Wondering How To Change Habits? Here Are Five Tips You May Not Know
Habits are repeated activities or behaviors that often become subconscious, such as taking a specific route to your workplace, checking your phone, hitting the snooze button when you wake up, or setting your shoes in a particular spot when you get home. Habits can be positive or negative, depending on how they affect your health and well-being. For example, if you are staying up late every night despite having to wake up early for work in the morning, that habit may be more likely to negatively affect your life, as you might be tired while trying to work or study the next day.
In some cases, unhealthy habits may impede your long-term goals or self-care. If your habits are no longer serving you, there are a few ways you can move forward and make healthier choices.
The science behind changing habits
According to an article published in the British Journal of General Practice, psychologists define habits as “actions that are automatically incited in response to contextual cues that have been associated with their performance.” For example, people may automatically buckle their seat belts (action) when getting in the car (cue). Habits can form from the repetition of an action in a given context over time, often to the point that the action becomes automatic without the need for cognitive involvement.
Habits are considered an evolutionary strategy to make the brain more efficient and enable individuals to focus on tasks that require attention. Despite the evolutionary advantage that habits may provide for one’s mental capacity to process information, humans can develop habits that are not necessarily beneficial. At a certain point, these habits can be detrimental to a person’s mental and physical health or get in the way of their goals.
Research has shown that people who consistently accomplish their goals tend to practice self-control strategies while developing positive habits. For this reason, understanding habit change can be valuable. By using evidence-based strategies for habit formation, you may find that you progress faster.
Five tips to change your habits
It may be easier to change your habits over time if you incorporate some tried-and-true techniques. By changing your habits, you can incorporate new habits into your routine to replace old habits that may no longer be conducive to your healing and growth.
Become mindful of your habit
You may have heard of the concept of mindfulness. Mindfulness involves a purposeful sense of awareness rooted in the current moment. To change a habit, it may help to first notice when you are engaging in it, without casting judgment. You might sit and observe any thoughts or emotions surrounding the habit, without sinking into guilty self-talk.
Take note of the habit's details, such as the specific time you notice it happening (for example, if you are trying to reduce your sugar intake, it may be beneficial to notice that you automatically reach for sugary snacks while you are watching television). Some people may also find it helpful to record these details. This process can assist in identifying potential patterns. Once you are more aware of these patterns, it can be easier to replace your habit with a new action.
Switch out one stimulus for another
Some habits can be more challenging to change if they are associated with a reward response in the brain. For example, if you are trying to reduce your caffeine intake, but you currently drink three cups of coffee daily, you may notice some withdrawal effects, such as a headache or irritability, if you quit drinking coffee cold turkey. To help with the habit change, you might start by replacing your third cup of coffee with a caffeine-free coffee or tea. You can then work your way up to drinking two caffeine-free beverages, and then no caffeinated beverages at all. This strategy may help you gradually reduce caffeine intake while still enjoying the physical stimulus of sipping something hot.
Chewing gum instead of smoking is another example of stimulus replacement. While you may temporarily miss the nicotine, chewing gum can provide the same kind of oral stimulation that smoking once did.
Be specific about the action you want to take
While it can be helpful to have a general habit change in mind, such as sleeping more or eating more nourishing food, broad goals can be easy to ignore. Instead, it may help to be more specific about the action you want to take. For instance, you may habitually stay up late and use your laptop before bed. Instead of saying, "I want to go to bed earlier," consider setting a specific time you would like to go to bed, such as 10 PM. If you are less specific, you might procrastinate sleeping.
This technique can work not just for changing unhelpful habits, but also for starting new positive habits. If you want to incorporate a new habit into your life, set a specific time to practice it. For example, if you want to start meditating for ten minutes daily, it may help to set an alarm on your phone for the time you want to meditate. A reminder may help you establish a practice that slowly becomes a habit as you automatically associate meditation with temporal and other contextual cues.
Adjust your environment
Habits are often paired with certain stimuli or contextual cues that initiate them, so one way to potentially change a habit change is to disrupt your routine or environment. For example, if you are hoping to watch less television, and you notice that you habitually turn on the TV as soon as you come home, you might consider placing the remote control in another room so that you are forced to consciously seek it out. If the remote used to be readily available and within reach as soon as you walked in the door, walking into another room to access it might somewhat disrupt the old routine. To grab the remote and turn the television on, you must make an active choice to go against your new habit of watching less TV.
If your goal is to replace your TV-watching tendency with a new habit like exercise, you might make another environmental change by placing your walking shoes next to the door. This way, you can establish the habit of quickly putting your walking shoes on and getting out the door right when you arrive home from work.
Use self-compassion
If you are having difficulty changing a habit, you might experience self-shaming or judgmental thoughts. These thoughts can be maladaptive, as shame can make self-control more difficult. Self-compassion and kindness may encourage inner dialogue that leads to sustained behavior change.
Habit change is a process, and despite common claims about habit formation, the time it takes to establish a new habit can vary from person to person. It may help to exercise self-compassion if a new habit does not form immediately.
One tip for self-compassion is to use positive self-talk, similar to how you might talk with a friend. For example, if a friend is working to change a deeply ingrained habit and is experiencing difficulty, you might tell them, "It's okay. There will be a new opportunity to try again tomorrow.” It may help to treat yourself with the same kindness and compassion.
Let a professional help you assess your habits
For some people, therapy can assist in making healthy and significant life changes. Not only can it be advantageous to have support from an unbiased, nonjudgmental party, but a therapist may be able to offer insight into the reasons behind your habits and any specific contextual cues that have contributed to habit formation. A therapist may also be able to help you use this knowledge to strategically modify cues to develop habits that lead to more happiness and fulfillment.
If you are hesitant to visit a therapist in person due to barriers like finances or distance, you can access online therapy through a platform like BetterHelp. Through online therapy, you can discuss habit formation with a therapist from the comfort of your home via phone, live chat, or videoconferencing. In addition, you can contact your therapist at any time through in-app messaging, and they’ll respond as soon as they can.
Online therapy has been found to be an effective form of care for various mental health challenges. In a review published in Cureus, researchers assessed the effectiveness of internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (ICBT) in the treatment of various mental health conditions. The authors of the review concluded that ICBT was effective in treating generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, addiction, and substance use disorder, among other conditions.
Takeaway
If you’re interested in changing certain habits, you may find it helpful to gain a more profound awareness of your habits, recognize contextual cues that make them easy to repeat, and create environmental changes that disrupt your patterns. Additionally, it may help to speak with a licensed therapist to obtain support and insight into your specific habits. Consider contacting a professional online or in your area to get started.
How do I start changing my habits?
Changing habits begins with knowing what you want to change and the routines around that behavior. Here are some steps to consider when you want to change your habits:
- Mindfulness – Try mindfulness activities to become aware of any bad habits you may have without judging yourself. This includes becoming aware of when and how you engage with the habit.
- Identify Stimuli – Try to determine the things that trigger your habit. For example, if you want to quit smoking, you’ll need to understand what parts of your normal routine make you want to smoke.
- Set Specific Goals – Whether you’re trying to break bad habits or develop good ones, it’s important to be specific with your goals. For example, if you want to get more sleep, you should make your goal something specific, like getting to bed before 10 p.m., versus something vague, like “going to bed earlier.”
- Modify Your Environment – Sometimes, the key to breaking habits lies in creating a new environment. For instance, if you want to stop drinking coffee first thing in the morning, you might move your coffee pot into a cabinet or pantry so it’s not as easy to brew your morning cup of coffee.
- Practice Self-Compassion – Creating a new behavior can be a process. Try to be patient with yourself and use positive self-talk to navigate the challenges of changing old habits.
If you find it challenging to break or form habits on your own, therapy can also help you start changing your habits.
What is the 21 90 rule?
The 21/90 rule is an idea that suggests it takes 21 days to form a new habit and 90 days to establish a lifestyle. This concept is based on the idea that our brains need about 21 days to form and adjust to a new routine and around 90 days for that routine to become more automatic.
While the 21/90 rule is referenced a lot, the exact time it takes to form a new habit can vary greatly between people. Things like the complexity of the habit, individual motivation, and environmental conditions can influence how quickly or slowly habits form.
How can I change my habits permanently?
Making permanent changes to your habits will likely take time and commitment and require you to adjust your existing environment and routine. Getting really clear about why you want to alter your habits and practicing patience and self-compassion can also be critical for long-term success.
Other tools like journaling and meditation can help, and leaning on a support system or connecting with a therapist can also help you maintain your changes.
Why do I struggle to change my habits?
When we repeat actions frequently, they can become automatic, deep-rooted neural pathways, making them harder to break. Many habits also serve as emotional coping mechanisms for upsetting or stressful situations, even though they may not be beneficial for us in the long term.
Many habits happen subconsciously, and you may not even recognize what things in your environment or routine could be triggering them. Other things, like the fear of missing out or setting overwhelming goals, can make developing new habits especially challenging. Every person’s journey to forming new habits is different, but with awareness, patience, and the right tools, changing your habits can be possible.
How do I rewire my brain for new habits?
Modern psychology today has shown us that rewiring your brain for new habits often involves a combination of mindfulness, repetition, and patience. Start by becoming aware of one habit you want to change and the triggers associated with it. Then, consistently practice the desired behavior to help create new good habits.
With repetition, these new behaviors can become more automatic and take less work to maintain. It’s important to be patient with yourself. Reaching out to a professional therapist for help developing new habits can also be helpful.
What are three steps to break a bad habit?
One three-step method to breaking a habit involves incorporating something called the habit loop. This concept consists of three main components: the cue (or trigger), the routine (the behavior or habit), and the reward (the positive outcome from the desired behavior). Here’s how to use these three components as steps.
- Identify The Cue – Start by trying to recognize what triggers your current habit. Is it an emotional state, a time of day, a specific location or person, or something else? Identifying this cue can be critical to understanding the behavior you want to change.
- Change The Routine – Once you know the cue, you can replace the current routine with a more desirable behavior. For example, if you have a habit of snacking when you’re bored, instead of reaching for junk food, you could opt for a healthier snack or engage in a different activity.
- Ensure A Reward – Every habit provides some reward, which is why we repeat it. That’s why when you’re changing a habit, you need to ensure the routine has an outcome that’s also rewarding in some way.
What are the 3 major steps to changing a habit?
Here’s one three-step method to changing a habit, and let’s say the habit you want to change is biting your nails.
- Awareness – Recognize the habit and when and why you do it. For nail-biting, this might involve understanding when and why you tend to bite your nails. Is it during stressful times? When you’re bored?
- Redirection – Instead of trying to eliminate the habit cold turkey, you might try replacing it with a different, more positive behavior. For example, if you bite your nails when you’re stressed, consider using a stress ball or fidget toy. If you bite your nails when you’re bored, consider finding another activity for your hands, like knitting or doodling.
- Reinforcement – Be sure to celebrate small victories and try to hold yourself accountable. For instance, while you’re trying to stop biting your nails, share your goal with your friends and family and reward yourself along the way.
How do I change my bad behavior?
Changing bad behavior usually involves recognizing the undesirable behavior, understanding what’s causing it, and actively working towards alternatives. It may help to start by identifying a keystone habit or a foundational routine. When altered, keystone habits can cause other behaviors to change as well.
For example, if your bad behavior is procrastination, establishing keystone habits like planning your day every morning can create a structured routine. However, if you’re trying to change overarching bad behavior that encompasses many habits, it might be helpful to speak to a professional.
What causes weird habits?
First, what one person considers “weird” is often subjective and may be seen as completely normal or endearing to another. However, all habits can arise from a combination of factors, including genetic predisposition, environment, and upbringing. Habits can also form as coping mechanisms in response to stress or anxiety and can become automatic and subconscious over time.
What age is it hard to change habits?
Altering habits can be challenging at any age. As people age, they often have more ingrained routines and established patterns of behavior that might make developing new habits or abandoning old ones more challenging. However, change is possible at any age. Motivation, consistent effort, and the right strategies can all make it easier to adjust your habits at any age.
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