wispfox: (Default)
wispfox ([personal profile] wispfox) wrote2023-10-15 12:10 pm

how do habits work for you all?

One of the books I read for one of my class talked about habits as if people do them without thinking about it. I don't think I do that - even brushing my teeth and flossing are things I have to use mental energy to start. And if I want to do them well, bring mindful about it is necessary.

I think the closest I get is getting dressed in the morning - but that's largely because I have clothing set up to be without many decisions required. So I grab the clothing and put them on, but even then I still have to think about it to not have them inside out and buttoned up right if they have multiple buttons.

Do your habits require any energy to initiate? Do you do them well or right even without paying attention? I'm trying to understand why the book would talk about adding additional habits to existing ones to make them habits as well.

I do wonder if this relates to my difficulty doing anything (except class or work, which require that) more regularly than every two weeks, or exercise that isn't because I have another reason besides exercise to do them.

And doing things that require scheduling even as often as every two weeks. Of course, I know scheduling and estimating time is really hard for me, so that last bit may be that.
siderea: (Default)

[personal profile] siderea 2023-10-17 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
Do your habits require any energy to initiate?

Some do, some don't.

When I wake up, I will go to the bathroom, then I will go make coffee. I will do this on pretty much autopilot. I started making my bed as part of that routine a few years ago, and now I find myself doing it automatically. If something thwarts my enacting this habit, my brain will glitch, and I will preservate on it ("HOW CAN I MAKE COFFEE IF I DON'T HAVE ANY COFFEE") and it will require a serious act of will to pull myself up out of the rut I am stuck in.

Contrariwise, I have brushed my hair nearly every day of the past half century, and it remains an effort to get up and go do that every. single. time.

I got nothin'.