a sense, you become an expert at the things you do day in and day out.

Principle #3: Ego Depletion

We wrote about the concept of ego depletion in our book The Daily Entrepreneur, and the concept is worth revisiting here because it relates to many aspects of habit development—including daily routines.

In Steve’s habit-related studies, he learned about ego depletion from the book Willpower by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney. In this book, ego depletion is defined as “a person’s diminished capacity to regulate their thoughts, feelings and actions.” (Here are other books on willpower that I recommend.)

Willpower is compared to a muscle. In the same way that your muscles become fatigued with use, your willpower also becomes fatigued, and the amount of willpower you have diminishes as you use it throughout the day.

Simply put, once you’ve used up your supply of willpower for the day, it’s very difficult to exercise discipline.

This principle is important to keep in mind as you work to establish daily routines. If you try to adjust too many things in your routine all at once, you are more likely to fail.

Our advice, as you go through this book, is to focus on just one of the six areas. Don’t worry about the others until you’ve turned your new routine into a series of automatic actions. Only then should you move on to one of the other areas of your life. Doing it this way will dramatically increase your odds of success.

Principle #4: “What-the-Hell” Effect

Willpower is an important aspect of developing any habit, including daily routines.

Unfortunately, in spite of our best intentions, we often hit a bump, slip up and fail to do what we set out to do, or wind up doing something we swore we wouldn’t. This happens to everyone. What matters is how you respond to this failure.

The bottom line is that you have two choices: learn from this mistake and jump right back into the routine or succumb to what’s commonly called the “what-the-hell” effect.

For example, let’s say that you’ve sworn off sweets, but you mess up and eat a cookie. If you eat one cookie, the “what-the-hell” effect might lead to a cookie binge. Before you know it, you’ve devoured a whole box of Pepperidge Farm Double Chocolate Nantucket cookies.

And since you ate the whole box of cookies, what the hell, you may as well grab a donut to go with your coffee the next day on the way to work. Of course you do all of this while telling yourself that you’ll get back to your sugar-free diet next week, since you’ve already blown it for this week.

Eventually, though, you completely give up on this habit change because you feel like you don’t have the willpower to stay consistent.

Sound familiar?

We know this all too well because it’s a faulty logic trap we’ve all experienced at some point.

Principle #5: “Monkey Mind”

Monkey mind is a Buddhist term that means “unsettled; restless; capricious; whimsical; fanciful; inconstant; confused; indecisive; uncontrollable.”

Monkey mind is an especially big problem for those who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (or ADHD), but most have struggled with this problem at some point.

Monkey mind can keep you from sticking to your daily routine. It often happens when an action causes you to think of a related action. The second action leads to a third, and so on and so forth. Eventually you’re doing something that has nothing to do with the first action.

For instance, let’s say part of your morning routine is to journal for 10 minutes. (Check out these daily journal templates you can use.) A decision to check your email “real quick” can lead to all kinds of distractions, such as clicking on a link in an email that goes to a blog post that has links to other blog posts.

And of course there are the comments on the blog that you just have to respond to. Suddenly that 10-minute creativity routine has turned into a 30-minute rabbit hole of unproductive tasks.

Later on in this book, we’ll talk about a variety of productivity tools and habits. The reason we emphasize being disciplined with your work is that you’ll avoid the trap of monkey mind. Instead of succumbing to it, you’ll learn to recognize when it’s happening and avoid succumbing to the lure of this thought pattern.

Principle #6: Multitasking Isn’t Effective

Multitasking was once touted as the way to get things done. People who are (supposedly) good at it often feel a sense of pride as they declare—usually with big fat smiles on their faces—“I’m a great multitasker!”

However, we now know better. Multitasking is currently regarded as one of several faulty practices that cause you to get less done, not more.

There are a few exceptions, of course. For example, you may be able to listen to a podcast or audiobook while doing housework, walking the dog or exercising. But in most cases, being present and “all in” are important if you want to be truly focused on whatever it is you’re doing.

As an example, Steve enjoys listening to podcasts on his daily walks because he follows the same routes (so there’s little cognitive load). However, he turns off the podcasts when he’s writing because he can’t concentrate on both the words in his head and what’s discussed on the show.

Remember, daily routines are much more than something you check off a list. The idea here is to improve the quality of your life and the lives of those around you. If you’re simply going through the motions and multitasking the whole time, then don’t expect to get good results.

Here is three-step process to help you to be present with all that you do:

Step 1: Be mindful of your current focus. For instance, your focus may be your children, a book you’re reading or a project at work. Be aware of what your “one thing” is at every moment.

Step 2: Push aside anything that doesn’t enhance or add to that one thing. If you’re focused on your children, turn off your cell phone and shut down your computer unless you absolutely need to have them on.

Step 3: Set a time limit for your current focus. Setting a time limit for the thing you’re focused on can make staying focused more doable, and can also help to bring about balance.

If you’re focused on your kids, for example, let everyone know you will be away from your phone for the next hour or two. Then check for messages at the end of the session.

You’ll get a lot more done if you are completely present with whatever you’re doing—and you can even improve your relationships with this type of approach.

Principle #7: You NEED Downtime

How regularly do you have downtime?

If your response is, “Not very often,” or worse yet, “What’s downtime?” you could be in trouble.

Downtime is not an act of laziness. It is, in fact, an incredibly important factor to keep in mind when it comes to daily routines. The truth is, we need more downtime than most people think.

According to a 2013 Scientific American article, workers in industrialized nations spend as much, if not more, time taking in information as they do completing actual work. This consistent bombardment of information makes it difficult to process things and makes it even harder to shut off our minds when it’s time to rest.

U.S. employees not only deal with information overload, but are some of the worst when it comes to vacation time. Unlike the European Union, the United States has no federal laws mandating vacation time, sick leave, paid holidays or other paid time off.

The crazy thing is, even though Americans get less paid time off than most industrialized countries, it’s not unusual for Americans to have a lot of unused vacation time at the end of the year.

Even worse, when people go on vacation, they often feel the need to check email and, in some cases, show up at virtual meetings.

Even if you don’t have an unreasonable boss, it’s easy to feel intimidated by co-workers who stay at the office late and then work all kinds of crazy hours after they go home for the evening.

After all, no one wants to be the last person to show up at the office each day and the first one to go home, lest they be considered a slacker.

Why are we mentioning this? Because it’s important to avoid getting so caught up in daily routines that you don’t have any time to recharge. Although it’s true that a set schedule will make you more productive, the idea isn’t to work like a machine and never take time off.

This quote from the Scientific American article referenced above provides some good food for thought regarding the necessity of downtime:

“Downtime replenishes the brain’s stores of attention and motivation, encourages productivity and creativity, and is essential to both achieve our highest levels of performance and simply form stable memories in everyday life. A wandering mind unsticks us in time so that we can learn from the past and plan for the future. Moments of respite may even be necessary to keep one’s moral compass in working order and maintain a sense of self.”

Final Thoughts on Daily Routines

Sometimes you need to do less in order to ultimately do more.

As you think about the daily routines you want to implement, be sure to leave yourself enough margin for downtime. Or better yet, make downtime part of your daily routines.

If you need some help creating your daily routines, here are some more articles:

Finally, if you want the perfect morning routine, then check out this seven-step process for creating a morning routine that will become a vital part of your daily life.)

[ad_2]

S.J. Scott

Source link

October 20, 2023