I just got back from a Las Vegas weekend—Four days of no writing, no exercising and no doing anything from my normal daily routine.
I probably don’t have to tell you that it was tough going back to work on Tuesday: I didn’t get up at my usual time, I didn’t want to take my usual walk at work—I just wanted to lay around and read. Or nap.
But I knew that if I didn’t make any effort at all, my momentum would oh-so-quietly dissolve and I would be totally bummed.
This is nothing new—it always seems to happen after I get sick, or there’s a crazy summer vacation schedule.
Sometimes it would take me weeks or months to build my habits again.
So, I’m happy to say that even though it took me three days to bring myself to get up at my usual 5 am and do some writing and do some exercises, I did it.
And I kept doing it.
How did I get my momentum back so quickly this time?
The first two days, I just ‘showed up’.
What does ‘showing up’ mean, exactly?
Let’s say you want to re-start your morning exercise routine, but it’s been weeks since you put on your running shoes. You’re really not feeling motivated.
In order to ‘show up’, you simply need to put on your running shoes.
Just the tiny act of doing something for a minute or two at the same time each day helps re-train your brain.
In Tiny Habits: Small Changes that Change Everything , Stanford University Behavior Design Lab director B.J. Fogg says it’s a good way to get motivated—start small to train your brain.
Another way of doing this is to tell yourself you’re only going run for two minutes. Or write for two minutes. Or read for two minutes.
Then do the activity for two minutes and quit.
Repeat for several days.
Presto! You’ve trained your brain and built (or in my case, re-built) a habit. Now you can increase the length of time you spend on your habit.
Even 15 minutes can change your life.
Christine Carter, author of The Sweet Spot: How to find your groove at home and work, recommends just doing what you can. Don’t have two hours to get to the gym? Totally okay. Even 10 minutes of stretching and strength exercises is better than nothing at all.
She exercises for 15 minutes a day and says she’s in better shape than ever.
I do 15-minutes of either walking or strength exercises daily: It fits perfectly with my schedule, and I feel flexible and strong. And happy.
Which habits would you like to instate, or re-instate?
Fogg said he had patient who couldn’t bring herself to make breakfast even though she really wanted to. Fogg suggested to her that she simply turn the stove on and boil some water every morning.
Then turn it off.
By the end of the week, she figured she might as well add some oats to the water. Now she’s making herself breakfast every morning.
That could be you with your shiny new (or renewed) habit!
Let’s edit!
What do you want to do? Who do you want to be?
Will you challenge yourself to a 15-minute exercise routine or walk? Or maybe 15 minutes of tidying your house, or learning a new language?
- Figure out how much time you could spend doing it. It’s OKAY to do it only for a small amount of time.
- Pick a regular time for your new or re-instated habit, and Show Up for a minute or two. You’ll find it will soon be easy to do Your New Thing for up to 15 minutes—and most likely beyond.
- If you like charts and graphs and science explaining this, read Tiny Habits. If you want the real deal from a working mom and happiness expert, try reading The Sweet Spot.
Happy editing!
Erica
