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And January continues with another post in our organization month series!
Next up, we’re talking about habits. Good ones. And how you can create new habits easily.
It’s one thing to buy some storage baskets and organize a messy area in your home. It’s an entirely different thing to have the discipline to keep it organized going forward. Creating new good habits isn’t easy, which is odd because it’s easy as hell to start bad ones.
Here are six simple hacks that will make it a little easier. Use them until you’ve internalized the new habit and don’t need them anymore. But don’t use them so long they become a crutch because then you’ll just be trading one habit for another!
Schedule It And Put It On The To-Do List
Sometimes we forget to do that new thing we were trying. Maybe we forget that we now have a specific place for all our canned vegetables in the pantry. Or that we need to keep our closets straight by hanging all like items together. It can be especially tough if we’re not particularly looking forward to the new habit we’re trying to form. If we’re naturally a slob, it goes against our nature to suddenly try and be a neat freak.
Schedule your new habits or make them part of your daily to-do list until they become something you do automatically.
Make It Public and Be Accountable
Let family and friends know what new habits you’re trying to establish. They will call you out if you don’t stick to your plan. Trust me, your kids would love an opportunity to catch you slipping up. That’s a great motivator if you get off track!
Try writing a blog post about what you’re trying to do or sharing it on Facebook. A public announcement means you’ll have to publicly admit you failed too. Accountability helps you stick to your goals.
Piggyback On A Habit You Already Have
Try adding the new habit to one you already have. For example, if you fix a cup of tea or coffee at 4 pm, and you want to get in the new habit of taking a daily walk, make the new ritual to go for your walk and then come back and enjoy your tea.
It’s much easier to amend an existing habit or ritual than creating an entirely new one.
Make Slipups Costly
Put a jar on the kitchen counter. Each time you slip back into your bad habit or forget to stick to the new habit you have to put five dollars in the jar. Or if your habit used to cost money, put whatever you’re saving by stopping the bad habit into the jar as well. You’ll be amazed at quickly it adds up! It’ll also help you remember to skip the sugar and get outside for a walk. For extra motivation, use the money you’ve saved on something special to mark the occasion. Whenever you see or think about it, you’ll be reminded of how good it felt to kick the habit.
Find A Partner and Help Each Other Along
Finding a buddy to lean on! A friend, workout partner, or diet buddy will help support you when your resolve is flagging. Keep tabs on each other and encourage each other to keep going. It’s much harder to skip a walk if you know someone else is depending on you being there.
Make It A Group Challenge
If one accountability partner is good, a whole group is even better. And they don’t even need to be local. Find a supportive group online and challenge each other to stick to your new habit for the next 30 days or so. Not wanting to be the first one to give up will keep all of you going until you establish that new habit.
Give these simple little hacks a try. Keep using the ones that you find helpful until you have made new habits you can stick with without the help of any tools or support.
We hope you’re enjoying organization month! If you’ve missed any of the previous posts you can find them here:
Beyond Paperless – A Guide to Organizing What Matters
Baby, It’s Cold Outside. Be Productive and Get Organized!
Organizing a Messy Junk Drawer for $5in Under 10 Minutes
