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wispfox ([personal profile] wispfox) wrote2023-10-15 12:10 pm
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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.
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lb_lee: A happy little brain with a bandage on it, enclosed within a circle with the words LB Lee. (Default)

[personal profile] lb_lee 2023-10-15 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
We rely INTENSELY on habits because they require so much less energy than consciously pondering and planning everything out. Our daily walking route goes past the main places we may want to go (post office, library, thrift shop, grocery store), so we're more easily able to ship orders, get food, etc. We keep the same food so our basic planned recipes can be easily made without "oh shit I need bread," "oh shit how do I get the bread," mental pileups of despair.

If we didn't have habit chains, we would never get ANYTHING done while episode-hungover. We would have long since starved to death.
metahacker: A picture of my eye reflecting the camera taking the picture. I'm probably feeling introspective. (eye)

[personal profile] metahacker 2023-10-15 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
There are only a few things that really are habitual for me, and they tend to be things like "driving home".

Most of my 'habits' really mean "I've figured out an efficient way to make myself do this thing". Only rarely do they crest into unconscious or inertia. I am aware I am an outlier in this, though.

There's a reason I subscribe to the "encode habits into your environment" school of thought. Just like design, make it easy to do the desired thing.
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[personal profile] starandrea 2023-10-15 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Do your habits require any energy to initiate?

Yes - for me, habits are less about not having to think about the thing and more about not having to decide about the thing. When I get up in the morning, I have to exert energy to go stretch, but I don't have to decide whether or not to do it, because for me it's a habit. It's the first thing I do when I get up in the morning. I don't do it automatically, but I don't lie in bed each morning thinking, "should I stretch today?" (I do lie in bed thinking, "should I get up now," just not "what should I do once I get up," because stretching first thing is a habit.)

ETA: Oh! Also :)

I'm trying to understand why the book would talk about adding additional habits to existing ones to make them habits as well.

For me, adding a thing that I do after stretching (foam rolling) has made that a habit as well. So my morning routine goes: stretch, foam roll, meditate. I think about it, but I don't have to decide, "what comes after stretching?" I just lie on the floor going, "ugh, okay, foam rolling next, SIGH" ♥
Edited 2023-10-15 23:19 (UTC)
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[personal profile] randysmith 2023-10-16 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
Hmmm. For me, once I've actually made something a habit, it takes very little effort and mental energy; I just do it. It's not *quite* zero--if I really put zero energy into things I do habitually, the habit will drift and I'll find myself about to pour in the egg before I empty the pan of sauteeing veggies. But it's very low energy; it's mostly an occasional nudge to keep the ball in a track it mostly follows anyway.

I do find starting new habits is very hard; the repeated decision to do X takes a lot out of me (I think because of my ADD), and I can totally see a recommendation that it's easier if you attach it to something you're already doing anyway (e.g. I recently added some exercises to my morning exercise routine, and that took less effort than starting the routine had). But habits are also a really important part of my ADD management (presumably because the decision to do X takes so much out of me), so I'm pretty conscious about trying to pick good habits to structure my life with and lay them down as best I can.
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[personal profile] corvi 2023-10-16 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
I use habits as an aid to remember to do things that ought to be done every day or nearly every day but which I might otherwise forget, like feeding the chickens. I don't know if it makes things easier, but it does make me more likely to remember them.

Habits that aren't fairly frequent don't "take" for me. I use google calendar's emailed reminders to remember things that are done on a schedule, but not a daily schedule, like washing the bedclothes, which I do every two weeks in theory (somewhat less often in practice).

For things that have to be done at irregular intervals but have a specific trigger, like "check shirts for cufflinks whenever you do laundry" I tape notes to things (like the washing machine).

Things that have to be done at irregular intervals with no particular trigger I can tape anything to, like buying paper towels, I just forget. I haven't yet figured out how to tape a note to the lack of paper towels, so we're still out of paper towels. :)
Edited 2023-10-16 04:47 (UTC)
dsrtao: dsr as a LEGO minifig (Default)

[personal profile] dsrtao 2023-10-16 10:38 am (UTC)(link)
Everything I do requires attentional energy to start. The more often I do it, the less energy is required -- usually. The fewer choices I have to make, the less energy is required. The fewer steps required, the better.

Making plans helps. Changing plans is dysregulating. Making plans for other people is a hundred times easier than carrying through plans for myself.
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[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'.
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