rut buster

Healthier habits in one, two, three. › By

Stuck in a rut for the past forever? If you have goals you want to achieve without always falling into the same time-warp trap, we have some handy strategies for you. Better your habit situation with these tips.

Habit Power

Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, wrote the book The Power of Habit, which outlines a loop of actions that helps form habitual behaviors without excessive mental anguish. Here’s how it works:

CUE: The trigger to perform an action or habit

ROUTINE: The action that you already do, a.k.a. the ‘bad’ habit

Cealia Athanason

“To change a habit, you must keep the old cue and deliver the old reward but insert a new routine,” Duhigg says.

When you wake up in the morning, that’s a cue for whatever action you always perform next, such as scrolling your phone or hitting the snooze button. To change that habit to, say, getting right out of bed, you would need to insert that new action right after the cue of waking up or first hearing your alarm. Then, your usual reward would need to follow immediately—like making co ee or jumping in the shower—to help that new habit eventually stick.

Be Neaky

This cue-routine-reward system can be used to develop any new habit. If you’re fi ghting for time in your schedule, take stock of the time you spend in front of the television, scrolling your phone or waiting for things to happen. Then, sneak your preferred actions in where your timewasting habits live. And stick with it. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Exercise daily. Replace hitting the snooze button with 10 minutes of exercise in the morning.

Clean house. Spend increments of five to 10 minutes putting away clutter, dishes or laundry while waiting for dinner to cook.

Finish books. Swap scrolling social media feeds for at least 15 minutes of reading a physical book.

Sleep better. Instead of ending the night in front of the television, create a winding down routine that includes a long bath, reading or listening to peaceful music—whatever works for you.

Eat healthy. Waiting for an appointment or to pick up the kids? Pull out your phone and, yes, you may scroll—as long as you’re searching for healthy recipes. Look for dishes that require only a few ingredients and brief preparation times.

And if you miss a day? No sweat. Research shows missing a day or two won’t slow down your habit formation if you stick with it otherwise.

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Minimally Invasive Surgery at Ocala Health