Quitting poor habits is just as important as developing good ones. The habits you choose can have lifelong consequences – good or bad. What’s often hard to understand is that even though every small step you take seems inconsequential on its own, its effects compound over time. That is, you’ll see the outcome in a big way much later in the future.
For this year, let’s focus on quitting small habits that seem harmless on their own. Here are some examples of tiny, innocent-seeming habits you can focus on getting rid of to see enormous benefits later.
Avoid social media in the mornings
Did you know that 27% of people wake up and turn to social media the first thing in the morning? As small and harmless as this activity may be, it can set the tone for the rest of the day.
You may approach social media as a way to update yourself on news and what your connections are up to. But studies show that social media creates FOMO or the Fear of Missing Out. And because of this 39% of people feel envy, 30% feel jealousy, 21% of users feel sad or disappointed, and only 29% reporting feeling happiness!
To start your day on a positive note, you’d be better off meditating or journaling. This gives you a chance to feel at peace with yourself when you begin your day and you’re more likely to achieve your personal and professional goals.
Reduce contact with negative influences
The company we keep can strongly impact the direction of our lives. Very often the influence that other people have can be subtle but powerful none the less. Studies show that if you or a friend are obese, then this can ‘spread’ like an epidemic to other people.
And it makes sense for this to happen. The social circle you have can influence the activities you do or the lack thereof. And eating food is also a social activity. If you’re eating out more instead of making healthy foods, these everyday activities will add up and impact your health later.
So, create a new year’s resolution to reduce contact with individuals or groups that have a negative influence in different areas of your life. Perhaps you want to be with people who are goal-oriented and positive in mature. You may prefer moving from gaming to reading and it would help you to connect with people who also like to read. You can start to actively seek out other people whose goals are aligned with yours.
Try joining membership sites for your interests such as running, arts and crafts, or learning a new language. If you’re active on social media, follow content and people who share the same interests as you so that your feed is populated with helpful content. As you build a network that supports you in the right direction, you’ll find yourself making changes in life that lead to long-term success.
Stop sleeping late
It’s very common for people to sleep late at night, often occupied with social media and late-night shows. It seems like we’re losing time and opportunities if we go to bed early. However, the reality is far from what we think.
When we sleep late, we disturb our circadian rhythms. And we don’t give ourselves enough time to rest our brain and body. When you sleep well, you allow your brain to function optimally, which then leads you to be more productive during your waking hours. In fact, you create more time for yourself.
Try sleeping early and waking after resting well for just two weeks. You should feel such a significant change in the way you feel, that you may well decide to follow an early sleep pattern for good.
Eliminate multitasking
Having a short attention span is normal for most people. However, being able to focus for long periods of time is an ability that anyone can develop with effort and time.
One important negative habit to stop is multi-tasking in your everyday chores and tasks. When you’re writing, focus on the task and don’t switch your applications to check social media. If you’re eating food, focus on what you’re eating and keep your phone away.
Multitasking forces you to switch your focus from one task to another. And this drains your energy and makes you less effective than if you did one thing at a time.
Use time-blocking techniques and the Pomodoro technique to harness your focus. You’ll become productive, beat stress, and create more time for personal endeavors.
Conclusion
The small things you do in life add up to create big changes. You need to quit the everyday negative habits that you indulge in to avoid consequences that will appear to you at a later date. For example, a bottle of soda a day may not seem like much, but you will feel changes in your body due to the high number of calories and the amount of sugar content in the drink later.
You may decide to spend five minutes scrolling social media only to realize that you’ve lost an hour. And as this continues over weeks and months, you’ve lost time that could have been used productively.
Quit small habits that have a minor negative impact today, and you’ll feel good about your decisions by the end of next year.